Sustainability is the ability of the system to retain and survive its functionality with time.
A system is sustainable as long as the capacity (supply) is greater than the load (demand).
Along the timeline of the project, the options to ensure sustainability minimize inferring
better planning considerations at early stages. Geotechnical engineering, being the opening
phase of any construction project, can contribute most to attain sustainability goals for
all aspects, i.e. engineering, environmental, economic, and equity (4Es). Through a survey
and available literature, it has been concluded that geotechnical engineering lacks a dedicated
sustainability assessment tool/technique. Different assessment techniques/tools and
technical aspects of geotechnics were studied to develop Geo-SAT (Geotechnical Sustainability
Assessment Tool). Geo-SAT is developed to ensure the lack of research encompassing
global sustainability goals. Based on quantifiable indicators assessed by a third party
on a scale of 1 (detrimental) to 5 (significantly improved) measuring the impact on sustainability
for each decision made, a total of 171 indicators were developed (all generic
in nature) with the flexibility of addition, exclusion, and/or modification as per project’s
nature. The engineering aspect is developed using 92 indicators, 27 retained and 8 modified
from Environmental Geotechnics Indicators (EGIs), and 57 new. The different fields
targeted are dams, foundations, landslides, contaminated site remediation, soil and erosion
control, offshore construction, and transportation.
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