Happy Karl Terzaghi’s Birthday, 2016

terzaghi_birthday

terzaghi_birthdayEvery second of October, geotechnical engineers around the world remember Karl Terzaghi on his birthday! Terzaghi is the father of soil mechanics, and I don’t think it is cliche to say he is also the father of our profession. So happy KTB 2016!

I always like to celebrate by reading some of his quotes, many of which seem like they could have been written to us today…like this one:

The one thing an engineer should be afraid of is the development of conditions on the job which he has not anticipated. The construction drawings are no more than a wish dream. I have the impression that the great majority of dam failures were due to negligent construction and not to faulty design.