Geotechnical engineers ensure the foundations for a built object, including a street, building, runway, or dam, are solid. They primarily focus on how structures and the earth interact, including with soil and rocks. Geotechnical engineers design and plan for slopes, retaining walls, and tunnels. They review the organic features of a proposed construction site and its surroundings to verify the appropriateness of the location.
Geotechnical engineers also account for factors including weather or traffic before delivering their ultimate decisions about the safety of a proposed or existing site. When inspecting a proposed site, geotechnical engineers examine the composition of naturally occurring formations and take an array of samples to study in a laboratory and determine the likelihood of consequential movement in the land at the proposed site. They suggest effective fixes for geotechnical obstacles including slopes and calculate the required cost in material resources and share a final evidence-based verdict with stakeholders. Geotechnical engineers need a bachelor’s degree in geotechnical engineering.