President’s Message

The Sri Lankan Geotechnical Society (SLGS) was inaugurated on 27th February 1986, under the visionary leadership of Prof. A Thurairajah who is considered as the ‘father of Soil Mechanics’ in Sri Lanka.

The formation of SLGS was in response to the need felt for a long time by Engineers and Engineering Geologists associated with the field of Geotechnical Engineering to provide a forum for exchange and advancement of knowledge in the field.

With time, SLGS gained recognition as a member of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE) way back in1994 thus opening opportunities to participate, internationally, in the advancement of the field of Geotechnical Engineering, an achievement of another goal set at the time of founding the Society.

Over the last thirty-five years of its existence, SLGS has worked in different fronts to meet its founding objectives. Many seminars and workshops were organized with world renowned experts in the field as resource personnel. Annual conferences were held on contemporary topics. Geo Forum – an evening lecture held periodically provide opportunities for the Sri Lankan Geotechnical Engineering Fraternity to learn from the experiences of the academia and the practitioners from local and overseas origins. Technical visits were arranged to project sites of geotechnical relevance.

Moreover, SLGS conducted two major international conferences in 2007 and 2015 with the participation of a large number of internationally renowned academia and practitioners in the field of geotechnical engineering. There were keynote lectures by eminent personnel and many researchers and practitioners presented their research findings and innovative design concepts. The Third International Conference organized by SLGS is scheduled for 06th and 07th December 2021. These conferences brought and will bring together experts from all over the world, creating a forum for sharing the knowledge and experience providing the much-needed guidance and confidence for the geotechnical engineers to overcome many challenges they face.

As the President of the Sri Lankan Geotechnical Society (SLGS), I am pleased to release this message for the revamped Website of the Society. Having understood the pressing need of upgrading the existing Website with the unprecedented requirement of distancing in tandem with the advancement of the state-of-the-art technology, the Website has been revamped and re-launched. The website being an efficient and effective mode of providing Society News and the much-needed geotechnical knowhow, I take this opportunity to invite the membership to interact with the Society activities through the new features provided in the new Web Page.

Further, the Executive Committee intends to work closely with the membership on a number of prioritized and important areas while maintaining their present status and activities. Some of these are briefly detailed below;

• Gaining Industry recognition – including increased awareness among policy makers and the political leadership – to achieve the required responsibility status and deserved role for Geotechnical Engineers in the development, design and implementation of mega scale national engineering projects. In this context, the Executive Committee has already taken steps to incorporate the Society through a Parliament Act.
• Gaining wide recognition and awareness for the field of Geotechnical Engineering as a unique profession with a strong professional identity for contributions in:
  • public safety and risk management,
  • sustainable / economic resource use management, andapplication of innovative technologies for creation of environment friendly, inspirational geotechnical structures and a sustainable built environment.
• Implementing training programmes to attract the “best and bright” engineering graduates to the field of geotechnical engineering. Strengthening programmes for updating technical competencies; providing a forum for resolving technical issues; maintaining professional conduct / ethical behaviour internally among members of the Society and externally with Clients and other stakeholders.
• Promoting fund raising activities for assisting geotechnical related activities and establish a permanent office for the Society.
• Conducting Conferences and Workshops of international standards to facilitate knowledge transfer to our members.

I am confident that our membership will seriously consider these initiatives and give their fullest cooperation to help our Society to grow from strength to strength.

I wish all our members success in their professional endeavours.

Eng. K.L.S. Sahabandu
B.Sc. Eng. (Hons.), Pg. Dip. (Hydraulic Eng.), M.Sc. (Structural Eng.),
C.Eng., M. Cons E(SL), M.I.C.E.(U.K.), F.I.E.(S.L.), Hon. F.S.S.E.(S.L.)