If anyone is in the planning stages of putting up a structure, like a mall or bridge, it is absolutely necessary to get the services of a geotechnical engineer to examine the site for weakness. Geotechnical engineering is a discipline that looks far below the surface that is to be built on to make sure that the ground will be able to take the weight of the building, or be able to weather any kind of other forces that are found in the area.

In the past people would just throw up buildings without thought for foundations or any other kind of underpinning. Inevitably, these buildings would collapse bringing down other buildings too. Even today in third world countries where no one is consulted about buildings, this happens far too often. We all know how hard it is to get a building plan past planning officers, but it is for this very reason that they are so tight on the limitations of where structures or buildings can be erected. The consultant will take into consideration all kinds of points when he is surveying a site; the absence or presence of an underground stream perhaps, or whether the bedrock is of the wrong material to take the foundations. All these factors will have some kind of influence over the final result and then he will have to make a decision based on this. If he agrees that it is suitable, he can say what kind of foundations, and more importantly, what strength of footings and other structures will be needed to hold up the building.

Where coastal regions come into play the addition of water makes the survey much more important. The enormous power of water constantly battering the shore may make it impossible to build certain kinds of buildings there. However, there are enough bridges and jetties to show that these problems are usually not too difficult to get around.

One particularly difficult job is to make a platform where oil is being pumped from the seabed. These must be stable since they are pumping out huge volumes of gas or oil and any slippage could not only be a disaster for those on the rig, it could also be an environmental disaster which could have long lasting effects. Therefore, getting these consultants to check all and every angle must be a priority.

This discipline has grown over the past few centuries but foundations themselves have been built down through the centuries. However these days, they are far more technical than in the last few centuries. Not only are soil samples taken, they are tested for how much water they will hold, how much air they already hold and many other tests that the layman would not think about. It is very technical but this is how these great structures are built, and more importantly, how they remain standing for hundreds of years.

They have just unveiled the tallest building in the world in Dubai, but it is obvious that without these consultants, the planning permission would never have been given. Indeed, even the smallest house must still have the go ahead from this type of consultant before any work is undertaken.