OBITUARY

Professor Wilson H. Tang

Written by Charles W. W. Ng

On Thursday, January 5, 2012, Professor Wilson H. Tang, aged 68, passed away peacefully in the company of his loving family in Chicago after a long and courageous battle with his illness. Born in Hong Kong, Professor Tang pursued further studies in the US after completing his high school education at La Salle College. He earned his Bachelors (1966) and Masters (1967) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and completed his Doctorate from Stanford University (1969), all in Civil Engineering. He taught at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for 27 years before joining the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology as Chair Professor and Head of the Department of Civil Engineering in 1996. Under his leadership, the department evolved into one of the best in Asia. He retired in 2009, but remained active in research, teaching and public service.

Professor Tang had an extremely distinguished academic career in which he made significant contributions in the areas of safety and reliability analysis in Civil Engineering. He was a world leader in promoting the use of reliability based methods for risk mitigation and design in various areas, geotechnical engineering in particular. His expertise covered application of probability methods to the wide area of civil infrastructure engineering/management. He had over 250 technical publications and his co-authored books (with A. H-S Ang) including “Probability Concepts in Engineering Planning & Design,” recently revised, have been widely adopted by top universities worldwide. The books have also been translated into five languages. Professor Tang had led several major international boards and committees. He was a long-term member of ISSMGE and served as vice chair of TC32 Risk Assessment and Management between 1997 and 2001. More importantly, he encouraged his colleagues and students to join ISSMGE. His distinguished career is evident by the highest honors that he received worldwide including the State of the Art Award, Fellow and Distinguished Member from the American Society of Civil Engineers, the highly respected T.K. Hsieh award from the Institution of Civil Engineers in the UK, the US Offshore Energy Center’s Hall of Fame and Guggenheim Fellow, and Fellow and Vice President of the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences.

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Vol. 43 No.4 December 2012 ISSN 0046-5828

Guest Editors: Tom Lunne & Don de Groot

Sponsored by: Asian Institute of Technology

Content and Abstracts

Evaluation of existing CPT correlations in silt
by A. S. Bradshaw, A. C. Morales-Velez and C.D.P. Baxter

Characterisation of quick clay at Dragvoll, Trondheim, Norway
by A. Emdal, M. Long, A. Bihs, A. Gylland and N. Boylan

Field response of push-in earth pressure cells for instrumentation and site characterization of soils
by Alan J. Lutenegger

Frequent-interval SDMT and continuous SCPTu for detailed shear wave velocity profiling in soils
by T. Ku and P.W. Mayne

In situ testing of peat – a review and update on recent developments
by M. Long and N. Boylan

Understanding the stiffness of soils in Singapore from pressuremeter testing
by K.H. Goh, K. Jeyatharan and D. Wen

In situ measurement of hydraulic conductivity of saturated soils
by D.J. DeGroot, D.W. Ostendorf and A.I. Judge

Rate effect on cone penetration test in sand
by F. A. B. Danziger and T. Lunne

Vol. 43 No.3 September 2012 ISSN 0046-5828

Guest Editor: Prof. Abdelmalek Bouazza

Sponsored by: Asian Institute of Technology

Content and Abstracts

Waste/Lining System Interaction: Implications for Landfill Design and Performance 1-10
by N. Dixon, K. Zamara1, D.R.V. Jones and G. Fowmes

Wrinkling of a Geomembrane on a Compacted Clay Liner on a Slope 11-18
R. K. Rowe, P. Yang, M.J. Chappel, R.W.I. Brachman , W.A. Take

Diffusion of phenolic compounds through an HDPE geomembrane 19-29
by N. Touze-Foltz, M. Ahari, M. Mendes, C. Barral, M. Gardoni and L. Mazeas

Shear-Induced Geomembrane Damage due to Gravel in Underlying Compacted Clay 30-34
by P. J. Fox, C. Athanassopoulos, S. S. Thielmann, and A. N. Stern

Evaluation of mineral barriers against acid rock drainage 35-42
by A. Naka, T. Katsumi, G. Flores, T. Inui, T. Ohta, T. Urakoshi, and T. Ishihara

Improvement on the Performance of Geosynthetic Clay Liners Using Polymer Modified Bentonite 43-45
by Y. Liu, W. P. Gates and A. Bouazza

Effect of Settlement rate and Geogrid reinforcement on the Deformation Behaviour of Soil barriers of Landfill Covers: Centrifuge Study 46-54
by S. Rajesh and B.V.S. Viswanadham

Effect of differential settlements on the sealing efficiency of GCLs compared to CCLs: Centrifuge Study 55-61
by B.V.S. Viswanadham, S. Rajesh and A. Bouazza

Geosynthetic Lining System for Modern Waste Facilities – Experiences in Developing Asia 62-67
by H. B. Ng and B. Ramsey

The Use of Geosynthetics in Major Metropolitan Landfills in Perth, WA – Two Case Studies 68-70
by L. Du Preez, R. Beaman and I. Watkins

Vol. 43 No.2 June 2012 ISSN 0046-5828

Guest Editors: Prof. Ikuo Towhata, Prof. Der Wen Chang & Dr. Ivan Gratchev

Sponsored by: Asian Institute of Technology

Content and Abstracts

Papers:

Proposed Changes to the Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering Provisions of the Bangladesh National Building Code
by Tahmeed M. Al-Hussaini, Tahsin R. Hossain and M. Hayeem Al-Noman

Analysis of Soil Liquefaction during the Recent Canterbury (New Zealand) Earthquakes
by RP Orense, MJ Pender and LM Wotherspoon

Numerical Simulation of Seismic Slope Stability Analysis based on Tension-Shear Failure Mechanism
by Yingbin Zhang, Guangqi Chen, Jian Wu, Lu Zheng, Xiaoying Zhuang

A Real-time Prediction Method for Regional Rainfall-induced Geohazards in Post-earthquake Region of Wenchuan Earthquake
by Z. Yang, J. Qiao, H. Tian, D. Huang, M. Wang and H. Meng

Effects of Anisotropic Consolidation and Stress Reversal on the Liquefaction Resistance of Sands and Silty Sands
by Abbas Galandarzadeh and Alireza Ahmadi

Characteristics of Slope Failures During Natural Disasters Considering Geographical Features and Groundwater Level: Case Study of the Chuetsu Region of Niigata, Japan
by H. Toyota

Overview of the Geotechnical Damages and the Technical Problems Posed after the 2011 off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake
by M. Kazama, T. Noda, T. Mori and J. Kim

Development of Potential Map for Landslides Induced by the Chi-Chi Earthquake Using Instability Index
by Meei-Ling Lin and Yu-Hung Shu

Technical Notes:

Geotechnical Hazards with Emphasis on Seismically-Combined Effects on Slopes
by Ikuo Towhata

Monitoring on Earthquake Induced Landslide – A Case Study in Northwest Chengdu, China
by Hongling Tian, Jianping Qiao., Taro Uchimura and Lin Wang

Vol. 43 No.1 March 2012 ISSN 0046-5828

Guest Editors: Charles W. W. Ng & Apiniti Jotisankasa

Sponsored by: Asian Institute of Technology

Content and Abstracts

Papers

Some Applications Of Unsaturated Soil Mechanics In Thailand: An Appropriate Technology Approach
by W. Mairaing, A. Jotisankasa and S. Soralump

Calculation Of Heave Of Deep Pier Foundations
by J.D. Nelson, K.C. Chao, D.D. Overton and R.W. Schaut

In-Situ And Laboratory Investigations Of Stress-Dependent Permeability Function And SDSWCC From An Unsaturated Soil Slope
by C. W. W. Ng and A. K. Leung

Measurements Of Shrinkage Induced Pressure (Sip) In Unsaturated Expansive Clays
by A.J. Puppala, T. Wejrungsikul, V. Puljan and T. Manosuthikij

Unsaturated Soil Mechanics For Slope Stabilization
by H. Rahardjo, A. Satyanaga, E. C. Leong

The Development Of Unsaturated Soil Mechanics At Imperial College, London
by J.R. Standing

Climate Change And The Role Of Unsaturated Soil Mechanics
by D.G. Toll, J. Mendes, P.N. Hughes, S. Glendinning and D. Gallipoli

Some Mining Applications Of Unsaturated Soil Mechanics
by D.J. Williams