Geotechnics & Engineering Geology

Geology Portal

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Anthropogenic pollution	The most diverse bedrock and rock components have weathered to fertile soils over thousands of years. They constitute the indispensable foundation for the terrestrial ecosystem, for plant growth and higher forms of life. The Swiss Soil Monitoring Network NABO monitors the state and development of soil pollution and is an important instrument in preventative soil protection.
Applications	All of us are confronted daily – often unknowingly – confronted with geology: from the ground on which we live, past the concrete as part of a building’s foundation, to the copper in the mobile telephone, so much has to do with geology.

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Boreholes	Boreholes provide information about the composition of the ground. They also serve a particular purpose: for example, for the production of natural gas or as preparation for construction methods.
Bergregal	The Bergregal (principles of mining law) regulates the property rights for mineral resources. In Switzerland, it is mostly determined by the cantons. Energy and ore resources as well as salt are usually included therein.
Borehole data model	As a result of greater and more diverse utilization of the subsurface, administrative and public circles are increasingly focusing on our knowledge about the subsurface. Borehole data from drilling operations are one of the main sources of the relevant information. Therefore the Swiss Geological Survey, in collaboration with representatives from the federal government, cantons, private sector and universities, developed the “borehole data model" as the first recommendation for structuring basic digital borehole data.

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Construction site	The construction site is to be evaluated, described and investigated in detail for the professional execution of construction projects.
Construction & Technology
CO2 sequestration	With CO2 capture and sequestration, carbon dioxide is separated from combustion exhaust gases and subsequently indefinitely stored without using containers, in deep underground rock layers. The technology is currently still in the developmental stage.
Culture	Dimension stone as building material, utensils and carriers of messages are part of our culture: the oldest cultural artifacts are similarly from stone, just as the products of today’s artists or engineers.
Checklists	Checklists, sample table of contents, sample reports, job tools – such standards are provided as recommendations in different geological spheres. Following them complies with good professional practice.
Catalogs	Are you looking for geodata on geology or the environment? Here you will find access to various metadata catalogs for Switzerland, Europe or other countries.

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Deep repository	In Switzerland, radioactive waste will in the future be disposed of in deep geological repositories. These are situated located several hundred meters below the surface of the Earth in geologically stable rock layers. Geodata documents the federal governments sectoral plan procedure.
Data models	In general, a model depicts the very complex reality. In order to enable this depiction, the reality must be generalized and idealized.
Data Viewer	Is the Piz Bernina map sheet already printed? On what type of ground is my house standing? You can find the answer to these and other questions in the «Topic Geology» of swisstopo’s Viewer “map.geo.admin.ch”.

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Energy supply	Switzerland’s energy supply results largely from the import of fossil fuels. To reduce her CO2 emissions and become more independent on foreign countries, Switzerland must rely on energy efficiency and renewable energies. Geothermal energy could play a decisive role in this process as a geological energy source.
Energy
Energy resources	Switzerland has a high per capita consumption of energy resources. Its energy requirements are covered by various sources: fossil fuels such as combustibles and motor fuels make up the largest portion thereof.
Earthquakes	Earthquakes are caused by stresses in the Earth’s interior which built up by the movement of the Earth’s crustal plates relative to one another. If these stresses become too large then a fracture occurs, whereby the rock masses suddenly jerkily move past each other.
Experience Geology	At the “Erlebnis Geologie“ (Experience Geology) events, Swiss geologists from universities, museums, public offices and private industry provide the general public with interesting insights into their areas of expertise. The knowledge of how many areas of geology influence our daily lives has been fascinating all visitors since the start of the event series in 2007.
Experience	Whether for children or adults: museums, show mines, geoparks or geological trails offer numerous opportunities to be inspired by geology. Here you will find a selection of what is on offer.

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Fundamentals of Geology

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Groundwater	Groundwater is an important indigenous resource. It is a central element of the natural water cycle and feeds valuable habitats. An integral groundwater conservation is indispensable for conservation of groundwater resources.
Geothermal energy	Geothermal energy – energy from the earth’s interior – is today already widely used in Switzerland. The potential for the future is enormous.
Geotechnics & Engineering Geology	Geotechnical engineering combines elements of earth science, construction and mining. Tunneling projects, slope stabilization or site investigations are typical areas of application.
Geological cartography	Geological maps display a multitude of geologically relevant information in a concise manner. They are an important basis for geotechnical and environmental decisions. .
Geophysics	Geophysics deals with all of the Earth’s relevant physical phenomena. It includes various fields and can be subdivided according to research methods and their relevant applications.
Geological hazards
Geology in everyday life
Geology data model	The geology data model forms the foundation for national uniformly structured geological vector data sets.
Geology lexicon	Numerous databases and lexica about geology can be found in the internet and in book form.
Geotopes	Geotopes are natural geoscientific monuments worthy of protection: spatially constrained parts of the geosphere of geological, geomorphological or geo-ecological importance. Depending on whether the formative processes are complete or still in progress, they are then static or active geotopes.
Geological hiking trails	Geotourism develops, promotes and commercializes special geological landscape features. Professionals and lay people can experience and understand developments in earth science on geological trails, in geoparks, show caves, geotopes or at events such as “Erlebnis Geologie”.
Geology-relevant data	So that the widest possible audience has access to geology-relevant data, the Swiss Geological Survey published an overview in book form.
Geological 3D models	Geological 3D models provide a clear insight into the subsurface and thereby depict complex relationships in an understandable way.

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Hydrology	The federal government studies Switzerland’s hydrological balance using various monitoring networks: MeteoSwiss measures the precipitation. The WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF measures the snow quantities. Various universities measure the glaciers. The Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) ascertains the water supply and water quality of the most important Swiss rivers and lakes with long-term measurements at fixed stations.
Health	The risk of lung cancer increases when radon, a naturally occurring radioactive gas, accumulates in rooms. Based on recent scientific evidence, the Federal Council in 2011 adopted the “National Action Plan concerning Radon 2012-2020”.
History of Mining	In Switzerland, ores and other mineral resources were already being extracted by mining methods 3500 years ago. There has been no mining activity in this country since 1967 – there is however an interest in its history.

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Industrial minerals	Industrial minerals are minerals or rocks that are important for technical processes and applications in industry. Unlike ores, which are converted into metals by smelting, industrial minerals can be used in their natural state or after minimal beneficiation.

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Lookup	Diverse information provided compactly and simply – that is the requirement of the Geology Portal. Experience more e.g., about the geology of Switzerland, data models or software that simplifies the daily routine of geologists.
Learning	Here you will find a range of websites that offer virtual learning platforms or material for schools and teachers.
Look at	Below can be found a selection of web-based image databases, image archives and maps in the field of geology or earth sciences. This collection does not claim to be complete.

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Mineral Resources
Metadata	Metadata (“data about data“) refers to structured data that describes an information resource and thus make these easier to find. In this way information from the properties of an object are also referred to as metadata.

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Natural pollution	Pollution is understood to mean the natural or anthropogenic pollution of the living environment by polluting Nature with harmful substances such as toxins, microorganisms and radioactive substances. Man is exposed to both cosmic as well as terrestrial natural radiation. The so-called terrestrial radiation level is registered with a variety of methods.

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Ores	Since the Bronze Age, the mining and extraction of naturally occurring ores are of great importance for mankind. In Switzerland however, the mining of ores nowadays can no longer be operated economically.
Overview of geological software	Geologists are dependent on support from numerous software applications for their daily work. Besides the classic Office applications, a multitude of specialized applications enable the useful analysis and representation of geological data sets.

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Planning for the future

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Quaternary geology	The Quaternary is the most recent period in the Earth’s history: the last 2.6 million years. It is marked by the appearance of man as well as repeated glacial/interglacial cycles, which strongly influenced the mountains and their environment.

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Rockfall, landslides, debris flows	Mass movements (gravitational natural hazards) are downslope directed displacements of solid and/or loose rocks as well as soil material. As falling processes, they can occur quickly and suddenly. Landslides on the other hand, are slow, continuous processes.
Resource monitoring	Statistical data on mineral resources, mineral or raw material industries and material cycles in Switzerland (qualitative, quantitative and economic) are collected and interpreted through resource monitoring
Rocks & soils	The rocks and soils are an important commodity group for Switzerland. This includes raw materials for the brick-and-tile industry, lime and marl for the binder material industry, gravels and sands as well as dimension stone and rock for construction purposes.
Regulations, guidelines and standards	Geologists are required to perform work according to professional standards that are defined in technical documentation, guidelines, acts and regulations.
Revision service	Are there any changes, errors or additions that have not yet been included in our maps or geodata? Share your input with us using the geodata viewer at map.swisstopo.admin.ch – via your smartphone if you’re on the go or simply from your computer at home.

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Stratigraphy	As a geological discipline, stratigraphy deals with the spatial location and temporal sequence of rock bodies. By means of stratigraphy, bodies of rock are dated and correlated with each other.
Seismic Atlas	The Swiss Plateau makes up about a third of the surface of Switzerland and consists mainly of the Molasse basin. Slightly more than two thirds of Switzerland’s population lives here. The Seismic Atlas of the Swiss Molasse Basin serves as an important foundation for geological projects.
Stratigraphic committee
Stratigraphic lexicon	The Lithostratigraphic Lexicon of Switzerland describes the lithostratigraphic units occurring in Switzerland. It is a convenient reference work for geologists from academia and industry.
Statistics	Here you will find data analyses on geological topics in Switzerland. The Swiss Geotechnical Commission (SGTK) is currently building up a raw materials monitoring program together with the Swiss Geological Survey.
Shops & Downloads	Are you interested in geology-relevant data, topographic or geological maps? Are you looking for an unpublished geological report or a scientific publication? Here you can find the most important suppliers..

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Tectonics / Structural geology	Enormous forces have always been at work inside our Earth. They continuously deform the Earth’s crust and affect its structural composition. Tectonic maps show how Switzerland is geologically constructed.
Tunneling	The rock mass must be described and investigated in detail for the professional project planning and execution of underground structures. Here geologists and engineers must work closely together.

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Underground planning	The deep subsurface is being exploited more and more. The underground planning project group of the Swiss Association of Geologists (CHGEOL) is campaigning in this field for sustainable concepts which are based on geological knowledge. In addition, they are investigating where there is a need for regulations in order to avoid conflicts in the utilization

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Water
Water & ice	Whether fluid or frozen: water can cause a variety of natural hazards
Wine	The system “rock – weathering – soil – vine – wine” is complex: climate and weather influence the quality of a wine – for the character however, the underlying rock, from which the vine obtains nutrients and water, also plays an important role.

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3D Geology	3D geological models provide a key solutions approach for infrastructure, urban and landscape planning. Spatial representation offers many advantages.

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Geotechnics & Engineering Geology

Geotechnical engineering combines elements of earth science, construction and mining. Tunneling projects, slope stabilization or site investigations are typical areas of application.

Cut-and-cover tunnel of the AlpTransit in Amsteg — Rapidly through the Gotthard: cut-and-cover tunnel of the AlpTransit AG in Amsteg
© AlpTransit Gotthard AG

Summary

Applications of Geotechnics

If there is to be building underground, people who are familiar with the mechanical properties of the ground or rocks are deployed: No Gotthard railway tunnel without specialists from the field of geotechnics or engineering geology!

Examples of typical geotechnics or engineering geology applications:

From simple geotechnical site investigations for the construction of a single-family detached home, through to highly complex geotechnical investigations such as the at the new Zürich cross-city.
Tunnel construction
Construction of a landfill site or a radioactive waste repository
Slope stabilization
Dam construction
Rockfall barriers
Construction and maintenance of mines and quarries

Earlier usage of the term “geotechnics”

"Geotechnics" was previously widely understood in the sense of "Technology in the geological sciences"; therefore, older geotechnical work would today more likely be placed in the field of technical mineralogy. The term "Geotechnics” has become a common institutional expression in the universities. Previously, the designation of the individual discipline was used, such as earthworks and foundation engineering, soil mechanics, rock mechanics, rock and tunnel construction, thoroughfare construction, hydraulic engineering etc.

You will find more details on applied geotechnics here.

Drilling and blasting in the KWO Handeck-Gerstenegg access tunnel, loading the blast holes in the Central Aare Granite: geotechnicians and geologists are right there at the front when kilometer-long tunnel systems are driven into the rock for the generation of hydroelectricity.
© Kellerhals+Haefeli AG, Bern

Who is who

Geotechnical engineering is taught in Switzerland at universities. These also participate in major projects. Otherwise, mostly private geology and engineering bureaus which are specialized in geotechnics, carry out the work.

Institute for Geotechnical Engineering of ETH Zürich

E-Mail
Website (English)

The Institute for Geotechnical Engineering deals with soil and rock mechanics, clay minerals, geotechnical engineering and geo-environmental engineering. The institute is responsible for teaching and research, has highly specialized laboratories and field equipment at their disposal and offers various services.

Engineering Geology of ETH Zürich

Contact form
Website (English)

The group for Engineering Geology is part of the Geological Institute of ETH Zürich. It researches the hydraulic and mechanical processes in fractured rock masses. The studies do not remain mere pure research, but are implemented daily in the fields of tunneling, natural hazards, geothermal energy or the sustainable use of groundwater.

Laboratoire de géologie de l'ingénieur et de l'environnement GEOLEP (Laboratory of Engineering and Environmental Geology - EPFL)

E-Mail

Website (French und English)

The Laboratory of Engineering and Environmental Geology is part of the School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering ENAC (Faculté de l'environnement naturel, architectural et construit ENAC). It sets priorities in the natural resources of groundwater and geothermal energy, as well as in natural hazards, groundwater contamination and tunneling.

Geozentrum Burgdorf

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Website

The Geozentrum Burgdorf is a collaboration between the Bern University of Applied Science
(department Architecture, Wood and Civil Engineering) and the Institute of Geological Sciences of the University of Bern. The laboratories of the Geocenter for Geotechnics and Engineering Geology support the teaching and research activities of both institutions and carry out a variety of material tests.

L'Istituto scienze della Terra (SUPSI institute of earth sciences)

E-Mail
Website

The institute is part of the Department for Environment Construction and Design of the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI). It deals with the management and protection of the environment and its resources. Its areas of expertise include geology, geotechnics, hydrology, hydrogeology and geomatics.

Swiss Geotechnical Commission (SGTK)

E-Mail
Webseite

The SGTK, in collaboration with the Swiss Geological Survey, the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) and with private geology bureaus, produces the 1:200 000 geotechnical maps, the 1:100 000 hydrogeological maps as well as regional soil and rock maps.

Data

Several federal agencies and cantonal authorities provide the public and private sector with basic geotechnical data: groundwater data, borehole profiles and other types of data can be obtained online at the respective cantonal offices for the environment.

The Swiss Geological Survey

The Swiss Geological Survey collects and archives unpublished geological documents, digital data (e.g., from seismic recordings) and samples (in particular drillhole samples) useful for national geological investigation. It makes this geological information available professionally.

E-Mail

Website

Cantonal Centers

For example, on many cantonal web portals, groundwater data, borehole profiles and much more may be obtained. Map viewer of the cantons.

Swiss Geotechnical Commission (SGTK)

The SGTK, since its foundation in 1899, has been compiling documentation, reports, databases and maps in the field of geotechnics in Switzerland: