Geology - Basics for Engineers (second edition) presents the physical and chemical characteristics of the Earth, the nature and the properties of rocks and unconsolidated deposits/sediments, the action of water, how the Earth is transformed by various phenomena at different scales of time and space. The book shows the engineer how to take geological conditions into account in their projects, and how to exploit a wide range of natural resources in an intelligent way, reduce geological hazards, and manage subsurface pollution.

This second edition has been fully revised and updated. Through a problem-based learning approach, this instructional text imparts knowledge and practical experience to engineering students (undergraduate and graduate level), as well as to experts in the fields of civil engineering, environmental engineering, earth sciences, architecture, land and urban planning.

Free digital supplements to the book, found on the book page, contain solutions to the problems and animations that show additional facets of the living Earth.

The original French edition of the book (2007) won the prestigious Roberval Prize, an international contest organized by the University of Technology of Compiegne in collaboration with the General Council of Oise, France. Geology, Basics for Engineers was selected out of a total of 110 candidates. The jury praised the book as a very well conceived teaching textbook and underscored its highly didactic nature, as well as the excellent quality of its illustrations.

Features:

Aurèle Parriaux studied geology at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) in Lausanne, Switzerland. He obtained his Ph.D. in hydrogeology and followed several postgraduate courses in hydrogeology, operational hydrology and geotechnics.
In 1991, he was appointed Professor of Engineering Geology at EPFL and presently he is head of the Engineering and Environmental Geology Laboratory (GEOLEP) at the same institute. He leads a research team of about twenty people specializing in the fields of geological hazards and underground resources.
Professor Parriaux has significant teaching responsibilities. He teaches geology to students in 'Civil Engineering' and 'Environmental Sciences and Engineering'. Moreover, he teaches Engineering Geology at the Universities of Lausanne and Geneva.
Parallel to his research and teaching, Aurèle Parriaux carries out expert appraisals in various fields of engineering and environmental geology. In particular, the recent appraisal of the compatibility between construction of tunnels and protection of groundwater resources.
Since the creation of the new School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, he participates in the teaching related to territory and landscape into which he brings the geological and geomorphologic component.

Aurèle Parriaux is active in several international organizations. He was chairman of the Swiss Hydrogeological Society for six years. From 2001 to 2006 he was Director of the Civil Engineering Section of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne.
In 2006, he published his book Géologie: bases pour l'ingénieur. The second edition of this successful textbook will be published in 2009. In competition with 105 scientific books, Géologie: bases pour l'ingénieur received the Roberval Prize in 2007. The publisher CRC Press/Balkema, member of the Taylor & Francis Group decided to publish an English translation of the book (Geology: basics for Engineers, 2009).
In December 2008, Prof. Parriaux was nominated Chevalier of the Order of Academic Palms by the Prime Minister of the Republic of France.