876 delegates (60 countries)
326 oral presentations (251 regular papers + 75 invited)
280 posters
Hosted by the Italian Geotechnical Society (AGI)
Conference Chair: Francesco Silvestri
Prof. Silvestri (standing), introducing the welcome ceremony of 7ICEGE as Conference Chairman. At the desk, left to right: Prof. Guler (on behalf of IGS), Prof. Manassero (European Vice-President of ISSMGE), Prof. Boulanger (TC203 chair), Prof. Moraci (AGI President and Conference Co-Chair), Prof. Dolce (Italian Department of Civil Protection).
The 7th International Conference on Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering was held in the Angelicum Congress Center in Rome, between the 17th and 20th June 2019.
The venue was located in the very center of the Eternal City, at a short distance from monuments such as the Colosseum, adopted as the conference icon even because its current state was affected by several historical earthquakes.
The high level of seismic risk in this part of the Italian peninsula was shown in the past two decades by four destructive seismic sequences, occurred in the regions of Molise in 2002, Abruzzo in 2009, Emilia-Romagna in 2012 and, shortly before the conference, in the Central Apennine Chain, in 2016-17.
For the Italian scientific and technical communities, the influence of geotechnical aspects on the earthquake-induced damage was significantly highlighted by the above events, stimulating an increasing effort in the development of research, practice and regulations in the field of Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering. Thus, 7ICEGE was an excellent opportunity for a showcase of these advancements, as well as for enabling to visit some areas at a roundtrip distance from the city where earthquake-related damage was still evident.
The conference was hosted by AGI (the Italian Geotechnical Society), chaired by Prof. Francesco Silvestri and co-chaired by Prof. Nicola Moraci, as AGI President, with the invaluable support by the AGI Secretariat, Mr. Claudio Soccodato and Ms. Susanna Antonielli.
The local Organising Committee took care of managing the technical programme, as well as the reviewing and editorial processes, with the appreciated support of the TC Chair, Prof. Ross W. Boulanger, the past Conference Chairs and several members of the Steering, Advisory and Scientific Committees.
As a measure of its success, the 7ICEGE attracted an unusually high number of 876 registered delegates from 60 countries, well above the initial expectations.
Prof. Gazetas while delivering the Special Lecture in memory of late Prof. Maugeri in the Aula Magna of the Angelicum Congress Center.
Technical Programme
As in the previous editions, the conference topics addressed the most recent developments in Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering through plenary and parallel sessions, stimulating fruitful technical and scientific interaction with the fields of seismology, geophysics, geology, structural and infrastructural engineering.
The technical programme included 75 invited speakers, 252 oral presentations of regular papers and 280 posters. The coffee and lunch breaks, hosted in the venue’s cloister and halls, gave chance to 16 exhibitors to meet the delegates.
The plenary sessions hosted 3 Special Lectures, namely:
the 7th Ishihara Lecture, by Prof. Ikuo Towhata (Kanto Gakuin University, Yokohama, Japan) on Summarizing geotechnical activities after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake of Japan;
the Lecture in memory of Prof. Michele Maugeri, delivered by Prof. George Gazetas (National Technical University of Athens, Greece) on Seismic performance of caisson and multi-block gravity quay walls;
the TC203 Young Researcher Award Lecture, by Prof. Jonathan A. Knappett (University of Dundee, UK) on Structure-soil-structure interaction in changing urban areas.
15 plenary Keynote Lectures were delivered by international top scientists with well-known background on the most representative topics of the conference.
4 Special Sessions were proposed and convened by as many international leading experts, supported by members of the local Organizing Committee; two of them were opened by Theme Lectures, and all included extended invited presentations.
Most of the parallel Regular Sessions were opened by a Theme Lecture on the relevant topic, followed by the presentation of selected contributions and an open discussion.
Last but not least, the programme hosted a ‘Forum’ on Geotechnical Aspects of the 2018 Indonesian Palu earthquake, convened by Profs. Kenji Ishihara and Takaji Kokusho (Japan) and a ‘Wisemen Session’ on ‘Retrospectives and perspectives in Earthquake Geotechnics, chaired by Prof. Michele Jamiolkowski (Italy).
The electronic volume of the proceedings, including 674 technical papers for a total of 5945 pages, has been indexed by the Scopus database. About one year after the conference, all published papers were made freely downloadable through the ISSMGE library.
Photos (clockwise from top right) : The 7th Ishihara Lecture was presented by Prof. Towhata wearing a traditional Japanese kimono. The lecture was awarded by Prof. Boulanger. The outfit deserved photographing by some first row delegates, including Prof. Ishihara himself
Prof. Knappett, recipient of TC203 Young Researcher Award, awarded by Prof. Bray.
The saddest plenary session: Dr. Kil-Wan Ko delivering the Keynote Lecture in place of Prof. Dong-Soo Kim (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology), who prematurely passed away a few months after the Conference.
Three ‘earth dames’ leading a parallel session on earth structures: Profs. Adda Athanasopoulos-Zekkos and Stefania Sica (Chairpersons), Dr. Stavroula Kontoe (Theme lecturer).
About 100 delegates participated in a series of technical tours taking place before and after the conference. These included:
a tour through the excavations of Line C of Rome underground,
an overview of the sites in the Aterno river valley mostly affected by the Mw 6.1 L'Aquila earthquake in 2009,
a roundtrip to the villages most significantly damaged by the Central Apennine seismic sequence in 2016-2017.
Participants to the technical tour to Rome Line C underground excavations shot in front of the Colosseum
Participants to the technical tour to the Aterno river valley shot in front of Campotosto earth dam, located near active faults.
Participants to the technical tour to the Central Apennines in the village of Amatrice, one of the heavily damaged sites in the 2016-2017 seismic sequence.
Social Programme
At the sunset of the conference opening day, delegates were invited to a welcome reception in the large historical garden at the venue.
The Gala dinner was held on the evening before the closing day at the Caffarelli Terrace on the Capitol hill, an enchanting viewpoint towards the Eternal City.
A jazz band entertained the delegates during the ‘Ice breaking’ cocktail in the garden of the Angelicum Congress Center
The ‘Trinity of martyrs‘ of the Organizing Committee: Profs. Filippo Santucci de Magistris, Giovanni Biondi and Anna d’Onofrio at last relaxed at the welcome reception.
The ‘hard core’ of the organizing committee of 7ICEGE: Ms. Susanna Antonielli, Mr. Claudio Soccodato, Profs. Francesco Silvestri and Nicola Moraci enjoying the gala dinner.
A beautiful view from inside the Caffarelli Terrace, location of the gala dinner.
Prof. Ishihara thoughtful in between two former PhD students, Profs. Cubrinovski and Verdugo (Chairs of 5th and 6th ICEGEs some years after graduating), now still arguing about liquefaction?