Legal Aspects of Geology in Engineering Practice

This is the seventh volume in the Engineering Case Histories series of the Division on Engineering Geology of the Geological Society of America, initiated in 1957. This volume is composed of 10 papers, covering general legal matters, changed conditions, construction claims, groundwater, landslides, landslide insurance, and condemnation of land. Because case histories dealing with the legal aspects are certainly controversial by their very nature, the Geological Society of America does not necessarily concur with the views expressed herein by the authors. Attorney Robert B. Jarvis, an engineer and specialist in contract law, recently expressed the situation when he posed the question, “Are engineers the largest group practicing law without a license?” (Civil Engineering, June 1963). Attorney Jarvis has raised the often repeated question, “Who pays for the unexpected in construction?” The case histories in this volume demonstrate why this question arises for a number of geological circumstances common to engineering works.