Special Commission IV
Applications of Geodesy to Engineering
Report for the period 1995 - 1999
by Heribert Kahmen
University of Technology, Vienna
 

Contents

1. Objectives of SC4

2. Activities 1995 - 1999

3. The Working Groups

4. Acknowledgement

 

 

1. Objectives of SC4

Rapid developments in engineering, microelectronics and computersciences have greatly changed both instrumentation and methodology in engineering geodesy. The objectives of Special Commission 4 are on the one hand, to document the body of knowledge in this field and on the other hand, to encourage new developments and present them in a consistent framework. To accomplish the first objective, an International Symposium and a series of Workshops were organized to document the current state of development in engineering applications of geodesy. The second objective was accomplished by five Working Groups which were established in areas of current research interest.

 

2. Activities in 1995 - 1999

To promote the activities of the Working Groups and to provide a platform for international scientific discussions, IAG founded SC4 organized an International Symposium "Geodesy for Geotechnical and Structural Engineering" in Eisenstadt (Austria) 1998. This Symposium was one in a row of the activities of SC4. The topic of the Congress truly reflects the broadening concern of the engineering geodesy community for matters that go partly beyond the technical demands of the profession. An extraction of the contributions of the Plenary and Special Sessions proves that:
Geotechnical Exploration Strategies
Machine Guidance
Mobile Multi-Sensor Systems
Local Geodynamic Processes
Building Structures as Kinematic Systems
Traffic Guidance Control
Geometrical Investigation of Spatial Geodetic Problems
Technical Networks of Large Construction Sites
The programme included Sessions with topics that were of current interest for practitioners and scientists. The Symposium was co-sponsered by IAG Section I, FIG-Commission 5 & 6, the Federal Board of Architects and Engineers, and the Austrian Society of Surveying and Geoinformation. More than 160 participants from 22 different countries attended the meetings.

The proceedings of the Symposium have been published by the Institute for Geodesy and Geophysics, Gusshausstrasse 27 - 29, A-1040 Vienna.

In addition a row of Workshops was organized by the Working Groups. Informations about those meetings are given in the reports of the Working Groups.

 

3. The Working Groups

Five Working Groups were regarded to be challenging and rewarding:

WG1: Mobile Multi-Sensor Systems

WG2: Building Structures as Kinematic Systems

WG3: Geodetic Reference Systems for Traffic Guidance Control

WG4: Geometrical Investigations of Spatial Geodetic Problems

WG5: Geotechnical Exploration Strategy

The Working Groups met during the Symposium in Eisenstadt and during especially organized workshops. The Working Groups WG1, WG2, WG3 and WG5 should continue their work during the period 1999 - 2003, as there will be many interesting new developments in their fields of acitivity. On the other hand a new Working Group "Geodesy on large Construction Sites" should be established.

The full reports of the Working Groups can be found on the IAG webpage.

 

4. Acknowledgement

A great part of the reported research work was performed by the chairman and the member of the Working Groups. I would like to thank them for their contributions and cooperation.

SC4 was strongly related to other international Commissions in related fields:

- FIG Commission 5

- FIG Commission 6.

Thanks to the Commission Presidents Jean-Marie Becker (Sweden) and Michael Mayoud (France).