Publication of the Environment Agency (EA) Guide to Risk Assessment for Reservoir Safety Management ( Bowles et al., 2013 ) has increased the interest and awareness in undertaking risk assessments on dams in the UK. The guide introduces a three-tier approach to risk assessments. Tier 1 is qualitative and tier 2 introduces some basic quantitative tools. Tier 3 introduces more detailed quantitative methods and methods of dealing with uncertainty. A key part of undertaking successful tier 3 internal erosion risk assessments is gathering and interpreting the correct geotechnical information. The International Committee on Large Dams bulletin ( Bridle, 2013 ) contains invaluable information taken from research around the world, which adds to our knowledge of the internal erosion processes via specialist test procedures and methods. On existing dams much of the information available is from historical site investigations using conventional investigation techniques and soil and rock testing. Many of the specialist tests used to evaluate the susceptibility of materials to internal erosion are not generally available in the UK and can be prohibitively expensive. This paper aims to make the most of commonly available standard classification test data to provide a means of obtaining information on the susceptibility of embankment materials to internal erosion. In many cases this may be sufficient to provide enough information for a reasonable tier 3 assessment to be made or identify areas where further information would be beneficial depending on the risk posed and potential consequences of dam failure.

A current trend is the requirement for complex civil engineering projects to be carried out to very short time-scales. These projects often involve difficult and protracted planning consultations. This leads to increased pressure on all the professionals involved to work at a very fast, though erratic, pace that is dictated by others. This is particularly the case with the collection and utilization of information about the ground that is required for the design and construction phases of projects. Large changes in scope and detail often occur due to a wide range of environmental, technical, financial and other external factors.The engineering geologist plays a crucial part in the management of projects that are to be completed successfully to time and within budget. This paper discusses key areas in which engineering geologists can significantly affect the outcome of a project and also factors that may influence the professional development of engineering geologists in future years.

Engineering geology plays an indispensable part in the planning and construction of tunnels. This is demonstrated by the construction of the Midge Hall Valley Sewer tunnel through Middle Coal Measures rocks in the vicinity of Rochdale, Greater Manchester.A three-phased site investigation was carried out, at the planning, design and construction phases of the project. These lead to the determination of ground reference conditions, the choice of tunnelling method and the target cost of the tender.Throughout the project good communication was maintained between the client, the engineer to the project and both the site investigation contractor and the tunnelling contractor. This invoked confidence in the prediction of ground conditions forward of the tunnel face, and in the excavation and support methods used during the works. This example demonstrates the high value of good quality engineering geological input throughout a high risk construction project such as tunnelling.

This paper seeks to demonstrate that the processes used in dam safety assessments are not too dissimilar to those used in the life and death situations encountered in the medical profession. Through a personal account, the paper explores how the processes used within our profession for risk assessment can also be applied to the investigation, diagnoses and treatment of prostate cancer.

Bangkok, the capital city of Thailand, has experienced rapid growth over the last two decades and is relatively prosperous by Asian standards. The city is situated in the lower half of the flat deltaic plain of the River Chao Phraya and lies at ground elevations of between 0.5 and 1.5m above mean sea level, although some areas are even lower and lie below mean sea level. Drainage of the area is poor and takes place by way a network of sluggishly flowing waterways known as ‘klongs’. A recent report by the Asian Institute of Technology (A. S. Balasubramaniam et al. 1992)indicated that subsidence phenomena were beginning to be experienced in the city in the early 1960s when rapid population growth resulted in excessive deep well pumping to satisfy the increased demand for water. At present there are approximately 15000 tube wells drilled through the upper 200 m of superficial deposits, with approximately 600 new abstraction licences granted in 1993. The area in and around the city is underlain by recent marine clay (known as Bangkok Clay) which overlies older deposits of Pleistocene age. These older deposits, which comprise an upper stratum of stiff clay overlying alternating clays, sands and beds of gravel, are of significant thickness. The total depth of superficial deposits overlying the basement rocks in the Bangkok area varies between 500 and 2000m (Anon 1981). The upper sequence of very soft to soft Bangkok Clay and the underlying stiff clay stratum is consistent over much of Bangkok and