Foreword

The French Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (CFMS) is most happy to host
the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (18th ICSMGE)
in Paris, France, from Monday 2 to Friday 6 September 2013. The main theme of the Conference is
“Challenges and Innovations in Geotechnics”.

In agreement with ISSMGE vision for strengthening the role of the Technical Committees (TCs), the
18th ICSMGE Paris 2013 adopted a new format. The two first days are devoted to plenary sessions
with the Terzaghi Oration, seven ISSMGE Honour lectures proposed by the TCs and three Special
lectures proposed by CFMS. The two following days are devoted to parallel sessions organised by the
TCs: they include 28 Discussion Sessions and 22 Workshops. Whereas Workshops have a free format,
the Discussion Sessions are meant to discuss the papers accepted by the ISSMGE Member Societies
and presented in the four volumes of these Proceedings.

The structure of the Proceedings corresponds to the organisation of the Conference. They start with
the Terzaghi Oration, the Honour lectures and the Special lectures. Then, the papers are presented according to the relevant responsible TC. They are introduced by a TC General Report The Proceedings also include the papers on Shallow Foundations (Session and General Report organised by CFMS, as no TC covers this subject), on Dams, Dykes and Levees (organised jointly by TC 201 and TC 210), on Geothermal issues (organised jointly by TC 212 and TC 307) and finally the papers on Historic sites, as well as on some case studies (organised by TC 301).

To enhance the diffusion of knowledge feee of charge, no transfer of copyright was requested from
the authors of the papers published in these volumes. All the papers, together with late contributions,
will be made available free of charge on the various appropriate Internet websites.

It was quite a fruitful and exciting experience for the Scientific Committee to work hand in hand with
the TCs for the organisation of this Conference. They were enthusiastic and efficient. The Scientific
Committee is most grateful to the General Reporters, Chairs, Vice-Chairs and Secretaries of the TCs
for their great help in making the 18th ICSMGE in Paris a most successful scientific and technical
event.