Edward E. De Beer
Edward Edmond de Beer (born June 15, 1911 in Aalst ; † 1994 ) was a Belgian civil engineer specializing in geotechnical engineering . He is considered to be the founder of scientific geotechnics in Belgium.
De Beer went to high school in Aalst, obtained his degree in civil engineering at the University of Ghent in 1934 and then graduated as the best in the entrance exams for civil service as an engineer. He went to Keverling Buisman and Broekman at the Grundbauinstitut in Delft for training in soil mechanics and after his return in 1938 he founded the Belgian state soil mechanics laboratory in Ghent (Zwijnaarde). Until 1978 he was director of the institute. He was a co-founder of the journal Géotechnique after the Second World War and an active participant in the Second International Congress of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering in Rotterdam in 1948, in whose treatises he published seven papers and was rapporteur on soil classification. Intensive discussions were held at that time about the Dutch Cell Test (an early triaxial device from the foundation laboratory in Delft) and even then de Beer published about the interpretation of pressure probes (a lifelong area of interest of de Beer). From 1952 to 1972 he taught at the French-speaking Université Catholique de Louvain in Leuven and at the same time from 1958 to 1974 there at the Flemish Katholieke Universiteit Leuven . He also taught soil and rock mechanics at Ghent University from 1962 to 1981.
De Beer also played an important role in the international geotechnical organizations and coordinated (as permanent secretary of the coordination office since 1973) the activities of the international societies for rock mechanics (ISRM), engineering geology (IAGE) and soil mechanics / foundation engineering (ISSMGE).
In his hometown of Aalst he was involved in the administration of a technical school and a hospital and was also active for the national housing authority. He was chief engineer in 1948 and general inspector for buildings in the Ministry of Public Work in 1949 and later head of the Ministry of Health.
One of his students is William Van Impe , his successor as director of the geotechnical laboratory in Ghent.
source
- Burland The Founders of Geotechnique , Geotechnique, Volume 58, 2008, pp. 334f
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | De Beer, Edward E. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | De Beer, Edward Edmond |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Belgian civil engineer for geotechnics |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 15, 1911 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Aalst |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1994 |