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vehicle has been the Committee on Large Dams. Geotechnicans have been the ones to initiate new lines of activity and corresponding Societies:    mention may be madę of the new

Brazilian Committee of the International Tunnelling Association, participation in ICASP (International Conference on Application of Statistics and Probability in Civil Engineering), introduction of Finite Element Analysis in Civil Engineering, and direct promotion of interest in Offshore Technology, and in Seismic Activity and Risks.

1.3    In an area where residual soils (maturę, with no apparent remnant of the parent-rock structure, and with geotechnical behaviour satisfactorily established through conventional Soil Mechanics) and saprolites (soils of appearance and behaviour dominated by relict parent-rock structure) predominate, it is fundamental to maintain a close tie between Engineering Geology, Soil Mechanics and Rock Mechanics. It would be utopian

to establish a single Society as has been done in Australia under the name of Geomech-anics. Our National Societies have acted very ably to permit and foster activity (which means independence) while avoiding pulverization. Improved coordination is being worked out hoping to include, for instance, reduced fee propositions for members coparticipating in two or three of the sister Societies. Such cooperation has been enhanced by the fact that for a short period of overlap the three Vice-Presidencies have had the good fortunę of falling on persons who have held membership in all three Societies and residence in the same city (Sao Paulo).

1.4    Regarding vehicles for routine publication of technical papers, special mention must be madę of the efforts at cooperation for great-est effectiveness, firstly on a regional basis and secondly on the basis of cross-region language links. The Revista Latiioamericana de Geotecnia, Caracas, established by agreement (Mexico, 1969) between all the Ibero-American Societies

(i.e. including Mexico from the North American region, but without inclusion of French-speaking countries of America) to be the single technical journal, has madę a renewed effort at regularity after the firm commitments assumed by the National Societies at the Panamerican Conference, Buenos Aires, Nov. 1975:    accordingly the 4-issue volume

for 1976 and the first issue for 1977 have been regularly distributed including papers contributed by Brasil, Mexico, Ecuador and Venezuela; and the 2nd issue of the 1977 volume is in print as scheduled.

Very special thanks are due to Juan Carlos Hiedra Lopez for his immense personal efforts, and to the Venezuelan Society for their strong and patient backing. The case is of further interest as an example of an international endeavour being pushed by acceptance, by each National Society, of a certain quota of responsibility regarding papers, subscriptions, and financial support: each Society is then left to work out its internal logistics for meeting the global commitments.

The Brazilian Society has simultaneously maintained an agreement for close support to the Portuguese Society's journal Geotecnia, Lisbon, in the hope of sustaining a single geotechnical journal for the Portuguese language.

English translations, or synopses at the least, are included in both journals.

1.5 First steps towards creating new National Societies were taken at the request of interested parties from Bolivia and El Salvador. For both cases the Secretary Gen eral's circular letter of instructions was sent out alongside with suggestions regarding the structures adopted by the Southeast Asian Society and the Brazilian Society, for decentralized local activity (because of geographic and communicational difficulties) concomitant with centralized National direction for international affairs:    moreover, the Australian Geomechan-

ics joint-society solution was suggested as a possible model. It is hoped that the two new Societies will soon materialize and join the International Society. In the case of El Salvador, which would be attempting to form a Central-American Society for all neighbouring countries (under the possible name of Associacion Centro-Americana de Geotechnia) it is hoped that their desire will be expressed and ratified regarding joining either the South American or the North American region of ISSMFE.

2. Summary of activities of the

National Societies.

2.1    Argentina No formal reply was received to our request for information. The outstanding event represented by the 5th Panamerican Conference, Buenos Aires, Nov.l975, has been mentioned in the report

of the Vice-President for the North American region. Our Argentinian colleagues deserve every recognition and compliment for a most successful conference, both technically and socially, despite well-known difficulties faced by the country and profession at the time.

2.2    Brasil Geotechnical engineering has been very active both directly within the National Society and indirectly through other bodies in which itself and its members have played a strong part.

Three Brazilian Seminars on Large Dams were held, the 9th in Nov. 1973, the lOth in April 1975, and the llth in Nov.l976.

In each there have been between a dozen and a score of technical papers on geotechnical engineering for embankment dams.

The principal achievement was the 5th Ouadriennial Brazilian Congress of Soil

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