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PROCES-VERBAUX DES SEANCES DU COMITE EXECUTIF

Batiment des Conferences de PUNESCO, sałle II.

Premiere seance: lundi 17 juillet 1961, a 10 h 30.

Le professeur A.W. Skempton, F.R.S., President de la Societe Internationale, assurc la presidcnce de la seance.

Le President : Gentlemen, at the outset I wish to thank the Norwegian Geotechnical Society of our International Society for making this hammer, or gavel as it is called. This is madę out of wood taken from piles driven in the eleventh century for a church in Norway. It is very beautifully designed and it has been presented to the reigning President of the Society. I think we should thank them very much for this gift.

Before we start our agenda it would be helpful if each member of the Executive Committee in tum would stand up and give his name and country and then we will get to know each other, because there are several members here whom not all of us know.

Appel des Membres du Comife.

Vice- Presidents:

Africa : J.E.B. Jennings.

Asia : K.L. Rao.

Australasia : G.D. Aitchison.

Europę : A. Mayer.

North America : R.F. Legget.

South America : A.J.L. Bolognesi.

Members:

Argentine : O. Moretto.

Australia : D.H. Trollope.

Austria : O.K. Frohlich.

Belgium : J. Verdeyen.

Brazil : O. Grillo.

Bułgaria : G. Stefanov.

Canada : David Townsend.

Colombia : G. Uribe.

Czechoslovakia : A. Myslivec.

Denmark : J. Brinch Hansen.

Finland : K.V. Helenelund.

France : J. Kerisel.

Germany : H.W. Kcenig.

Hungary : A. Kezdi.

India : K.L. Rao.

Ireland : V.D. Harty.

Israel : J.G. Zeitlen.

Italy : F. Penta.

Japan : T. Mogami.

Jugos!avia : D. Krsmanovic.

Mexico : L. Zeevaert.

Netherlands : C. van der Veen.

New Zealand : P.W. Taylor.

Norway : O.S. Holm.

Poland : R. Pietkowski.

Portugal : M. Rocha.

Southern Rhodesia : V.L. Granger.

South Africa : B.A. Kantey.

Spain : J.M. Valde$.

Sweden : J. Osterman.

Switzerland : D. Bonnard.

Turkey : A.H. Peynircioglu.

United Kingdom : J.K.T.L. Nash.

United States of America : Thomas Lp.ps.

Union of Sociaiist Soviet Republics : N.A. Tsitovitch.

China and Egypt were not represented.

Le President : I think we all understand that, apart from Vice-Presidents, only one member from each country may vote.

Point I — Rapport du President sur l’activite generale de la

Socićte Internationale

The first item on the agenda is the report by myself on the generał activities of the Society sińce our last Conference, which, as you will all remember, was held in London in 1957. Since then four regional conferences have been held : one in 1958 in Belgium, on earth pressurc, and three in 1960, one in India which was a generał conference covering all aspects of soil mechanics and the first Asiatic regional conference, a conference was held in Great Britain and in Australia the third of the Australia-New Zealand conferences on soil mechanics. These were all successful, and I have no doubt whatsoever that morę of these regional conferences will be held in the futurę. They serve, I think, two functions. In the case of India, for example, they bring together people in a particular region — in this case a very wide region — whilst the conferences in Belgium and Great Britain serve a second function — they focus attention on particular problems.

Since our last meeting of this Executive Committee there are six new representatives — the U.S.S.R., Mexico, Czecho-slovakia, Bułgaria, Hungary and New Zealand — and we would like to wclcome their representatives as members of the Executive Committee.

A new feature, sińce the London Conference, has been the publication of lists of members, which appeared in 1958 and 1960. We believe that these are very nearly complete and very nearly accurate. They have been very well received. They serve a useful purpose and, unlcss wc have any comments to the contrary, they will continue to be circulated from time to time — we hope every two ycars. The accuracy of these lists, of course, depends entirely on the co-operation of in-dividual people in sending in, through the national societies, their names and addresses : if anybody^łs name is not there it is his own fault, not the fault of the Secrctary.

Speaking of the Secretary, the Secretariat, as you must know, has been at the Institution of Civil Engineers in London for the past four years, and although this is not the time to make any formal vote of thanks to the Secretary I might perhaps say, at least informally, that the Secretariat has

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