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1. Department of Geological Engineering in UET Lahore was officially in progress in September 2001. It
is one the three departments of “Faculty of Earth Sciences” while other two are “Mining Engineering” and
“Petroleum Engineering” department. These three departments are situated in a common building and known as
“Earth Sciences Block”, in front of “Chemical Engineering” department.
Geological Engineering is basically the application of basic geological knowledge in engineering
principles to devise different skills, techniques and technologies in order to predict the behavior of earth and to
provide remedies to the problems that occur. That includes the prediction of natural hazards like Earthquake,
Volcano eruption, Tsunami, Land sliding, Slope failure and structural hazards like Foundation failure, Tunnel
failure, Dam failure, Structural deformations etc. in short every earth-related potential hazard, that can cause a
lot of economical and life damage. That is the half of the Geological Engineering, in the other half, solutions to
all problems is provided. So basically, in simple words, a Geological Engineer first analyzes the nature and
most importantly the intensity of the “Geological Threat” and then he uses these parameters in engineering
testing and calculations and makes suggestion about construction methods, material, strength and depth of
foundations etc. Besides all that, Geophysical surveys and exploration techniques for the reserve estimations of
minerals and petroleum, and some portion of drilling and well logging are also the part of Geological
Engineering.
So who dare to construct the tallest building of the world (Burj Khalifa) in Sea? Who made it possible to
make Longest Tunnel (Seikan Tunnel, Japan) under the unimaginably deep and frightfully wide ocean? Who
designed the foundation to support the massive load of billions and trillions of acres of water of world’s largest
dam (Three Gorges Dam, China)? Who made it safe to construct home and live comfortably near the deadliest
fault (San Andreas Fault, U.S.A)? Who was able to make life easy in most volcanically active part of the world
(Japan)? Yes! Behind every scene, there have always been imaginations and skills of GEOLOGICAL
ENGINEERS!
Geological Engineering course is well settled in foreign countries especially in Europe. In Canada it is
ranked as a top engineering field and also in U.S.A it is ranked among the top engineering fields. In Pakistan,
unfortunately, there were no special attentions provided to this field, but trends are changing now. There are
three institutes in Pakistan with internationally recognized Geological Engineering Departments, National
University of Karachi, University of Engineering and Technology Peshawar and last but not the least,
University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, which is till now is the best of all, having international
equipments and laboratory facilities.
Passed out Geological Engineers from UET Lahore are working in different mega projects of countries
including Riaz Metro Bus Project in Saudi Arabia, World’s largest sports hub in Dubai, As Geophysicist in
USA, As Drilling Engineer in Canada. In Pakistan, Geological engineers from UET Lahore worked in Metro
Bus Project, Kohat Tunnel Project and Pak-China Tunnel (Shahrah-e-Raisham Tunnel). Currently in Neelum
Jhelum and Orange line projects.