Highlights (1990 – 2000)

The Merriespruit tailings dam disaster occurred on the night of 22 February 1994

  • 1991 10th ARCSMFE, Lesotho: Geotechnics in the African Environment
  • 1993 the Barry van Wyk Award was instituted to honour the memory of Dr Barry van Wyk, who had contributed significantly to geotechnical engineering in South Africa, both as a teacher and a practitioner. The award is presented to the author or authors of the best final-year dissertation on a geotechnical topic at a South African university or technikon. Nominations for the award are called for, but it is awarded only when the standard is considered suitably high enough to warrant this prestigious award.
  • 1991 Jennings Award made to John Everett
  • 1992 Jennings Award made to Ian Brackley and Paul Sanders
  • 1993 Jennings Award made to John Wates and Andy Fourie
  • 1994 and 1997 Jennings Award made to Geoff Blight
  • 1995 Jennings Award made to Marius de Wet
  • 1995 11th ARCSMFEheld in Egypt
  • 1996 Jennings Award made to G Keyter, AM Golinger and J Stiff
  • 1999 12th ARCSMFE, Durban
  • 2000 Jennings Award made to Andy Fourie, Donovan Rowe and Geoff Blight
  • 2000 the Young Geotechnical Engineers Conference took place in Stellenbosch

SAIGE Geotechnical Division presents:

Call for Abstracts: 11th South African Young Geotechnical Engineers Conference (SAYGEC) 2026

Date: September 2026
Venue: To be announced

Young geotechnical professionals under 35 working in geotechnical engineering, engineering geology, mining, or civil construction will have the opportunity to showcase their work at the 11th South African Young Geotechnical Engineers Conference (SAYGEC), taking place in September 2026 in the Central Drakensberg.

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