STATUS OF ENGINEERING GEOLOGY IN NORTH-AMERICA AND EUROPE

1995-1996 has been informally declared as a watershed year for the Uni ted States in many ways. Pervasive change has been the tenor of the ti mes and engineering geology has not escaped what the nation faces. In particular, the nation has run out of easy money and the Congressional elections of 1994 empowered a majority of new members expressing fisc al accountability. Accordingly, agencies have been given reduced budge ts and programs have been slashed or removed, early retirements have b een accomplished and reductions in force (RIFs) have been concluded am ong personnel. Priced competition for professional work reached a new and regrettable peak of use and industries struggled with successive w aves of both corporate acquisitions and ''downsizing'' of staffing. In the UK and Europe, drought conditions developed and became more sever e during 1995. The first land,link between the UK and Europe since lat e glacial times (the Channel tunnel rail link) developed full working schedules. The input of geotechnical engineering into this prestige in ternational project was further demonstrated by a-final series of majo r conferences and publications (Byrd, 1994; Institution of Civil Engin eers, 1992, 1993, 1994). The major downturn in ''normal'' civil works, and the associated preparatory geotechnical investigations, for roads , redevelopment and housing, etc. continued, with many smaller site in vestigation and associated specialists either ''downsizing'', being su bsumed into larger groups, or going out of business. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.