Dear colleagues: On behalf of the Chilean Geotechnical Society (SOCHIGE), you are cordially invited to participate in the 17th Pan-American Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (XVII PCSMGE) and 2nd Latin-American Regional Conference of the International Association of Engineering Geology and the Environment (IAEG) to be held in La Serena, Chile in November 2024. We are delighted to organize this event, for the second time, after hosting it back in 1991.
With an average width of 180 kilometers and a length of about 5000 kilometers, Chile is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the west and the majestic Andes Mountains to the east. These characteristics result in a country with a wide variety of climates and vegetation, as well as both soil and rock conditions along its territory. As part of the Circum-Pacific Belt, Chile is one of the great seismically active regions in the world, which is of particular interest to geoscientists and geotechnical engineers worldwide.
The Panamerican congress will serve as a unique platform for dissemination of knowledge and fruitful interactions among researchers and practitioners from different generations and nationalities. We are excited to keep growing as a community and your attendance is essential to the success of this conference. We look forward to receiving you in our country!
Registration for the conference is now open! Take advantage of special discounts for members. Click here to register and guarantee your place today!
The ISSMGE Foundation was created to aid individual ISSMGE members throughout the world to enhance their geotechnical engineering knowledge and practice by providing financial support for participation in technical and professional activities approved by the ISSMGE Foundation. If you want to apply, see the requirements in the button bellow:
• Tuesday 12th: Workshops / Short courses / Registration / Opening
• Wednesday 13th – Friday 15th: Conference
• Saturday 16th: Technical visits / Side Activities
• Deadline for abstract submission: 31st August 2023
• Notification of abstract acceptance: October 30th, 2023
• Paper submission deadline: April 30th, 2024
• Notification of paper acceptance: up to July 31st, 2024
• Final paper due: July 31st, 2024
TECHNICAL COMMITTEE
Edgar Bard (Chile)
Carlos Ovalle (Chile/Canada)
Bernardo Caicedo (Colombia)
Alexandra Ossa (Mexico)
Heraldo Giacheti (Brasil)
Lab and in situ testing
Physical and constitutive soil modeling
Unsaturated soils
Soft soils
Residual and saprolitic soils
Rockfill
Soil geochemistry
TECHNICAL COMMITTEE
José Campaña (Chile)
Juan Manuel Pestana (Venezuela/USA)
Miguel Manica (Mexico)
Werner Bilfinger (Brasil)
Numerical modeling
Seismic analysis of natural soil deposits and geotechnical structures
Mining structures
Talings dams
Infrastructure and transport works
Foundation of buildings and large works
Transportation geotechnics
Monitoring and observational method
TECHNICAL COMMITTEE
Juan Manuel Fernandez (Chile)
Mario Terceros (Bolivia)
Walter Paniagua (México)
Mauricio Sales (Brasil)
Soil improvement
Use of geosynthetics
Special foundations
Rehabilitation of geotechnical structures
Advances in instrumentation and sensing systems
New image-based technologies in geotechnics
TECHNICAL COMMITTEE
Sergio Sepúlveda (Chile – Canada)
Stella Moreiras (Argentina)
Victor Hernández-Madrigal (México)
Engineering Geology
Environmental Geology and Geotechnics
Applied Hydrogeology and Water Resources
Rock Mechanics and applications
Geohazards remote sensing and monitoring
Geologic hazard and risk assessment, and territorial planning
TECHNICAL COMMITTEE
Cesar Pasten (Chile)
Douglas Cortés (USA)
Marta Miletic (USA-Canada)
Joan Larrahondo (Colombia)
Yolanda Alberto (Chile-Mexico-Canadá)
Renato Pinto da Cunha (Brasil)
Energy geotechnics
Geotechnical uncertainty
Biogeotechnics
Machine learning and big data in geotechnics
Sustainability and climate change
TECHNICAL COMMITTEE
Matías Silva (Chile)
Pooneh Maghoul (Canadá)
Cristina de Hollanda Cavalcanti Tsuha (Brazil)
Geotechnical Engineering and sustainable development
Education of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering
Academia and practice in Geotechnical Engineering. How to diminish the gap
Geotechnical works and their impact on communities
The Young Member Presidential Group (YMPG), the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE), and the organizing committee of the XVII Panamerican Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (PANAMGEO 2024) are delighted to announce the winners of the Bright Spark Award. These exceptional individuals will have the opportunity to present their insightful work at the conference.
We invite professors of Geotechnical Engineering to participate in this meeting to be held on Tuesday,
November 12, 2024 and will feature the following speakers/topics:
Monday November 11th
Registration form: Click Here
Price: US$48 (CLP$45.000)
We will leave Santiago at 8:30 a.m. towards the O'Higgins Region. The technical visit begins at the Escuela Mina Planta, where an introduction to the mining sector and industry in the O'Higgins Region will be given, as well as a safety talk. It will continue with a visit to a mine in the Mining District 55 of Chancón to view the design, mode of operation, equipment, and safety, among others. After this, we will visit the University's investigative tunnel and then finish with a tour of the facilities and laboratories of the Escuela Mina Planta. We will be back in Santiago at approximately 3:30 pm.
Monday November 11th
Note: Safety shoes must be worn
Registration form: Click Here
Price: US$0 (CLP$0)
We will meet at 9:00 a.m. and then visit the construction site of Line 7 of the Santiago Metro. We will delve into the different methodologies used, such as the tunnel boring machine, a construction method used for the first time in the construction of tunnels for the capital's train, in the process of excavation, support and completion of the tunnel of a part of the route of Line 7.
Saturday, november 16th
Meeting point: Enjoy Coquimbo
Registration form: Click Here
Price: US$53 (CLP$50.000)
We will leave at 7 a.m. from La Serena towards the Elqui Valley, a site of multiple mass removals and large-scale engineering projects. Our first stop will be the Agua Negra Border Complex, where we will discuss the particularities of the valley and begin to understand its complex morphology. The second stop will be the La Laguna reservoir, a dam with an impermeable core and a central reinforced concrete screen whose construction began in 1927 for irrigation purposes for agriculture. Then, we will advance to the Llano de Las Liebres sector (3,650 m above sea level), where the Agua Negra Tunnel project will be located, allowing us to view it from the perspective of geological engineering. We will begin our descent back to the town of Vicuña, and from the Cerro La Virgen viewpoint, we will observe a town immersed in the valley; we will appreciate the characteristic morphology of the mountain range and the transversal ranges of the Coquimbo region, and we will review the history of geological risk assessment. Finally, we will celebrate our technical field with a well-deserved pisco tasting in Diaguitas.
We extend a cordial invitation to our attendees to pre-register for the pre-congress courses to be held on Tuesday, November 12th, at the University of La Serena.
Remember that once pre-registered, an executive will contact you to make the payment of the course of your interest in order to secure your place. Values described in each course.
Course lenght: full day | Speakers: Mario Terceros, Raffaele Di Laora, Kyle Rollins, Walter Paniagua, Oscar Taiba, Sebastián Lobo-Guerrero, Carlos Medeiros, Franz-Werner Gerressen, Paulo Oróstegui, Lynda Angarita | Language: ENG & ESP
Registration fee:
Until November 6th:
From November 7th onwards:
Course lenght: full day | Speakers: Esteban Sáez, César Pastén | Language: ESP
Registration fee:
Until November 6th:
From November 7th onwards:
Course lenght: full day | Speakers: Roberto Gesche, Summer Sun | Idioma: ENG
Registration fee:
Until November 6th:
From November 7th onwards:
Course lenght: half day | Speakers: Rob Moss, Ricardo Moffat | language: ENG
Registration fee:
Until November 6th:
From November 7th onwards:
Course lenght: half day | Speaker: Hugo Acosta-Martínez | language: ESP
Registration fee:
Until November 6th:
From November 7th onwards:
Course lenght: full day | Speakers: Fernando Saboya, Márcio Almeida, Maria Cascão | Language: ENG
Registration fee:
Until November 6th:
From November 7th onwards:
Course lenght: half day | Speaker: Adrian Russell | Language: ENG
Registration fee:
Until November 6th:
From November 7th onwards:
Format of the template for congress presentations
Paper template guidelines are available in English
Paper submission deadline: February 29th, 2024
Need help?
Format of the template for congress presentations
Format of the template for submitting E-Posters
Instructions for sending your E-Poster
The Conference Venue will provide a functional and pleasant setting for the Technical Sponsors Exhibition. Refreshments will be served close to the exhibition site to ensure that attendees have plenty of time to visit the exhibit booths.
Should you be interested in booking a space at the conference, please feel free to reach out to us at [email protected].
Send your photographs of geological or geotechnical projects or events to the society/association of your country with the information requested in the rules and participate by sharing your experience.
Find the rules and instructions to participate here.
For more information, write to [email protected]
Francisco de Aguirre Avenue 0665, La Serena, Coquimbo
*Prices do not include tax.
OFFER FOR CONGRESS ASSISTANTS
Av. del Mar 1000 Coquimbo. La Serena, Coquimbo
*Prices do not include tax.
OFFER FOR CONGRESS ASSISTANTS
Av. del Mar 4600, La Serena, Coquimbo
*Prices do not include tax.
Eduardo de La Barra 440. La Serena, Coquimbo
*Prices do not include tax.
Discover the incredible experiences that Viajes Mirador has to offer. Make the most of your visit to La Serena and create unforgettable memories.
Discover the incredible experiences that Viajes Mirador has to offer. Make the most of your visit to La Serena and create unforgettable memories.
Images and videos from Sernatur Chile (www.sernatur.cl)
Discover the virtues and surprises that the so-called “Small North” of Chile hides. Located less than 500 kilometers (310 miles) from the capital, Santiago (there are daily flights between the two cities), this destination offers its visitors nice weather throughout the year, extensive plantations of vineyards and fruits, and one of the clearest skies in the world for gazing at the stars. One of the favorite touristic places for Chileans – and we’re sure soon yours too – is the city of La Serena and its surrounding areas. Its beaches, coastline and outdoors, where many sports and leisure activities can be enjoyed, as well as its wide gastronomic offer, its beautiful night skies, and many more appeals, make this city a notable destination for those who would like to know the Small North of Chile.
Take advantage of the beaches of La Serena during the spring and summer, walk along the long Avenida del Mar or go shopping at Recova, the area’s most famous market and arts & crafts fair. In Coquimbo, 9 km from La Serena. you can’t miss La Herradura beach and Barrio Inglés’ nightlife. You can also try your luck at the casino. If you have a sports soul, come and enjoy the many adrenaline sports of La Serena and Coquimbo: trekking, sport fishing, surfing and paragliding are some of the activities waiting for you.
The Elqui valley is a spectacle in itself. The Valley, deeply carved by the Elqui River (formerly called the Coquimbo River), begins only 15 km from La Serena, from where the road makes its way into the Andes Mountains. The sun shines more than 360 days a year in the Elqui Valley, a privileged climate that makes the perfect ripening of the grapes possible in order to produce the best pisco and some of the best wines of Chile. With one of the clearest skies in the southern hemisphere, several international astronomical organizations have installed their observatories here on the summits of the Pachón and the Tololo hills. But for those who love to gaze at the night sky, the spectacle of stars is visible to the naked eye or also with smaller telescopes. The Elqui Valley’s special climatic conditions, with sunny days and cold nights, as well as its fertile land and protected hillsides, make this the most exceptional wine region of northern Chile. In addition to the cultivation of grapes for the production of pisco, Syrah is the leading variety planted for the production of red wine, and Sauvignon Blanc for white wine. Many wineries are open to the public and have wine tastings, tours of their vineyards and facilities, which can be visited entirely in a few hours. The small and sunny traditional town of Vicuña is the main city of the Elqui Valley. This is where Gabriela Mistral, Chilean poet, Nobel Prize winner in 1945, was born. In addition to all these enjoyable scenarios, the Elqui Valley is known for its mystical energy. The locals say it is caused by the clarity of the skies and the direct light that comes from the stars, which translates into healing energies, giving its visitors a moment of total relaxation and disconnection, which can be further enhanced with the wide range of alternative therapies, meditation and spa centers that exist in the place.
You can find more information about Chile and La Serena in these videos: