Contribution to the knowledge of early geotechnics during the twentieth century: Ralph Peck

摘要

Ralph B. Peck (1912–2008), graduate and doctor of philosophy incivil engineering (1934 and 1937 respectively) from the RensselaerPolytechnic Institute, was one of the major contributors to the developmentof geotechnics in the twentieth century. Born in Winnipeg (Manitoba) as anAmerican national, he was influenced from childhood by the world of civilengineering through his father, Orwin K. Peck, who was a civil engineer,mainly as a structural engineer in the railway sector. In the absence of job offers as a structural engineer, Ralph Peck arrived atHarvard University in 1938 to attend the soil mechanics courses taught byArthur Casagrande, which guided Peck's professional career towardsgeotechnics. In addition to Casagrande, Peck had the opportunity to meet andwork with other very important people related to geotechnics:Albert E. Cummings, Laurits Bjerrum, Alec W. Skempton and especiallyKarl Terzaghi, with whom he established a great friendship, in addition toproviding support, professional advice and performing important work, such asthe Chicago Subway Works. Peck actively dedicated himself to consulting work, which led him to visit44 states within the United States and 28 countries on five continents. Inaddition, he also participated in research work where he was asked and was acommitted lecturer at the University of Illinois, where he was a professorfor 32 years. The objective of this paper is to analyse, through Peck's biography, hiscontribution to the field of geotechnics based on his research, teaching andconsultancy work, and through the influence of Peck on other important peoplein the field, such as Karl Terzaghi.