Geomechanics is the application of engineering and geological principles to the behaviour of the ground and ground water and the use of these principles in civil, mining, offshore and environmental engineering in the widest sense.
The Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS) was founded in 1970. Its origins lie in the National Committee of Soil Mechanics of the Institution of Engineers, Australia established in 1953 and the call for a corresponding society in rock mechanics. In 1973 the society was expanded to include the third discipline of engineering geology and has remained substantially unchanged since that date.
The society is affiliated with:
International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering
International Society for Rock Mechanics
International Association of Engineering Geology and the Environment
The AGS produces Australian Geomechanics the newsletter and journal of the Society and specialty conferences, symposia, seminars and workshops, including the four-yearly ANZ Geomechanics conference. Australian Geomechanics is published four times a year. The AGS is jointly sponsored by the Institution of Engineers Australia and the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM).