Engineering Geologic Data for Land-Use Planning

Engineering geologists have directed much of their effort in recent years into providing information on the geologic environment for planners and engineers. Various geologic mapping concepts, procedures, and formats have resulted, but there are two basic conceptual approaches; one involves standard geologic maps with the subsequent interpretation of engineering properties of conventional geologic units; the other requires the creation of special engineering geologic maps and the definition of new or unconventional units that may be evaluated with respect to their suitability for a particular land use. Future developments will be directed toward more comprehensive investigations, ones in which individual components of the geologic environment are studied and mapped separately, and toward the development of more representative land-use mapping units, definable with respect to the total environment and suitable for mapping and evaluation by computer analysis.