History of the STGEC
The Southeastern Transportation Geotechnical Engineering Conference (STGEC) is an annual meeting that has been taking place since 1969 when the Federal Highway Administration proposed that the southeastern states should meet to discuss landslide problems along I-40 near Rockwood Tennessee, and along I-75 in northern Georgia, and also settlement problems with high interstate embankments.
The first STGEC meeting was held in Atlanta, Georgia near the Georgia Tech campus from December 5th through the 7th, with Professor George Sowers as the guest speaker. There were approximately 50 attendees to the meeting, and because this event was such a success, interest spread quickly and an annual conference was soon established due to the overwhelming response. A steering committee was formed to be a governing body consisting of one member of each state involved, as well as one member from the Federal Highway Administration and the Transportation Research Board. The Committee also established a set of by-laws to assist in governing the group. The main objective of these meetings is to discuss the transfer of technology concerning the rapidly advancing field of geotechnical engineering and to share successes or problems to help meet the demands for economical, efficient, and successful transportation systems.
The previous name of this conference was, until 1976, the Southeastern Soil Engineering Conference. The steering committee chaired by the host member selects the time, place, and duration of each conference for the following year. The conference rotates among all member states, and this method ensures that each state involved has hosted multiple times since the conference's existence.
Also, it is interesting to note that 2013 will be the first time the conference has been held in the month of December since 1971, when it was held in New Orleans, LA.