Betar

Why did you choose Geotechnics?

My training as a geologist didn’t offer any chance of choosing an area such as geotechnics, so I began my professional career in the classic molds of geology, as a naturalist researcher at the Museum of the Geology Department of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon. Later, after leaving this position, I went to work for the company Fundações Franki, whose exclusive activity was the construction of piles for the foundations of structures, special piles with their own patents, known as Franki piles. This type of foundation required specific and detailed reconnaissance of the land, which is why it had a developed Geological and Geotechnical Prospection and Reconnaissance sector, including drilling rigs and an appropriate laboratory. It was therefore on this occasion that, through various training courses, specialization courses in Portugal and abroad and, above all, a lot of field and laboratory work, I came to specialize in Engineering Geology, which is an integral part of Geotechnics.

During my 20 years at Franki, I headed up the prospecting department. After the company went bankrupt, I worked as a consultant for various companies in this area, on a variety of projects, as well as for the Lisbon City Council, where I was later a senior technician. At the same time, I was a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Geology at the Faculty of Sciences, where I taught and trained in the areas of Geotechnical Prospecting, Engineering Geology, Soil and Rock Mechanics and related disciplines, all in Geotechnics.

How did Geotest come about?

Geotest emerged from a department of a significantly growing earthmoving company called Ropisa Lda. Its technical management included engineer Vítor Pimentel – trained in Mozambique, where he took part in important geotechnical works, such as the Massingir Dam – who led the management to see the advantage in having a department for reconnaissance, characterization of materials and control and supervision of geotechnical works. This department became an autonomous company, extending its activity to other companies that requested its services, which ended up being called Geotest – Consultores Geotécnicos e Estructis (Geotechnical and Structural Consultants).

Geotest’s easy entry into a market with little awareness of geotechnical problems was mainly due to the limited existence of this type of service provision and the quality of its technicians and processes, some introduced by Geotest itself, including unusual or non-existent technologies. However, Geotest was still dependent on Ropisa in terms of infrastructure, logistical support and personnel management, which, with the company’s bankruptcy, made it completely impossible to maintain normal operations and consequently carry out work and provide services to clients.

So how did you manage to recover at that time?

Recovering Geotest was no easy task, but due to our good name and our ability to work that was recognized in the market, we were able to form an association with a reputable foundations company that didn’t have the expertise we could offer. They guaranteed us premises and provided us with the means to resume our activity, so that in two or three years we were able to acquire our own premises in Olival Basto, update our equipment and vehicles and transform Geotest into a healthy company. This recovery was only achieved at the cost of many sacrifices, with the efforts of the entire team of professionals and technicians, who remained united, and with the full collaboration of the Head of Laboratory, Teresa Marques Dias, who had a master’s degree in Soil Mechanics and, in addition to her laboratory duties, carried out all the personnel and technical management and direction. You can’t tell the story of Geotest without talking about her.

In 2009, Geotest became part of the Betar Group. Given your experience as a consultant, what direction do you think Geotest should take?

I think managers should ask themselves that question. Therefore, I won’t be so bold as to predict the future and indicate a path. Geotechnical works are more demanding, they extend to the environment and the consequences of climate change, and the market is opening more and more avenues with the use of different technologies and different methods. Geotechnics has changed and we need to diversify and innovate to stand out in the market.

This team has always been a close-knit group. Geotest has a good technical staff, very well-trained people, good professionals who can always do more and better.

This interview is an integral part of Revista Artes & Letras #168, october 2024
Partially automatic translation from portuguese: some expressions may differ from their actual meaning.