This book presents 09 keynote and invited lectures and 177 technical papers from the 4th International Conference on Geotechnics for Sustainable Infrastructure Development, held on 28-29 Nov 2019 in Hanoi, Vietnam. The papers come from 35 countries of the five different continents, and are grouped in six conference themes: 1) Deep Foundations; 2) Tunnelling and Underground Spaces; 3) Ground Improvement; 4) Landslide and Erosion; 5) Geotechnical Modelling and Monitoring; and 6) Coastal Foundation Engineering. The keynote lectures are devoted by Prof. Harry Poulos (Australia), Prof. Adam Bezuijen (Belgium), Prof. Delwyn Fredlund (Canada), Prof. Lidija Zdravkovic (UK), Prof. Masaki Kitazume (Japan), and Prof. Mark Randolph (Australia). Four invited lectures are given by Prof. Charles Ng, ISSMGE President, Prof.Eun Chul Shin, ISSMGE Vice-President for Asia, Prof. Norikazu Shimizu (Japan), and Dr.Kenji Mori (Japan).

The book addresses fundamental issues faced by experimentalists, modelers and engineers interested in different physical, mechanical and transport aspects of biological tissues and chemically active geological materials, mainly clays and shales. The focus is on the couplings between electro-chemical and mechanical aspects involved in swelling and chemical consolidation. Emphasis is laid on the influence of these phenomena on mechanical properties and on transport properties. Applications in geo-environmental and geotechnical technologies, including nuclear and hazardous waste isolation, oil recovery, engineering geology, are addressed directly or implied. Control of long term effects of surgery and mechanical performance of prostheses may benefit from the modeling of irreversibilities that are of utmost importance in geological materials. Conversely, understanding the self-regulation mechanisms of biological tissues may be helpful in the design of efficient engineering materials.