This book provides a new, necessary and valuable approach to the consideration of risk in underground engineering projects constructed within rock masses. There are Chapters on uncertainty and risk, rock engineering systems, rock fractures and rock stress, the design of a repository for radioactive waste, plus two major case examples relating to th

Risk Management for Geotechnical Engineering: Hazard, Risks and Consequences covers the application of risk management for soil and rock engineering projects, and the preparation of reliable designs that account for uncertainty. The book discusses qualitative risk assessments based on experience and judgement, as well as quantitative risk analysis using probabilistic methods and decision analysis to optimize designs. Many examples are included of how risk management can be applied to geotechnical engineering, with case studies presented for debris flows, rock falls, tunnel stability, and dam foundations. Also discussed are issues of liability insurance and contract law related to geotechnical engineering. This comprehensive book is ideal for practicing geotechnical engineers, addressing the challenges of making decisions in circumstances where uncertainties exist in site conditions, material properties and analysis methods.

Harmonising Rock Mechanics and the Environment comprises the proceedings (invited and contributed papers) of the 12th ISRM International Congress on Rock Mechanics (Beijing, China, 18-21 October 2011). The contributions cover the entire scope of rock mechanics and rock engineering, with an emphasis on the critical role of both disciplines in sustai

This book provides practicing engineers working in the field of design, construction and monitoring of rock structures such as tunnels and slopes with technical information on how to design, how to excavate and how to monitor the structures during their construction. Based on the long-term engineering experiences of the author, field measurements together with back analyses are presented as the most powerful tools in rock engineering practice. One of the purposes of field measurements is to assess the stability of the rock structures during their construction. However, field measurement results are only numbers unless they are quantitatively interpreted, a process in which back analyses play an important role. The author has developed both the concepts of “critical strain” and of the “anisotropic parameter” of rocks, which can make it possible not only to assess the stability of the structures during their construction, but also to verify the validity of design parameters by the back analysis of field measurement results during the constructions. Based on the back analysis results, the design parameters used at a design stage could be modified if necessary. This procedure is called an “Observational method”, a concept that is entirely different from that of other structures such as bridges and buildings. It is noted that in general, technical books written for practicing engineers mainly focus on empirical approaches which are based on engineers’ experiences. In this book, however, no empirical approaches will be described, instead, all the approaches are based on simple rock mechanics theory. This book is the first to describe an observational method in rock engineering practice, which implies that the potential readers of this book must be practicing engineers working on rock engineering projects.

Rock Engineering is a valuable reference tool for geotechnical engineers, geologists, consultants, contractors, and advanced students on rock engineering and engineering geology courses.

A collection of papers addressing the issue of the failure of rock engineering structures. This phenomenon occurs in different forms depending on the geometry of structure, material properties of intact rock, structure of rock mass, environmental conditions and initial state of stress.

Rock falls can be a public safety issue. This book provides comprehensive information on identification of these hazards, and design and construction of protection methods.Rock Fall Engineering describes first, the theoretical background to rock fall behavior in terms of the impact and trajectory phases of rock falls, and second, how this informati