Simple design procedure for excavations in structured rock

A simple procedure is suggested for planning and designing surface and underground excavations in structured rock. It consists of mapping the rock structure, formulating a representative rock mass model, determining the shapes, sizes and stability of the blocks of rock that may form around the excavation boundary and presenting the resulting information in summary tables and diagrams. The procedure has been compiled into a package of computer programs which should be useful for classifying rock masses, designing the layout and geometry of excavations and planning extraction and reinforcement strategies.

• INTRODUCTION

• THE PROPOSED DESIGN METHOD

• ROCK MASS STRUCTURE MAPPING

• ROCK MASS STRUCTURE ANALYSIS

• BLOCK SHAPE ANALYSIS

• BLOCK SIZE ANALYSIS

• BLOCK STABILITY ANALYSIS

• ROCK MASS STABILITY CHARACTERIZATION

• CONCLUSIONS

• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

• REFERENCES