Engineering Projects, Failures

And Profilagons

John A Hudson

Lecture 9 1
 How do we think about ‘Special Conditions’ – i.e.
conditions outside the range of ‘normal’ conditions

For a variety of variables, e.g. rock fracturing, rock strength,

rock stress, temperature, etc., we have:

‘Normal’ conditions

Special conditions

2
Some of the special condition features for rock engineering
projects and potential engineering failures are:
Karst, weak Problematic Fracturing - High
layers, environ- high density rock
squeezing mental and/or large stress,
rock conditions fractures spalling

Mixed High water

soil-rock, pressure High Low
sampling and temperatures temperatures
problems flow

Excavation
Adverse Unusual
adjacent to Complex
chemical project
existing geology
conditions objective
structures

So how can we think about these conditions

in preparation for modelling and design? 3
Such conditions Karst, weak

can also be Complex

layers,
squeezing
Problematic
environmental
presented in a geology
circumstances
circular diagram Fracturing -
Unusual
of this form project
high density
and/or large
objective
fractures

Standard
Excavation underground
High rock
adjacent to rock
stress,
existing engineering
spalling
structures

Mixed
Adverse
soil-rock, and
chemical
sampling
conditions
problems

High water
Low
pressure and
temperatures
High flow
temperatures

4
 We have Karst, weak
layers,
already looked Complex squeezing
Problematic
environmental
at one of geology
circumstances

these: Unusual
Fracturing -
high density
project
and/or large
High rock objective
fractures

stress and Standard

spalling Excavation
adjacent to
underground
rock
High rock
stress,
existing engineering
spalling
structures

Mixed
Adverse
soil-rock, and
chemical
sampling
conditions
problems

High water
Low
pressure and
temperatures
High flow
temperatures

5
 3 Unlined hydroelectric water tunnel
Low may need internal steel lining
rock
stress
1 High
High water temperatures
pressure and
flow

Mixed
soil-rock, and
‘Normal’ conditions sampling
problems

Standard
underground
High/low rock
rock
stress,
engineering
spalling

High Fracturing -
high density
rock and/or large

stress fractures

Problematic
environmental
Karst, weak
circumstances
layers,
squeezing
Well developed rock spalling in the form of slabbing in
a footwall drive at 2600 m depth, East Rand Proprietary
Mines Ltd, Central Witwatersrand goldfield,
from Ortlepp, 1997
6
Examples of stress-induced spalling

High
press
f

Mixed
soil-rock, and
sampling
problems

High rock
stress,
spalling

Fracturing -
high density
and/or large
fractures

Prob
enviro
circu

7
Another special Adve
chem
condition is high condit

water pressure
Low
and flow temperatures

High
temperatures

High water
pressure and
flow

Mix
soil-roc
samp
probl

8
 Karst,

Complex laye
sque
geology
Complex

e.g. anisotropic geology

rock conditions
which we have Unusual

studied project
objective

Failure induced
by the pervasive Excav
ductile fabric
 adjace
exis
Rock
strength
struc

0 30 60 90
Angle  between the applied stress and the
normal to the pervasive ductile fabric

9
 Co
Excavation ge

adjacent to Unusual
existing project
objective
structures
Excavation
adjacent to
existing
structures

Adverse
chemical
conditions

One of the biggest headaches and a very delicate part of the L

temp
whole construction arose from the decision to put a station
right opposite Big Ben.
Not only did this require a huge excavation to accommodate
seven storeys below ground, but the building was also
required to support seven storeys above, to provide much
needed office space for Members of Parliament.
10
 Let us now consider a more awkward so
‘special condition’:
High/low rock

Sustainable development stress,

spalling

Fracturing -
high density
and/or large

“Is the exploitation of underground space fractures

compatible with the concept of sustainable

Problematic
development?” environmental
circumstances

Bruntland 1987 definition: “Development that Karst, weak

layers,

meets the needs of the present generation squeezing

without compromising the ability of future

generations to meet their own needs”

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Factors that have to be taken into account include
function, project lifespan, future technological
developments and disorder created.

The ‘special condition’ question is

“Given an existing underground system (whether a virgin
space or an already developed space), is it acceptable to
locate a new facility in the system — within the context of
sustainable development?”

Proposed new project

Existing system
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 geology

Unusual rock engineering project objective…

Unusual
project
objective

Excavation
adjacent to
existing
structures

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 geology

An artistic underground project is the proposed Chillida

sculptural space, or negative sculpture, which will be Unusual
project
inside Mount Tindaya on the island of Fuerteventura, Canary objective

Islands.
Excavation
adjacent to
In 1966, the sculptor Eduardo Chillida explained his objective existing
structures
as, “To create a space inside a mountain that would offer
men and women of all races and colours a great sculpture
dedicated to tolerance…”.

45m x 50m x 65m

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 Unusual objective: please build me a spherical underground
cavern with a diameter of 1000 m.

Redwall
cavern
Grand
Canyon,
USA

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 v

r 
a
 Stress concentration is
h
independent of excavation size.
So, in an unfractured rock mass,
the cavern could be any size?
100 m, 1000 m ?

1   a2   a2  
    v 1  k 1  2   1  k 1  3 2  cos 2 
2   r   r  

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Let us consider now the special conditions
profiles of some example tunnelling
and rock engineering projects

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Designing a simple tunnel
Karst, weak
near the cliff face layers,
Problematic
Complex squeezing
environmental
geology
circumstances

Fracturing -
Unusual
high density
project
and/or large
objective
fractures

Standard
Excavation underground
High rock
adjacent to rock
stress,
existing engineering
spalling
structures

Mixed
Adverse
soil-rock, and
chemical
sampling
conditions
problems

High water
Low
pressure and
temperatures
High flow
temperatures

18
The JinPing II hydropower project site in China

Rock
spalling

2500 m overburden
+ faults in Triassic
limestones

19
 Karst, weak
layers,
Problematic
Complex squeezing
environmental
JinPing II water geology
circumstances
transfer tunnel Fracturing -
Unusual
high density
project
and/or large
objective
fractures

Standard
Excavation underground
High rock
adjacent to rock
stress,
existing engineering
spalling
structures

Mixed
Adverse
soil-rock, and
chemical
sampling
conditions
problems

High water
Low
pressure and
temperatures
High flow
temperatures

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Radioactive waste disposal

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 Designing a Karst, weak
layers,
Problematic
repository for Complex squeezing
environmental
geology
high-level circumstances

radioactive waste Unusual

Fracturing -
high density
project
and/or large
objective
fractures

Standard
Excavation underground
High rock
adjacent to rock
stress,
existing engineering
spalling
structures

Mixed
Adverse
soil-rock, and
chemical
sampling
conditions
problems

High water
Low
pressure and
temperatures
High flow
temperatures

22
 Karst, weak
Designing a rock Complex
layers,
squeezing
Problematic
environmental
slope adjacent to geology
circumstances
a highway in hard Fracturing -
Unusual
rock project
high density
and/or large
objective
fractures

Standard
Excavation underground
High rock
adjacent to rock
stress,
existing engineering
spalling
structures

Mixed
Adverse
soil-rock, and
chemical
sampling
conditions
problems

High water
Low
pressure and
temperatures
High flow
temperatures

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Profilagons Standard
underground
rock
engineering
Standard
underground
Simple tunnel near
rock cliff edge
engineering Rock slope near
highway

Standard
underground
Standard
rock
underground
engineering
rock
engineering

Radioactive
waste
Deep water disposal
transfer
tunnel

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But can these project
special conditions Standard

profiles be Standard
underground
underground
rock
engineering

accommodated in rock
engineering

the site investigation

and hence also in the
numerical design Standard Standard
underground underground
methods? rock
engineering
rock
engineering

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This leads to Technical Auditingwhich
we will discuss in the next lecture.

Audit
'Soft' Audit 'Hard Audit'
Evaluation

Obtains the basic Obtains the Establishes

information for detailed whether the
establishing the information on all modelling is
essence of the the procedures adequate to meet
problem being used the objectives

Ability to state
Ability to state
Ability to whether the
the details of
present what is modelling is
what is being
being done adequate for the
done
purpose

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 1.E+06

Finally don’t forget that there are problems of scale and time…

1.E+04 Tectonic
Processes
Nuclear Waste
Tunnels Repositories
Length Scale (metres)

in
1.E+02 Rock

Molecular
Diffusion
Field-Scale
Thermal Experiments
1.E+00
Diffusion

Lab-Scale
Experiments
1.E-02

1 m/year
Advective Flow from Yow and Hunt, IJRMMS, 2002
1.E-04
1.E-04 1.E-02 1.E+00 1.E+02 1.E+04 1.E+06

Time Scale (years)

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End of Lecture 9

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