Practical Rock Engineering

Practical Rock Engineering is an e-book based upon Dr. Hoek's years of experience in rock engineering and has recently been reissued as the 2007 edition. The book presents rock engineering in a practical manner and in 17 individual chapters. Each chapter stands alone with its explanations, figures, tables, conclusions, and references. Fourteen chapters present topics ranging from development, design, rock mass classification, discontinuities, instability of tunnels, safety factors, analysis of rockfall hazards, rock mass properties, weak rock tunnels, rockbolts and cables, and shotcrete support to blasting damage in rock engineering. Chapters 6, 7, and 13 present solely case histories; these refer to underground tunneling, slope stability, and the design of underground caverns. The book can be downloaded via the Internet at the Rocscience web page (http://www.rocscience.com) either as a single PDF file or as single chapters. A brief explanation of each chapter follows. Chapter 1 discusses the development of rock engineering. This chapter introduces historical developments in rock engineering from 1773 to 1979. Three major disasters making a major contribution to the general development of rock engineering are explained. This chapter also introduces the reader to rock burst and elastic theory, discontinuities in rock masses, geological data collection, rock mass classification, rock mass strength, in situ stress measurements, groundwater problems, rock reinforcement and support design, excavation methods in rock, etc. The purpose of Chapter 2 is to draw attention to acceptable designs in rock engineering. The chapter is extended by four case histories such …