Soft Rock Mechanics and Engineering / Механика рыхлых пород

The science of rock mechanics was developed as a result of the activities of rock engineering, basically derived from tunnels, slopes, dam foundations, and mining workings in hard rock containing discontinuities. It developed specific theories and methods to include such features, being known as a science for “discontinuous” media, while soil mechanics, the parent science, basically considers “continuum” mechanics. For the study of rock mechanics, specific equipment and apparatus were developed for laboratory and in situ investigation, requiring means to cut, perforate, sample, and test hard materials, to determine shear strength, deformability, physical properties, in situ stresses, and so on.

However, in many occasions, geotechnical and rock engineers have to deal with working sites dominated by rocks with impaired properties, such as rocks of low strength or weathered materials or rock masses with weakening aspects, as for instance, excessive jointing, faulting, solution cavities, weak inclusions, and other features which can be classified as soft rocks or weak rock masses. Its geotechnical behavior is typical of a material situated between a soil and a rock. Such materials only a few decades ago started to be investigated and characterized more appropriately and deserve a special attention, since their properties are not well-known yet, leading to uncertainties in the design and construction of engineering workings dominated by these materials <...>

Introduction    
Milton A. Kanji and Manchao He
Engineering View of Soft Rocks    
He Manchao and Sun Xiaoming
The Geology of Soft Rocks    
Georg R. Sadowski
Mudrocks as Soft Rocks: Properties and Characteristics    
Filipe Telmo Jeremias, Juan Montero Olarte,
Antonio B. Pinho, Isabel M. R. Duarte, Haris Saroglou, and Mario Camilo Torres Suarez
Sandstones in Dam Foundations and Tunnels     
Eraldo L. Pastore
Geomechanical Characterization of Evaporitic Rocks     
Mauricio Giambastiani
Site Investigation for Soft Rock Mass     
Zhigang Tao, Cuiying Zhou, Luis Ribeiro e Sousa, and Zhao Feifei
Evaluation of Geomechanical Properties of Soft Rock Masses by Laboratory and In Situ Testing     
Luis Ribeiro e Sousa, Rita Leal e Sousa, Zhou Cuiying, and Karim Karam
Interaction Between Water and Soft Rocks    
Na Zhang
Weathering of Rocks in Brazil     
Eduardo Antonio Gomes Marques, Euripedes do Amaral Vargas Jr, and Marcio Fernandes Leao
Weathering, Erosion, and Susceptibility to Weathering    
H. Robert G. K. Hack
Degradation Processes in Civil Engineering Slopes in Soft Rocks     
Predrag Miscevic, Natasa Stambuk Cvitanovic, and Goran Vlastelica
Mining Slopes in Weathered and Weak Rocks     
Paulo Cella, Luiz Castro, and Trevor Carter
Correlation of Soft Rock Properties     
Milton Assis Kanji and Marcio Leao
Deformation Mechanism of Soft Rock    
He Manchao and Sun Xiaoming
Soft Rock Roadway Reinforcement    
He Manchao, Han Jun, and Cao Chen
Large Deformation Support for Engineering Soft Rocks    
He Manchao, Gao Yubing, and Gong Weili
Rock Mass Classification of Chalk Marl in the UK Channel Tunnels Using Q    
Nick Barton and Colin Warren
Applications of the GSI System to the Classification of Soft Rocks     
Marinos Vassilis
Soft Rocks in Underground Hydroelectric Schemes     
Luis Ribeiro e Sousa, Hui Zhou, Rita Leal e Sousa, and Chuanqing Zhang
Tunnelling in Weak Rock     
Nicholas Vlachopoulos, Bradley Forbes, and Ioannis Vazaios
Face Stability of Tunnels in Soft Rocks    
Qiujing Pan and Daniel Dias
Characterization of Soft Rocks in Brazilian Coal Beds    
Clovis Gonzatti, Joao Alberto Fiorentini, Luiz Zorzi, and Ivone Maria Agostini
Soft Rocks in Dam Foundation and Dam Sites     
Ricardo Abrahao
Soft Rock as a Dam Construction Material     
Manoel de S. Freitas Jr