Although engineering activities involving rock have been underway for millennia, we can mark the beginning of the modern era from the year 1962 when the International Society for Rock Mechanics (ISRM) was formally established in Salzburg, Austria. Since that time, both rock engineering itself and the associated rock mechanics research have increased in activity by leaps and bounds, so much so that it is difficult for an engineer or researcher to be aware of all the emerging developments, especially since the information is widely spread in reports, magazines, journals, books and the internet. It is appropriate, if not essential, therefore that periodically an easily accessible structured survey should be made of the currently available knowledge. Thus, we are most grateful to Professor Xia-Ting Feng and his team, and to the Taylor & Francis Group, for preparing this extensive 2017 “Rock Mechanics and Engineering” compendium outlining the state of the art—and which is a publication fitting well within the Taylor & Francis portfolio of ground engineering related titles. <...>

In the context of underground construction, forensic engineering is taken to be the application of engineering principles and methodologies to determine the cause of a performance deficiency, often a collapse, in an excavation, and the reporting of the findings, usually in the form of an expert opinion within the legal system. The procedures that may be used in forensic geotechnical investigations and the interface of the engineer with the legal system are discussed. The application of the principles and methodologies outlined are illustrated through a brief account of the investigation of the collapse of a small part of an excavation in the Lane Cove Tunnel Project, Sydney, Australia, on 2 November, 2005. <...>

Rock mechanics is the scientific basis for construction in rock. Its task is to formulate laws describing the mechanical behaviour and permeability of rock masses and to develop a technology of testing which enables the determination of rock mechanics parameters. Furtltermore, the development of procedures to investigate the stability of openings, foundations and slopes in rock masses is also to be numbered amongst the tasks of rock mechanics. Rock engineering, on the other hand, is concerned more with questions relating to design and construction.

The purpose of this Handbook is to provide, in highly accessible form, selected critical data for professional and student solid Earth and planetary geophysicists. Coverage of topics and authors were carefully chosen to fulfill these objectives. These volumes represent the third version of the “Handbook of Physical Constants.” Several generations of solid Earth scientists have found these handbooks’to be the most frequently used item in their personal library. The first version of this Handbook was edited by F. Birch, J. F. Schairer, and H. Cecil Spicer and published in 1942 by the Geological Society of America (GSA) as Special Paper 36.