This volume deals with the advanced analysis of shallow foundations. Several research studies are considered including soil plasticity, cracking, reaching the soil bearing capacity, creep, etc. Dynamic analyses together with stability analysis are also discussed. It gives wide range of topics dealing with the shallow foundations in different parts of the world. The volume is based on the best contributions to the 2nd GeoMEast International Congress and Exhibition on Sustainable Civil Infrastructures, Egypt 2018 - The official international congress of the Soil-Structure Interaction Group in Egypt (SSIGE).

This volume includes a collection of technical papers covering two important research topics in geotechnical engineering: (1) the behavior and treatment of expansive soils, and (2) the characterization of rock properties. The twelve studies on expansive soils include investigations into novel stabilization techniques for expansive soils using different admixtures or mechanical consolidation techniques, as well as new experimental approaches to evaluate the behavior of expansive soils. They also include an evaluation of wetting boundary conditions on the volume change of expansive soils, as well as the role of hydrologic boundary conditions in arid climates. The four studies on rock properties include thermo-hydro-mechanical behavior of gypsum rock, role of rock strength in blastability, indirect methods to estimate rock strength, and variations in isotope distributions in Permian rocks. The two broad themes in this collection, as summarized above, are representative of local challenges facing geotechnical engineers in the Middle East, but their contributions can also be extended to other regions of the world. This volume is part of the proceedings of the 1st GeoMEast International Congress and Exhibition on Sustainable Civil Infrastructures, Egypt 2017.

Chalk has proved to be one of the more difficult rocks to core-log as it breaks up readily during the drilling process leading to core-loss and destructuring, particularly where flints, nodular chalks and/or fractures are present. One of the greatest difficulties is the identification of chalk engineering grade which relies heavily on fracture aperture. Obtaining the correct grade to define the depth of weathering and the depth at which fractures become closed is essential whether for tunnels in London or for wind turbine piled foundations in the offshore chalks. Very few geologists and engineers have had the opportunity to study field sections in the Chalk so there is little visual appreciation of the grades or the variation to expect or even what flint bands look like. To partly overcome this difficulty, both field and core sections are illustrated in this book. Equally important to recognising Chalk grade is the building of conceptual ground models for construction projects. This can only be achieved if the various Chalk formations, beds and marker beds can be identified from cores and then boreholes correlated using the marker beds.The Chalk stratigraphy is accordingly covered with key formations and marker beds illustrated, and the best field sections for viewing them identified. This book is based on the standard lithostratigraphy and method of engineering description of Chalk developed over many years. Also important are over 3000 onshore and offshore chalk-cored boreholes undertaken by the author over more than 30 years. In addition, typical lithologies and weathering profiles representing the Chalk formations likely to be encountered in the various onshore and offshore construction projects are illustrated using field exposures, rotary core samples and geophysical borehole wire-line logs. There will be geological settings where information on the Chalk is poor and unexpected lithologies and stratigraphies may be found. This book will enable geologists to work from first principles to construct a lithostratigraphy and define weathering boundaries.

This book covers the field of applied geotechnology related to all aspects of construction in ground, including compacted fill, excavations, ground improvement, foundations, earth retaining systems and geotechnical site characterization. It suits the first year of a graduate course on ground improvement and geoconstruction and will suit practicing engineers, both consultants and contractors. Distinctively it covers the identification of problematic soils and appropriate mitigation measures, and the inspection of ground construction work. It combines the technical and the practical in applied geotechnology.

Fracture mechanics studies the development and spreading of cracks in materials. The study uses two techniques including analytical and experimental solid mechanics. The former is used to determine the driving force on a crack and the latter is used to measure material's resistance to fracture. The text begins with a detailed discussion of fundamental concepts including linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM), yielding fracture mechanics, mixed mode fracture and computational aspects of linear elastic fracture mechanics. It explains important topics including Griffith theory of brittle crack propagation and its Irwin and Orowan modification, calculation of theoretical cohesive strength of materials through an atomic model and analytical determination of crack tip stress field. This book covers MATLAB programs for calculating fatigue life under variable amplitude cyclic loading. The experimental measurements of fracture toughness parameters KIC, JIC and crack opening displacement (COD) are provided in the last chapter.

Soil reinforcement is a very useful technique to construct several cost-effective soil structures in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner. The most commonly used reinforcement materials are galvanised steel strips, geosynthetics in the form of woven geotextiles, geogrids and geocomposites, and fibres from natural and waste products. In recent years, there have been advances in the area of soil reinforcement, especially in the utilization of the technique in field projects. The researchers have also been working to understand the behaviour of reinforced soil considering the field challenges of reinforced soil structures. This edited volume contains contributions on advances in reinforced soil structures, mainly flexible pavements, footings, embankments, stone columns/piles, and slopes, as covered in the subject areas of geosynthetic engineering and fibre-reinforced soil engineering. The first paper by Ioannis N. Markou presents the details of sand-geotextile interaction based on interface tests with conventional and large-scale direct shear equipment. The second paper by Atef Ben Othmen and Mounir Bouassida examines the interface properties of geosynthetic reinforcement by carrying out inclined plane tests under low confinement adapted to landfill covers conditions. The third paper by J.N. Jha, S.K. Shukla, A.K. Choudhary, K.S. Gill1 and B.P. Verma deals with the triaxial compression behaviour of soil reinforced with steel and aluminium solid plates in horizontal layers. The fourth paper by M. Muthukumar and S.K. Shukla describes the swelling and shrinkage behaviour of expansive soil blended with lime and fibres. The fifth paper by S.G. Shah, A.C. Bhogayata and S.K. Shukla provides the test results of shear strength of cohesionless soil reinforced with metalized plastic waste. The sixth paper by Bouacha Nadjet compares the geotextile-reinforced and geogrid-reinforced flexible pavements based on numerical analyses. The seventh paper by S. Kumar, C.H. Solanki, J.B. Patel, P.B. Sudevan and P.M. Chaudhary reports the results of laboratory model tests carried out on a square footing resting on prestressed geotextile reinforced sand. The eighth paper by Sanoop G and Satyajit Patel presents the numerical studies on ground improvement using geosynthetic reinforced sand layer. The ninth paper by ------------------- discusses the bearing capacity prediction of inclined loaded strip footing on reinforced sand by ANN. The tenth paper by Mohamad B.D. Elsawy presents the numerical simulation of an embankment, constructed on reinforced soft soil with conventional stone piles. The eleventh paper by N.O. Sheta and R.P. Frizzi deals with the analysis, design, construction and monitoring of a geosynthetics-reinforced-earth pile-supported embankment serving as an access road. The twelfth paper by S. Banerjee, A. Adhikari, S. Chatterjee and D. Das provides the details of a case study on reinforced slope on soft soil for the approach of a major bridge. We do hope the researchers and the engineers may find the contributions in this volume very useful. This volume is part of the proceedings of the 1st GeoMEast International Congress and Exhibition on Sustainable Civil Infrastructures, Egypt 2017.

This book provides an insight on advanced methods and concepts for the design and analysis of structures against earthquake loading. This second volume is a collection of 28 chapters written by leading experts in the field of structural analysis and earthquake engineering. Emphasis is given on current state-of-the-art methods and concepts in computing methods and their application in engineering practice. The book content is suitable for both practicing engineers and academics, covering a wide variety of topics in an effort to assist the timely dissemination of research findings for the mitigation of seismic risk. Due to the devastating socioeconomic consequences of seismic events, the topic is of great scientific interest and is expected to be of valuable help to scientists and engineers. The chapters of this volume are extended versions of selected papers presented at the COMPDYN 2011 conference, held in the island of Corfu, Greece, under the auspices of the European Community on Computational Methods in Applied Sciences (ECCOMAS).

Cities built on unconsolidated sediments consisting of clays, silt, peat, and sand, are particularly susceptible to subsidence. Such regions are common in delta areas, where rivers empty into the oceans, along flood plains adjacent to rivers, and in coastal marsh lands. Building cities in such areas aggravates the problem for several reasons: 1. Construction of buildings and streets adds weight to the region causing additional soil deformations. 2. Often the regions have to be drained in order to be occupied. This results in lowering of the water table and leads to hydro-compaction. 3. Often the groundwater is used as a source of water for both human consumption and industrial use. 4. Levees and dams are often built to prevent or control flooding. Earth fissures caused by ground failure in areas of uneven or differential compaction have damaged buildings, roads and highways, railroads, flood-control structures and sewer lines. As emphasized by Barends , "in order to develop a legal framework to claims and litigation, it is essential that direct and indirect causes of land subsidence effects can be quantified with sufficient accuracy from a technical and scientific point of view." Most existing methods and software applications treat the subsidence problem by analyzing one of the causes. This is due to the fact that the causes appear at different spatial scales. For example, over-pumping creates large scale subsidence, while building loading creates local subsidence/consolidation only. Then, maximum permissible land subsidence (or consolidation) is a constraint in different management problems such as: groundwater management, planning of town and/or laws on building construction. It is, therefore, necessary to quantify the contribution of each cause to soil subsidence of the ground surface in cities urban area. In this text book, we present an engineering approach based on the Biot system of equations to predict the soil settlement due to subsidence, resulting from different causes. Also we present a case study of The Bangkok Metropolitan Area (BMA).

Geotechnical failures, specially the catastrophic ones, are a stimulus to improve current understanding of phenomena and procedures and tools for analysis and prediction. This unconventional approach to geomechanics is the essence of this book. In general, soil mechanics and geotechnical textbooks describe first the concepts and theoretical developments and then apply them to interpret or solve a particular applications. This book follows a different course. The case (a failure) is first described and then an explanation is sought. This requires a set of steps which can be summarized as follows: Identify the nature of the problem, develop a dedicated and specific formulation of the case, based on established basic concepts. In general, no single existing theory or procedure is available to solve the case at hand, provide a solution within an acceptable degree of complexity, extract the fundamental aspects of the problem and highlight its relevance. The cases selected have been grouped into three main topics: Landslides, Embankments and Dams and Dynamics of Failures. Cases selected (Vaiont, Aznalcollar, Brattas-St. Moritz) are unique and illustrate a number of relevant and to some extent controversial issues which are of wide interest, without claiming exhaustive treatment of the subject. The book teaches how to build the necessary models to understand the failures. Well established soil mechanics concepts are the necessary background. But the cases analyzed require in general a step ahead which is specific for the case analyzed. Balance and equilibrium equations are often required as a starting point. They are formulated at different scales, which are selected having in mind the abstract representation of each case. Various chapters illustrate also the coupled nature (flow-deformation-temperature) of geotechnical problems and the need to properly address these complexities in some cases. In fact, temperature effects, a subject often neglected in conventional analyses, are necessary to explain some catastrophic landslides (Vaiont). In some of the chapters, specific calculation tools, included in well known and widely available programs (Excel, Maple...) have been used. Details of the ad hoc programs developed have also been included in Appendices to help the readers to follow the details of the calculation. Finite element methods have not been used. In the landslides analyzed (Vaiont and Brattas-St. Moritz) currently available commercial programs are of limited utility. In the remaining cases the analysis performed provides a sufficient insight and interpretation of field behaviour. Chapters include also a short description of the changes in the original design and the mitigation measures which could have prevented the failure. Also, a summary section of lessons learned is provided in all chapters. Finally, selected topics and more advanced reading are suggested. This book is associated with a Master/Doctorate course being offered at the Department of Geotechnical Engineering and Geosciences of UPC, Barcelona. Potential readers therefore include Graduate and Master students, faculty and professionals in the fields of Civil and Geotechnical Engineering.

These proceedings document the various papers delivered and partially presented at the International Conference "From experimental evidence towards numerical modeling of unsaturated soils," which was held in Weimar (Germany) during 18-19 September 2003. The conference was organized under the auspices of the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE) and the National German G- technical Society (DGGT). The need to understand the behavior of unsaturated soils is becoming exclusively - sential for the geotechnical engineers and designers. In the last three decades many - searchers have made significant contribution to the understanding of the unsaturated soil mechanics. Nevertheless, application of the subject to variety of new problems still - quires our attention. This International conference is a mere attempt to unite researchers and engineers in geotechnical engineering and to discuss about the problems associated with the unsaturated soils. Doing so the objectives of these lecture notes are as follows: - to promote unsaturated soil mechanics for practical application, - to exchange experiences in experimental unsaturated soil mechanics and numerical modeling, - to discuss application of unsaturated soil mechanics to variety of problems. In other words, we could also name these two volumes as "From theory to daily pr- tice". I would like to extend my deep sense of appreciation as the editor and the Head of the organizing committee, to many persons who have contributed either directly or indirectly to organize the International conference and to finalize these proceedings.

The main goal of this introductory text is to demonstrate how basic concepts in Soil Mechanics can be used as a "forensic" tool in the investigation of geotechnical failures. This, in turn, provides a good opportunity to show how to use available procedures in the formulation of useful simple models. Geotechnical failure is understood here in a broad sense as the failure of a structure to function properly due to a geotechnical reason. Some of the geotechnical failures selected are well known for their impact on the geotechnical community. Others are closer to the author's experience. They have been organized into three main topics: Settlement, Bearing Capacity and Excavations. They cover a significant proportion of every day's activity of professional geotechnical engineers. No attempt has been made to create a comprehensive handbook of failures. Instead, the emphasis has been given to creative applications of simple mechanical concepts and well known principles and solutions of Soil Mechanics. The book shows how much can be learned from relatively simple approaches. Despite this emphasis on simplicity, the book provides a deep insight into the cases analyzed. A non-negligible number of new analytical closed-form solutions have also been found. Their derivation can be followed in detail. In all the cases described an effort was made to provide a detailed and step by step description of the hypothesis introduced and of the analysis performed.

These proceedings document the various papers delivered and partially presented at the International Conference "From experimental evidence towards numerical modeling of unsaturated soils," which was held in Weimar (Germany) during 18-19 September 2003. The conference was organized under the auspices of the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE) and the National German G- technical Society (DGGT). The need to understand the behavior of unsaturated soils is becoming exclusively - sential for the geotechnical engineers and designers. In the last three decades many - searchers have made significant contribution to the understanding of the unsaturated soil mechanics. Nevertheless, application of the subject to variety of new problems still - quires our attention. This International conference is a mere attempt to unite researchers and engineers in geotechnical engineering and to discuss about the problems associated with the unsaturated soils. Doing so the objectives of these lecture notes are as follows: - to promote unsaturated soil mechanics for practical application, - to exchange experiences in experimental unsaturated soil mechanics and numerical modeling, - to discuss application of unsaturated soil mechanics to variety of problems. In other words, we could also name these two volumes as "From theory to daily pr- tice". I would like to extend my deep sense of appreciation as the editor and the Head of the organizing committee, to many persons who have contributed either directly or indirectly to organize the International conference and to finalize these proceedings.

Landslides have geological causes but can be triggered by natural processes (rainfall, snowmelt, erosion and earthquakes) or by human actions such as agriculture and construction. Research aimed at better understanding slope stability and failure has accelerated in recent years, accompanied by basic field research and numerical modeling of slope failure processes, mechanisms of debris movement, and landslide causes and triggers. Written by seventy-five world-leading researchers and practitioners, this book provides a state-of-the-art summary of landslide science. It features both field geology and engineering approaches, as well as modeling of slope failure and run-out using a variety of numerical codes. It is illustrated with international case studies integrating geological, geotechnical and remote sensing studies, and includes recent slope investigations in North America, Europe and Asia. This is an essential reference for researchers and graduate students in geomorphology, engineering geology, geotechnical engineering and geophysics, as well as professionals in natural hazard analysis.

At some time 30% of the world's land mass was covered by glaciers leaving substantial deposits of glacial soils under major conurbations in Europe, North and South America, New Zealand, Europe and Russia. For instance, 60% of the UK has been affected, leaving significant glacial deposits under major conurbations where two thirds of the population live. Glacial soils are composite soils with significant variations in composition and properties and are recognised as challenging soils to deal with. Understanding the environment in which they were formed and how this affects their behaviour are critical because they do not always conform to classic theories of soil mechanics. This book is aimed at designers and contractors working in the construction and extractive industries to help them mitigate construction hazards on, with or in glacial deposits. These soils increase risks to critical infrastructure which, in the UK includes the majority of the road and rail network, coastal defences such as the fastest eroding coastline in Europe and most of the water supply reservoirs. It brings together many years of experience of research into the behaviour of glacial deposits drawing upon published and unpublished case studies from industry. It draws on recent developments in understanding of the geological processes and the impact they have upon the engineering properties, construction processes and performance of geotechnical structures. Unlike other books on glaciation it brings together all the relevant disciplines in earth sciences and engineering to make it directly relevant to the construction industry.

This book presents contributions to the 9th International Workshop on Bifurcation and Degradation in Geomaterials held in Porquerolles, France, May 23-26, 2011. This series of conferences, started in the early 1980s, is dedicated to the research on degradation and instability phenomena in geomaterials.

The volume gathers a series of manuscripts by brilliant international scholars reflecting recent trends in theoretical and experimental research in geomechanics. It incorporates contributions on topics like instability analysis, localized and diffuse failure description, multi-scale modeling and applications to geo-environmental issues.

This book will be valuable for anyone interested in the research on degradation and instabilities in geomechanics and geotechnical engineering, appealing to graduate students, researchers and engineers alike."

These volumes contain the contributions to the Second European Conference on Unsaturated Soils, E-UNSAT 2012, held in Napoli, Italy, in June 2012. The event is the second of a series of European conferences, and follows the first successful one, organised in Durham, UK, in 2008. The conference series is supported by Technical Committee 106 of the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering on Unsaturated Soils. The published contributions were selected after a careful peer-review process. A collection of more than one hundred papers is included, addressing the three thematic areas experimental, including advances in testing techniques and soil behaviour, modelling, covering theoretical and constitutive issues together with numerical and physical modelling, and engineering, focusing on approaches, case histories and geo-environmental themes. The areas of application of the papers embrace most of the geotechnical problems related to unsaturated soils. Increasing interest in geo-environmental problems, including chemical coupling, marks new perspectives in unsaturated soil mechanics. This book will provide a valuable up-to-date reference across the subject for both researchers and practitioners.

Gain a stronger foundation with optimal ground improvement

Before you break ground on a new structure, you need to analyze the structure of the ground. Expert analysis and optimization of the geo-materials on your site can mean the difference between a lasting structure and a school in a sinkhole. Sometimes problematic geology is expected because of the location, but other times it's only unearthed once construction has begun. You need to be able to quickly adapt your project plan to include an improvement to unfavorable ground before the project can safely continue.

"Principles and Practice of Ground Improvement" is the only comprehensive, up-to-date compendium of solutions to this critical aspect of civil engineering. Dr. Jie Han, registered Professional Engineer and preeminent voice in geotechnical engineering, is the ultimate guide to the methods and best practices of ground improvement. Han walks you through various ground improvement solutions and provides theoretical and practical advice for determining which technique fits each situation.Follow examples to find solutions to complex problemsComplete homework problems to tackle issues that present themselves in the fieldStudy design procedures for each technique to simplify field implementationBrush up on modern ground improvement technologies to keep abreast of all available options

"Principles and Practice of Ground Improvement" can be used as a textbook, and includes Powerpoint slides for instructors. It's also a handy field reference for contractors and installers who actually implement plans. There are many ground improvement solutions out there, but there is no single right answer to every situation. "Principles and Practice of Ground Improvement" will give you the information you need to analyze the problem, then design and implement the best possible solution.

This book provides an insight in advanced methods and concepts for structural analysis and design against seismic loading. The book consists of 25 chapters dealing with a wide range of timely issues in contemporary Earthquake Engineering. In brief, the topics covered are: collapse assessment, record selection, effect of soil conditions, problems in seismic design, protection of monuments, earth dam structures and liquid containers, numerical methods, lifetime assessment, post-earthquake measures. A common ground of understanding is provided between the communities of Earth Sciences and Computational Mechanics towards mitigating seismic risk. The topic is of great social and scientific interest, due to the large number of scientists and practicing engineers currently working in the field and due to the great social and economic consequences of earthquakes.

This book deals with the behaviour of soft ground improved by some of the more common methods, including the installation of prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs), or the installation of soil-cement columns formed by deep mixing, or the preloading of soft ground by application of a vacuum pressure in addition to, or instead of, a surcharge loading. In particular, it describes the theories and the numerical modelling techniques that may be applied to these soft ground improvement schemes to estimate the immediate and time-dependent mechanical response of the in situ soil. Particular emphasis has been placed on methods that reliably predict ground deformations associated with ground improvement techniques.

The book commences with a brief description of the various ground improvement methods and then describes general techniques for modelling the behaviour of soft clay subsoils by the finite element method, as well as details of the methods for modelling soft soils improved by the installation of PVDs. It also includes chapters describing the theory of vacuum consolidation and methods for calculating vacuum pressure-induced ground deformation, as well as a theory which can be used to predict the response of soft ground improved by the installation of soil-cement columns. An important distinguishing feature of this book is the routine use of comparisons of predictions of the proposed models with the results of laboratory studies, and particularly field case studies, in order to validate the proposed methods of analysis. The field case histories are from soft soil sites at various locations around the world.

The book is directed towards students of geotechnical engineering as well as geotechnical practitioners. In the main it provides complete derivations of most of the important theoretical results, as the intention was to write a book that could be used as both a teaching text and a reference work for students and practitioners.

Audience The book is intended for geotechnical practitioners as well as for students."

The EUROMECH Colloquium 366, 'Porous Media - Theory and Experiments' was held at the Bildungszentrum fiir die Entsorgungs-und Wasserwirtschaft GmbH B.E.W, Essen, Germany, from 23 to 27 June 1997. The goal of EUROMECH 366 was the presentation of recent findings in the macroscopic porous media theory (mixture theory restricted by the volume fraction concept) concerning general concepts and special investigations in the theoretical as well as the experimental field. Herein, numerical results requiring new solution strategies were also to be included. Moreover, foundations of fundamental state ments in the macroscopic porous media theory (e.g. the effective stress principle for incompressible and compressible constituents by micromechanic investigations) were welcome. Emphasis was placed upon the need to bring together scientists from various branches where porous media theories playa dominant role, namely from theoretical mechanics, agriculture, biomechanics, chemical engineering, geophysics and soil mechanics as well as from petroleum energy and environmental engineering. More than 80 people from 12 different countries expressed their interest in the Colloquium, and finally, 58 took part in the meeting presenting 42 papers. Among the talks were seven principal lectures given by leading scientists in the a.m. fields invited by the organizers. As Chairman of EUROMECH 366, I would like to thank the co-chairmen and all of my co-workers from the Institute of Mechanics, FB 10, University of Essen, for their help in organizing the Colloquium, in particular, Dr.-Ing. W. Walther, Priv.-Doz."

The geo-hydro-morphometry of the river Ganges has a history of long and wide variations as the river is continuously fed by the high Himalayas hill ranges, the highest in the world. The river is categorized as an international one, passing through several independent countries.
The major flow of the river used to flow through the branch river, Bhagirathi-Hooghly on the banks of which both city and port of Calcutta (now renamed Kolkata) are situated. However, due to massive tectonic and morphological changes, the flow through the branch river has gradually decreased resulting in enormous damages to the port and the city. After more than a century of investigations on the probable causes of deterioration and its remedies, a barrage across the river had been constructed near a place called Farakka in the Murshidabad district of West Bengal, India for diversion of a part of lean season flow (40,000 cu secs) from the parent river to the branch river for the resuscitation of the branch river and revitalization of the port of Calcutta.
The turmoil started since the construction of barrage between 1965-1975 and the major neighbouring countries, India and Bangladesh, were locked in the dispute over sharing the water of the parent river. After several rounds of discussions at different levels between the two countries, short-term agreements were signed two times, one in 1977 and the other in 1985, and finally one long term Treaty was signed in 1996 between the two countries in an atmosphere of peaceful co-existence.

Audience The book will be of interest to researchers and scientists, professionals and policymakers in water resources management and environmental science, conservation policy and development research.

This book teaches the principles of soil mechanics to undergraduates, along with other properties of engineering materials, to which the students are exposed simultaneously. Using the critical state method of soil mechanics to study the mechanical behavior of soils requires the student to consider density alongside effective stresses, permitting the unification of deformation and strength characteristics. This unification aids the understanding of soil mechanics. This book explores a one-dimensional theme for the presentation of many of the key concepts of soil mechanics - density, stress, stiffness, strength, and fluid flow - and includes a chapter on the analysis of one-dimensional consolidation, which fits nicely with the theme of the book. It also presents some theoretical analyses of soil-structure interaction, which can be analyzed using essentially one-dimensional governing equations. Examples are given at the end of most chapters, and suggestions for laboratory exercises or demonstrations are given.

Rock mechanics is a field of applied science which has become recognised as a coherent engineering discipline within the last two decades. It consists of a body of knowledge of the mechanical properties of rock, various techniques for the analysis of rock stress under some imposed perturbation, a set of established principles expressing rock mass response to load, and a logical methodology for applying these notions and techniques to real physical prob lems. Some of the areas where application of rock mechanics concepts have been demonstrated to be of industrial value include surface and subsurface construction, mining and other methods of mineral recovery, geothermal energy recovery and subsurface hazardous waste isolation. In many cases, the pressures of industrial demand for rigour and precision in project or process design have led to rapid evolution of the engineering discipline, and general improvement in its basis in both the geosciences and engineering mechanics. An intellectual commitment in some outstanding research centres to the proper development of rock mechanics has now resulted in a capacity for engineering design in rock not conceivable two decades ago. Mining engineering is an obvious candidate for application of rock mechanics principles in the design of excavations generated by mineral extrac tion. A primary concern in mining operations, either on surface or underground, is loosely termed 'ground control', i. e."

This book presents a new method for solving geomechanical problems - one that explicitly takes into account deformation and fractures of soils, which create important effects, but are neglected in classical approaches. The method reveals the influence of the form of a structure on its ultimate state. The entire approach takes into account five types of physical as well as geometrical non-linearity, and highlights the simplicity of some non-linear computations against the consequently linear ones.