DUSEL ISRM Workshop; held in Lisbon, Portugal; July 7-13, 2007

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An all-day workshop will be held on July 7, 2007, in Lisbon, Portugal, immediately before the 11th Congress of the International Society for Rock Mechanics (ISRM), July 8-13, 2007. The objective of this workshop is to discuss rock mechanics research possibilities in the Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory (DUSEL). DUSEL, an initiative of the National Science Foundation, is intended as a multidisciplinary facility for research in physics, microbiology, geoscience and geoengineering.The mechanical behavior of rock in situ, and how it is affected by the in situ environment, is the central concern of rock mechanics and rock engineering, and was the primary motivation for founding the ISRM in 1962. It is now possible, due to advances in analytical and numerical computational techniques, to incorporate in situ conditions in models of the rock mass. To date, it has not been possible to test the validity of these models directly against in situ observations. DUSEL will be a major stimulus towards overcoming this major obstacle. The Workshop is intended to (i) stimulate researchers in US universities to propose rock mechanics and rock engineering experiments for DUSEL; (ii) to stimulate critical discussion of these ideas between and international colleagues; (iii) to propose an international network of existing Underground Research Laboratories in various rock types and formations of which DUSEL would be a part. Most engineering structures in or on rock depend on the strength and deformability of the rock mass. Inadequate understanding of these factors has resulted in major catastrophes in civil structures and in mines. Increasing challenges in civil engineering and resource extraction projects; greater use of the subsurface for an increasing variety of applications ( mass transit; oil and natural gas storage; hazardous and toxic waste isolation; CO2 sequestration; etc.); the potential for groundwater is not contaminated; and triggering of unanticipated and damaging seismic slip on faults. All of these demand a much better understanding of in situ rock mass behavior. This Workshop will lead to a greater awareness of these issues in the US rock mechanics research community.