Development of reliability-based design for rock engineering

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Geotechnical engineering design in Canada, as elsewhere in the world, is undergoing a fundamental change to customary practice in that design codes and standards are being introduced which implement the superior reliability based design (RBD) procedures rather than the traditional prescriptive or working stress based methods. Unfortunately, current rock engineering design procedures rely on a combination of largely empirical and ad hoc approaches that do not comply with RBD principles. There is an urgent need - for the sake of both safety and economy - to rectify this, and the research in this program aims to do so. The proposal covers three critically important research themes that are necessary to support the fundamental development of RBD for rock engineering: 1) Understanding the design situation in rock engineering; 2) Coping with limited data; and 3) Development of observational approaches. The short-term objectives are to develop the fundamental knowledge base of RBD in rock engineering, and provide high quality HQP training. The longer-term objective is to significantly contribute to the development of rock engineering design standards in Canada and worldwide. It is expected that the research results will significantly advance RBD in rock engineering, and will form the basis of further important research in the years ahead. The impact of this research is expected to be very high, given the urgent need to develop the knowledge base to support existing RBD geotechnical engineering design codes. The research results will have direct and immediate application to the civil and mining engineering sectors in Canada and worldwide. Great effort will be made to disseminate the results of the research as quickly and widely as possible, using the most appropriate means. This will include contributions to major international conferences, publication of journal papers, and presentation of the results at workshops for practising engineers. The research will be undertaken by a combination of 7 Doctoral students and 4 Masters students, and will involve industrial collaboration where appropriate. The budget is, in its entirety, devoted to training of HQP. All students in the research program will be trained in the full range of research activities, and the use of industry standard and emerging advanced tools and techniques, particularly in the field of data analysis and numerical modelling. It is expected that the students involved in the program will obtain employment in the geotechnical engineering industry, either in the civil or mining engineering fields, and so training will be given that helps prepare them for this. The proposed research program involves collaboration with industry in many areas (e.g. identifying current design practices, design of observational approaches), and the students will be fully involved in this and thus gain significant exposure to the potential employers.