Rock Engineering Risk

John A. Hudson graduated from the Heriot-Watt University, UK, and obtained his PhD at the University of Minnesota, USA. He has spent his professional career in consulting, research, teaching and publishing in engineering rock mechanics, and was awarded the DSc. degree by the Heriot-Watt University for his contributions to the subject. He has authored many scientific papers and books, and was the editor of the 1993 five-volume “Comprehensive Rock Engineering” compendium, and from 1983–2006 editor of the International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences. Since 1983, he has been affiliated with Imperial College London as Reader, Professor and now Emeritus Professor. In 1998, he became a Fellow of the UK Royal Academy of Engineering and was President of the International Society for Rock Mechanics (ISRM) for the period 2007–2011. In 2015, the 7th ISRM Müller Award was conferred on Professor Hudson in recognition of “an outstanding career that combines theoretical and applied rock engineering with a profound understanding of the basic sciences of geology and mechanics”.Xia-Ting Feng graduated in 1986 from the Northeast University of Technology and obtained his PhD in 1992 at the Northeastern University, China. He was then appointed and acted as Lecturer, Associate Professor and Professor at the same university. In 1998, he was admitted by the Hundred Talents Programme to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Subsequently, he permanently joined CAS’s Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics at Wuhan, China. In 2003, he obtained the support of the China National Funds for Distinguished Young Scientists; in 2010, he became a Chair Professor of the Cheung Kong Scholars’ Programme, Ministry of Education, China; and, in 2009, he was elected as President of the International Society for Rock Mechanics for the period 2011–2015. He is currently Director of the State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering in Wuhan. Additionally, in 2012, Professor Feng became the Co-President of the Chinese Society for Rock Mechanics and Engineering. He has made original contributions to the subject of ‘intelligent rock mechanics’ and his methods have been applied to large rock engineering projects in China and other countries.

This invaluable book reports the outcome of the work of the Commission on Design Methodology of the International Society for Rock Mechanics (ISRM) in the ISRM’s 2011-2015 term of office during which Professor John Hudson acted as Commission President while Professor Xia-Ting Feng served as ISRM President. It provides a sequel to the authors’ previous book, Rock Engineering Design (Feng and Hudson, 2011), which reported the work of the Commission in the ISRM’s 2007-2011 term of office when Professor Feng acted as Commission President and Professor Hudson served as ISRM President. […] This book is extremely well written, easy to follow and well-presented on high quality paper. […] The publication of this book reinforces and adds to the already high reputation of the ISRM Commission on Design Methodology. It brings great credit to its authors, Professors John Hudson and Xia-Ting Feng; to the other members of the Commission on Design Methodology in the 2011-2015 period (their names are listed in the book’s Acknowledgements); to the staff of the Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China; to the ISRM itself; and to the publishers. The subject of the book is highly topical and is central to all modern rock engineering undertakings. The writer is pleased to be able to recommend this outstanding book unreservedly to all advanced students, researchers, teachers and practitioners in rock mechanics and rock engineering, particularly, but far from exclusively, those having an interest in underground excavations in rock. He believes that they will find the study this book to be as rewarding as he did.E.T. Brown, Senior Consultant, Golder Associates Pty Ltd, Milton, QLD, Australia, quoted from the Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 2012a; 4(1): III-IV (June 2015).This book will apeal to rock engineers world-wide as it addresses generic rather than specific topics. The book covers the topic fully. John Hudson is one of the most highly regarded people in his field. I cannot think of two people in a better position to write this book. John Cosgrove, Professor of Structural Geology, Imperial College, London.

• Preface, Acknowledgements: International Society for Rock Mechanics, About the authors, 1 Introduction and background, 2 Uncertainty and risk, 3 Rock Engineering Systems (RES), auditing and Protocol Sheets, 4 Rock fractures and in situ rock stress, 5 Radioactive waste disposal: overcoming complexity and reducing risk, 6 Risks associated with long deep tunnels, 7 Risks associated with hydropower cavern groups, 8 Concluding remarks, Appendix A: Cavern risk events during construction, Appendix B: The Chinese ‘Basic Quality’ (BQ) system for rock mass classification, References and bibliography, Colour plates