Practical Guide to Rock Tunneling

This Practical Guide to Rock Tunneling fills an important void in the literature for a practical guide to the design and construction of tunnels in rock. Practical Guide to Rock Tunneling takes the reader through all the critical steps of the design and construction for rock tunnels starting from geotechnical site investigations through to construction supervision. The guide provides suggestions and recommendations for practitioners on special topics of laboratory testing, durability of rock and acceptance for unlined water conveyance tunnels, overstressing or deep and long tunnels, risk-based evaluation of excavation methods, contract strategies, and post-construction inspections. Key considerations and lessons learned from selected case projects are presented based on the author’s extensive international experience of over 30 years and 1000 km of tunneling for civil, hydropower, and mining infrastructure, including some of the most recognized projects in the world to date. Instead of revisiting all theory and concepts that can be found in other sources, this book contains the hard learned lessons from the author’s experience in the field of Rock Tunneling, gathered over 30 years of service.

Table of Contents:
Introduction. Functional Uses of Rock Tunnels Tunnel Project Execution Site Investigations Rock Characterization Rock Tunnel Design Tunnel Stability Tunnel Excavation Tunnel Support Tunnel Lining Requirements Construction Considerations Construction Risks and Mitigation Measures Construction Cost Estimation for Rock Tunnels Construction Scheduling for Rock Tunnels Tunnel Contract Strategy and Implementation Risk Management Inspection of Rock Tunnels Renovation, Repairs, and Decommissioning Case Histories and Lessons Learned. Engagement and Roles and Responsibilities of Professionals. Health and Safety

About the Author :
Dean Brox has over 30 years of experience as a tunneling practitioner with more than 1200 km of major tunneling and infrastructure projects around the world. Dean graduated in 1985 from the Geological Engineering Program of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, in 1985 and obtained his Master in Science in Engineering Rock Mechanics with Distinction from Imperial College, London, in 1990. Dean started his career in underground mining rock mechanics in South Africa before moving into tunneling for civil engineering infrastructure projects around the world including the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, the Hong Kong Airport Core Projects, and the Gotthard Base Rail Tunnel in Switzerland. Dean has extensive experience with tunnels for hydropower projects and his areas of particular interest include high speed drill and blast excavation of long tunnels, long and deep TBM excavated tunnels, overstressing of deep or weak rock tunnels, asset performance of hydropower tunnels and TBM applicability assessments for mining projects. Dean practices as an independent consulting engineer and lives in Vancouver, Canada.

Review :
"Practical Guide to Rock Tunneling is exactly that, a useful tool and guide for practitioners in the tunnel business. This book provides insight into nearly every subject and for all steps of a rock tunnel project from planning through construction and operations and inspection. This book is a valuable reference for owners/clients, as it includes discussion of subjects such as: project planning, costing, scheduling, and risk assessment, never covered in classic technical books. Excellent photographs and graphics are contained throughout the book, which clearly illustrate the author’s message from practical experience on the multitude of subjects. This book provides guidance on the current up-to-date state-of-the-practice in rock tunneling discussing innovations of the last decade from televiewer logging of bore holes, LiDAR aerial surveys for geological fault mapping, proper photography of rock core, to the modern use of fiber reinforcement in pre-cast concrete segments. New technical evaluation and graphical methods are presented for overstressing and squeezing of deep tunnels as part of constructability assessments. A good discussion, illustrated with photographs, of the importance of rock durability is provided. The acceptability of unlined tunnels for water conveyance and criteria to consider are discussed. This book is based on 30 years of practical experience of investigation, design, construction, and operation of rock tunnels coupled with a thorough review of the literature. “Practical Guide to Rock Tunneling” should be part of all tunnel practitioner’s libraries; this includes staff engineers, geologists, project managers, and owners." Don W. Deere, P.E., Denver, Colorado. "I enjoyed reading this new book by Dean if only because it reminded me of what l`d forgotten and what has changed in Rock Tunnelling! Dean has produced an engaging summary of the current practice of planning, design, management and construction in Rock Tunnelling and it is a good basis for BSc/MSc students and beginners learning the art of rock tunnelling. It is a well laid out book following a clear format with useful references and case studies—and some excellent pictures. Each of the 21 chapters are not too wordy and Dean gets to the point without unnecessary verbage [...] Of particular note are the chapters on Rock Characterisation, Risk & Mitigation and Lessons Learned ( Chapters 5, 12 &19). The essential points for each of these areas of Rock Tunnelling are covered and well explained and uncomplicated. Chapter 15 on Contract Strategy and implementation, whilst not specifically unique to Rock Tunnelling, is nevertheless explained clearly without burdening the reader with too much detail; and for those just beginning a career in tunnelling the background is a welcome summary putting into context the commercial framework for procuring construction in Rock Tunnelling. For those looking for more detail then the book does give useful references and for those looking for detail of Case Histories then the brief examples serve as a starting point for satisfying those who want to delve more into practical examples and to gather more lessons learned. All in all l`d be delighted if l was just beginning a career in tunnelling to have the benefit of Dean`s helicopter view of an industry that he knows well and understands." Martin Knights FREng, Former president of the International Tunnelling Association, and independent consulting engineer.