Rock Slope Engineering
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Rock Slope Engineering
Revised third edition
Evert Hoek
D.Sc(Eng)
Principal.Golder Associates,
224 W 8th Avenue,Vancouver,B.C.,Canada
and
John Bray
Ph.D(Eng)
Reader in Rock Mechanics, Imperial College
of Science and Technology.London.UK
•mm
Published for the
INSTITUTION O F MINING AND METALLURGY
by
Taylor & Francis
Taylor & Francis Group
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 1974 by Taylor & Francis
Revised second edition 1977
Revised third edition 1981
Reprinted 1991, 1994 (twice), 1996, 1997
Reprinted 1999 by Taylor & Francis, an imprint of Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX 14 4RN
270 Madison Ave, New York NY 10016
Transferred to Digital Printing 2005
© 1974 THE INSTITUTION OF MINING AND METALLURGY
and E. Hoek and J.W. Bray
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 0-419-16010-8 (pbk)
Special regulations for readers in the USA
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(CCC), Salem, Massachusetts. Information can be obtained from the CCC about
conditions under which photocopies of parts of this publication may be made in
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USA should be referred to the publisher.
Rock Slope Engineering is made available at the lowest possible cost to ensure
that it is readily available to practice engineers. Neither the authors nor the
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book.
1
Preface to first edition
In d e s i g n i n g t h e v e r y l a r g e e x c a v a t e d s l o p e s w h i c h a r e
b e c o m i n g i n c r e a s i n g l y common i n b o t h m i n i n g a n d civil
engineering p r o j e c t s , the engineer is faced w i t h two
c o n f l i c t i n g requirements. On t h e o n e h a n d , v a s t sums o f
m o n e y c a n be s a v e d b y s t e e p e n i n g t h e s l o p e s , t h e r e b y
r e d u c i n g t h e a m o u n t o f m a t e r i a l t o be e x c a v a t e d . On t h e
o t h e r h a n d , l o s s o f l i f e and s e r i o u s damage t o p r o p e r t y
c a n r e s u l t f r o m f a i l u r e s i n d u c e d by e x c e s s i v e s t e e p e n i n g o f
a particular slope. How d o e s t h e e n g i n e e r a c h i e v e a n
optimum design - a compromise between a s l o p e which i s steep
e n o u g h t o be e c o n o m i c a l l y a c c e p t a b l e and one w h i c h i s f l a t
e n o u g h t o be s a f e ?
B e c a u s e t h e r o c k mass b e h i n d e a c h s l o p e i s u n i q u e , t h e r e a r e
no s t a n d a r d r e c i p e s o r r o u t i n e s o l u t i o n s w h i c h a r e
guaranteed t o produce the r i g h t answer each time they are
applied. A p r a c t i c a l s o l u t i o n i s b u i l t up f r o m t h e b a s i c
geological data, rock strength i n f o r m a t i o n , groundwater
o b s e r v a t i o n s a n d a g o o d m e a s u r e o f e n g i n e e r i n g common
sense. These i n g r e d i e n t s a r e blended in different
p r o p o r t i o n s f o r e a c h c a s e and t h e o n l y a s s i s t a n c e a v a i l a b l e
i s a c o l l e c t i o n o f t o o l s and t e c h n i q u e s w h i c h w i l l h e l p t h e
e n g i n e e r t o c o l l e c t t h e i n f o r m a t i o n q u i c k l y and efficiently
and t o p r o c e s s i t i n an o r d e r l y m a n n e r .
T h i s book s e t s o u t t o d e s c r i b e t h e s e t o o l s and techniques
and t o i l l u s t r a t e t h e i r a p p l i c a t i o n t o p r a c t i c a l p r o b l e m s
by means o f a n u m b e r o f w o r k e d e x a m p l e s . As f a r a s
p o s s i b l e , t h e t e x t has been k e p t f r e e o f m a t h e m a t i c s and
a number o f s i m p l e d e s i g n c h a r t s and g r a p h i c a l m e t h o d s
have been i n c l u d e d t o e n a b l e t h e n o n - s p e c i a l i s t engineer
r a p i d l y t o o b t a i n approximate answers t o h i s problem.
These a p p r o x i m a t e answers a r e f r e q u e n t l y adequate but
t h e r e w i l l be s i t u a t i o n s i n w h i c h t h e e n g i n e e r w i l l wish
t o c a l l upon a g e o t e c h n i c a l s p e c i a l i s t f o r a s s i s t a n c e .
Having attempted to solve the problem f o r h i m s e l f , the
e n g i n e e r w i l l be i n a s t r o n g p o s i t i o n t o c o m m u n i c a t e h i s
needs t o t h e g e o t e c h n i c a l s p e c i a l i s t and t o w o r k o u t , w i t h
the s p e c i a l i s t , t h e most p r a c t i c a l e n g i n e e r i n g s o l u t i o n .
The a u t h o r s make no a p o l o g y f o r t h e f a c t t h a t t h e b o o k has
b e e n p r i n t e d by o f f s e t l i t h o g r a p h y f r o m t y p e s c r i p t and that
some o f t h e d r a w i n g s a n d p h o t o g r a p h s a r e n o t p e r f e c t . The
i n t e n t i o n has b e e n t o p r o d u c e an e n g i n e e r i n g h a n d b o o k a t
minimum c o s t r a t h e r than a f i n e example o f t h e p r i n t e r ' s
art. Wide m a r g i n s have been p r o v i d e d f o r t h e r e a d e r ' s
n o t e s and t h e a u t h o r s hope t h a t e a c h c o p y w i l l w e a r o u t
f r o m h a r d use r a t h e r t h a n d e c a y i n d e c o r a t i v e i n a c t i v i t y .
London, Evert Hoek
November, 1973. John Bray
