Underground construction in China is featured by large scale, high speed, long construction period, complex operation and frustrating situations regarding project safety. Various accidents have been reported from time to time, resulting in serious social impact and huge economic loss. This paper presents the main progress in the safety risk management of underground engineering in China over the last decade, i.e. (1) establishment of laws and regulations for safety risk management of underground engineering, (2) implementation of the safety risk management plan, (3) establishment of decision support system for risk management and early-warning based on information technology, and (4) strengthening the study on safety risk management, prediction and prevention. Based on the analysis of the typical accidents in China in the last decade, the new challenges in the safety risk management for underground engineering are identified as follows: (1) control of unsafe human behaviors; (2) technological innovation in safety risk management; and (3) design of safety risk management regulations. Finally, the strategies for safety risk management of underground engineering in China are proposed in six aspects, i.e. the safety risk management system and policy, law, administration, economy, education and technology.

Numerous deep underground projects have been designed and constructed in China, which are beyond the current specifications in terms of scale and construction difficulty. The severe failure problems induced by high in situ stress, such as rockburst, spalling, damage of deep surrounding rocks, and time-dependent damage, were observed during construction of these projects. To address these problems, the dynamic design method for deep hard rock tunnels is proposed based on the disintegration process of surrounding rocks using associated dynamic control theories and technologies. Seven steps are basically employed: (i) determination of design objective, (ii) characteristics of site, rock mass and project, and identification of constraint conditions, (iii) selection or development of global design strategy, (iv) determination of modeling method and software, (v) preliminary design, (vi) comprehensive integrated method and dynamic feedback analysis, and (vii) final design. This dynamic method was applied to the construction of the headrace tunnels at Jinping II hydropower station. The key technical issues encountered during the construction of deep hard rock tunnels, such as in situ stress distribution along the tunnels, mechanical properties and constitutive model of deep hard rocks, determination of mechanical parameters of surrounding rocks, stability evaluation of surrounding rocks, and optimization design of rock support and lining, have been adequately addressed. The proposed method and its application can provide guidance for deep underground projects characterized with similar geological conditions.

Even though a large number of large-scale arch dams with height larger than 200 m have been built in the world, the transient groundwater flow behaviors and the seepage control effects in the dam foundations under difficult geological conditions are rarely reported. This paper presents a case study on the transient groundwater flow behaviors in the rock foundation of Jinping I double-curvature arch dam, the world's highest dam of this type to date that has been completed. Taking into account the geological settings at the site, an inverse modeling technique utilizing the time series measurements of both hydraulic head and discharge was adopted to back-calculate the permeability of the foundation rocks, which effectively improves the uniqueness and reliability of the inverse modeling results. The transient seepage flow in the dam foundation during the reservoir impounding was then modeled with a parabolic variational inequality (PVI) method. The distribution of pore water pressure, the amount of leakage, and the performance of the seepage control system in the dam foundation during the entire impounding process were finally illustrated with the numerical results.

This paper presents the results of the shear strength (frictional strength) of cemented paste backfill-cemented paste backfill (CPB-CPB) and cemented paste backfill–rock wall (CPB-rock) interfaces. The frictional behaviors of these interfaces were assessed for the short-term curing times (3 d and 7 d) using a direct shear apparatus RDS-200 from GCTS (Geotechnical Consulting & Testing Systems). The shear (friction) tests were performed at three different constant normal stress levels on flat and smooth interfaces. These tests aimed at understanding the mobilized shear strength at the CPB-rock and CPB-CPB interfaces during and/or after open stope filling (no exposed face). The applied normal stress levels were varied in a range corresponding to the usually measured in-situ horizontal pressures (longitudinal or transverse) developed within paste-filled stopes (uniaxial compressive strength, σc ≤ 150 kPa). Results show that the mobilized shear strength is higher at the CPB-CPB interface than that at the CPB-rock interface. Also, the perfect elastoplastic behaviors observed for the CPB-rock interfaces were not observed for the CPB-CPB interfaces with low cement content which exhibits a strain-hardening behavior. These results are useful to estimate or validate numerical model for pressures determination in cemented backfill stope at short term. The tests were performed on real backfill and granite. The results may help understanding the mechanical behavior of the cemented paste backfill in general and, in particular, analyzing the shear strength at backfill–backfill and backfill-rock interfaces.

In this paper, stress behavior of shallow tunnels under simultaneous non-uniform surface traction and symmetric gravity loading was studied using a direct boundary element method (BEM). The existing full-plane elastostatic fundamental solutions to displacement and stress fields were used and implemented in a developed algorithm. The cross-section of the tunnel was considered in circular, square, and horseshoe shapes and the lateral coefficient of the domain was assumed as unit quantity. Double-node procedure of the BEM was applied at the corners to improve the model including sudden traction changes. The results showed that the method used was a powerful tool for modeling underground openings under various external as well as internal loads. Eccentric loads significantly influenced the stress pattern of the surrounding tunnel. The achievements can be practically used in completing and modifying regulations for stability investigation of shallow tunnels.

Tunneling in complex rock mass conditions is a challenging task, especially in the Himalayan terrain, where a number of unpredicted conditions are reported. Rock joint parameters such as persistence, spacing and shear strength are the factors which significantly modify the working environments in the vicinity of the openings. Therefore, a detailed tunnel stability assessment is critically important based on the field data collection on the excavated tunnel's face. In this context, intact as well as rock mass strength and deformation modulus is obtained from laboratory tests for each rock type encountered in the study area. Finite element method (FEM) is used for stability analysis purpose by parametrically varying rock joint persistence, spacing and shear strength parameters, until the condition of overbreak is reached. Another case of marginally stable condition is also obtained based on the same parameters. The results show that stability of tunnels is highly influenced by these parameters and the size of overbreak is controlled by joint persistence and spacing. Garnetiferous schist and slate characterized using high persistence show the development of large plastic zones but small block size, depending upon joint spacing; whereas low persistence, low spacing and low shear strength in marble and quartzite create rock block fall condition.

The four diversion tunnels at Jinping II hydropower station represent the deepest underground project yet conducted in China, with an overburden depth of 1500–2000 m and a maximum depth of 2525 m. The tunnel structure was subjected to a maximum external water pressure of 10.22 MPa and the maximum single-point groundwater inflow of 7.3 m3/s. The success of the project construction was related to numerous challenging issues such as the stability of the rock mass surrounding the deep tunnels, strong rockburst prevention and control, and the treatment of high-pressure, large-volume groundwater infiltration. During the construction period, a series of new technologies was developed for the purpose of risk control in the deep tunnel project. Nondestructive sampling and in-situ measurement technologies were employed to fully characterize the formation and development of excavation damaged zones (EDZs), and to evaluate the mechanical behaviors of deep rocks. The time effect of marble fracture propagation, the brittle–ductile–plastic transition of marble, and the temporal development of rock mass fracture and damage induced by high geostress were characterized. The safe construction of deep tunnels was achieved under a high risk of strong rockburst using active measures, a support system comprised of lining, grouting, and external water pressure reduction techniques that addressed the coupled effect of high geostress, high external water pressure, and a comprehensive early-warning system. A complete set of technologies for the treatment of high-pressure and large-volume groundwater infiltration was developed. Monitoring results indicated that the Jinping II hydropower station has been generally stable since it was put into operation in 2014

Over the past few decades, many optical fiber sensing techniques have been developed. Among these available sensing methods, optical fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is probably the most popular one. With its unique capabilities, FBG-based geotechnical sensors can be used as a sensor array for distributive (profile) measurements, deployed under water (submersible), for localized high resolution and/or differential measurements. The authors have developed a series of FBG-based transducers that include inclination, linear displacement and gauge/differential pore pressure sensors. Techniques that involve the field deployment of FBG inclination, extension and pore-pressure sensor arrays for automated slope stability and ground subsidence monitoring have been developed. The paper provides a background of FBG and the design concepts behind the FBG-based field monitoring sensors. Cases of field monitoring using the FBG sensor arrays are presented, and their practical implications are discussed.

Sand production is an undesired phenomenon occurring in unconsolidated formations due to shear failure and hydrodynamic forces. There have been many approaches developed to predict sand production and prevent it by changing drilling or production strategies. However, assumptions involved in these approaches have limited their applications to very specific scenarios. In this paper, an elliptical model based on the borehole shape is presented to predict the volume of sand produced during the drilling and depletion stages of oil and gas reservoirs. A shape factor parameter is introduced to estimate the changes in the geometry of the borehole as a result of shear failure. A carbonate reservoir from the south of Iran with a solid production history is used to show the application of the developed methodology. Deriving mathematical equations for determination of the shape factor based on different failure criteria indicate that the effect of the intermediate principal stress should be taken into account to achieve an accurate result. However, it should be noticed that the methodology presented can only be used when geomechanical parameters are accurately estimated prior to the production stage when using wells and field data

The material and elastic properties of rocks are utilized for predicting and evaluating hard rock brittleness using artificial neural networks (ANN). Herein hard rock brittleness is defined using Yagiz' method. A predictive model is developed using a comprehensive database compiled from 30 years' worth of rock tests at the Earth Mechanics Institute (EMI), Colorado School of Mines. The model is sensitive to density, elastic properties, and P- and S-wave velocities. The results show that the model is a better predictor of rock brittleness than conventional destructive strength-test based models and multiple regression techniques. While the findings have direct implications on intact rock, the methodology can be extrapolated to rock mass problems in both tunneling and underground mining where rock brittleness is an important control.

This paper presents a study on the valorization of local materials such as desert dune sand obtained from Laghouat region in the South Algeria and mine bentonite intended for the realization of liner base layers in the conception of insulation barriers for hazardous waste facilities. In practice, an economical mixture satisfying the hydraulic requirements is generally concerned. First, in order to get an adequate dune sand–bentonite mixture compacted to the optimum Proctor condition, an investigation on saturated hydraulic behavior is carried out in this study for different mixtures. Using oedometer test (indirect measurement), the adequate mixture of 85% dune sand and 15% bentonite satisfies the conditions of saturated hydraulic conductivity (k < 10&#8722;9 m/s). This result of the adequate mixture is also confirmed by direct measurement of saturated hydraulic conductivity using triaxial cell. Second, the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity of the adequate mixture is measured with an original vapor equilibrium technique (VET) used for Sr < 30% (very high suction s > 3 MPa). This technique is conducted based on the exploitation of the water retention curve in order to establish the relationships between hydraulic conductivity, degree of saturation, and suction. It shows that the hydraulic conductivity increases with the degree of saturation and decreases with the suction. However, the hydraulic conductivity has a constant value for suctions larger than 20 MPa. The selected dune sand–bentonite mixture satisfies the regulation requirements and hence constitutes a good local and economical material for the conception of barrier base liners.

An investigation was conducted on the overall burst-instability of isolated coal pillars by means of the possibility index diagnosis method (PIDM). First, the abutment pressure calculation model of the gob in side direction was established to derive the abutment pressure distribution curve of the isolated coal pillar. Second, the overall burst-instability ratio of the isolated coal pillars was defined. Finally, the PIDM was utilized to judge the possibility of overall burst-instability and recoverability of isolated coal pillars. The results show that an overall burst-instability may occur due to a large gob width or a small pillar width. If the width of the isolated coal pillar is not large enough, the shallow coal seam will be damaged at first, and then the high abutment pressure will be transferred to the deep coal seam, which may cause an overall burst-instability accident. This approach can be adopted to design widths of gobs and isolated coal pillars and to evaluate whether an existing isolated coal pillar is recoverable in skip-mining mines.

Coal extraction in Huainan area is basically characterized by one of typical multi-seam mining conditions observed in China, where coal is mined in soft seams characterized by high gas content, high stress, low permeability and difficult geological conditions. The average mining depth in Huainan area is 875 m and continues to increase by 15–25 m annually. The rise in mining depth increases the risk of coal and gas outbursts and makes it more difficult to control outburst risk in Huainan coalmines. This paper reviews the main achievements (e.g. theories, technologies and equipment) in outburst control in Huainan, and tries to analyze some key challenging issues, and to present associated strategies to address these issues. It suggests that the outburst control in Huainan must take a combination approach of both regional and localized control in which the former plays a dominant role. Other outburst prevention principles include (1) non-outburst seams protecting outburst seams, (2) less outburst-prone seams protecting strong outburst-prone seams, (3) stress-releasing mining, and (4) the combination of ground and underground gas drainage (the model is dubbed as “walking on two legs”). The paper concludes that we should conduct fundamental researches on outburst mechanism, and develop outburst control technologies and equipment to ensure safe and efficient coal mining of deep coal resources in Huainan area.

Efforts to obtain non-intrusive measurement of deformations and spatial flow within soil mass prior to the advent of transparent soils have perceptible limitations. The transparent soil is a two-phase medium composed of both the synthetic aggregate and fluid components of identical refractive indices aiming at attaining transparency of the resulting soil. The transparency facilitates real life visualisation of soil continuum in physical models. When applied in conjunction with advanced photogrammetry and image processing techniques, transparent soils enable the quantification of the spatial deformation, displacement and multi-phase flow in physical model tests. Transparent synthetic soils have been successfully employed in geotechnical model tests as soil surrogates based on the testing results of their geotechnical properties which replicate those of natural soils. This paper presents a review on transparent synthetic soils and their numerous applications in geotechnical physical models. The properties of the aggregate materials are outlined and the features of the various transparent clays and sands available in the literature are described. The merits of transparent soil are highlighted and the need to amplify its application in geotechnical physical model researches is emphasised. This paper will serve as a concise compendium on the subject of transparent soils for future researchers in this field.