Zostrich Geotechnical - Rock Mass Characterization

Rock is a natural substance, created and modified over millions of years. As geotechnical engineers we are unique amongst the engineering branches in that we must design our works utilizing the grab bag of properties that nature provides, rather than specifying design properties.

It is this concept that makes rock mass characterization so very important for any engineered excavation in rock. Without a detailed and accurate model of the material in which we are conducting our design, our engineering efforts are wasted.

We specialize in this unique area. Our statistical rock mass characterizations provide engineering descriptions of the rock mass, allowing a true engineering evaluation of the design in question to be conducted.

We conduct:

Statistical rock fabric characterization. The rock mass contains innumerable discontinuities that impact design, this "fabric" is characterized using our proprietary techniques and software;
Rock mass quality analyses. If the rock mass is highly altered and fractured, it becomes pertinent to describe it in terms of empirical rock mass characteristics;
Rock material property characterization. This includes descriptions of design statistics for a variety of rock material properties, including discontinuity shear strength, rock mass strength, triaxial strength, etc. These are based on laboratory testing, field back analyses, and empirical analyses;
Projection of design values. At times, especially for underground design and failure back analysis, a projected solids model of the engineering rock mass is highly desirable. With our statistical database, we can krig values into a block model allowing modeled excavation through a solid.

Our geotechnical data collection course, providing more details of our data collection process, is available on Edumine.

We also provide courses and/or oversight for geotechnical data collection. Contact us for more information.