Rock Mechanics

The US Symposium on Rock Mechanics, held at Lake Tahoe, California/Nevada, is the 35th in a continuing series of now biennial meetings organized to support the national and trans-national interests of US scientists, engineers, consultants, students, and technologists interested in rock mechanics and rock engineering. The reviewed papers contained in this volume represent one or more aspects of this interdisciplinary field. This volume contains a total of 133 papers selected from 241 abstracts, in addition to 2 invited papers prepared on broad multidisciplinary issues. Session topics include: Construction; surface excavation; stability and shear strength of fractured rock; laboratory testing; rock dynamics; stress measurements; tunnels and groundwater flow; petroleum; tool-rock interaction; building stone durability; rock reinforcement; fracture mechanics; radioactive waste disposal; underground mining; fragmentation and blasting; metal mining, coal mining; planetary rock mechanics; rock properties; stochastic methods; theoretical and model studies; hydrology; and rock creep. Field trips and informal discussions associated with the symposium form an integral part of technical and social interaction among participants. Although much attention is devoted in the technical program to areas of major national concern in which rock mechanics problems represent critical or limiting factors - including energy, tunneling and excavation, waste disposal, and reactor siting - papers were sought and received with the widest possible scope of research and applications.