international society for rock mechanics news j urnal€¦ · south america, dr eda de quadros. i...

NEWS J URNALINTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR ROCK MECHANICS

S oc i é t é In t e rna t i ona l e de Mécan ique de s Roches

In t e rna t i ona l e Gese l l s cha f t fü r Fe l smechan ik

Contribution of Rock Mechanicsto the New Century – Kyoto 2004

The picture shows thebeauty of Kyoto, wherethe ISRM InternationalSymposium was held atthe end of November2004.

The Maple trees, seeneverywhere in this ancientJapanese capital,residence of the Emperorfrom 794 to 1868, createa magnificent effect.

The autumn leaves,having hues ranging fromgold to deep red andpurple, are very attractiveand romantic, producingsplendid views.

Volume 9 • Number 1 May 2005

TECHNICAL ARTICLES

Non-linearity of Flow and Deformationin Basaltic Rock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Triaxial Creep Tests in Salt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

ISRM News . . .Message from the President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

ISRM President Elect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Rocha Medal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

ISRM Symposia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

News from the Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Commission Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Forthcoming Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

The Board of the Society iscomposed of:

• The President

• Six regional VicePresidents

• Up to three VicePresidents at Large, at leastone of them from Europe

• For the last two years ofthe term, the PresidentElect

• The Secretary General

For the term of office 2003-2007

President: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Prof. Nielen van derMerwe

President-elect: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Prof. John A. Hudson

Vice President for Africa: . . . . . . . . Dr Martin J. Pretorius

Vice President for Asia: . . . . . . . . . . Prof. Jian Zhao

Vice President for Australasia: . . . . Dr John St. George

Vice President for Europe: . . . . . . . . Dr Claus Erichsen

Vice President for N/America: . . . . . . Dr François E. Heuze

Vice President for S/America: . . . . . . Dr Eda Freitas deQuadros

Vice President at Large: . . . . . . . . . . . Prof. Qian Qihu

Vice President at Large: . . . . . . . . . . . Prof. Luís Ribeiro eSousa

Secretary General: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dr Luís Lamas

SENIOR EDITORProf. Nielen van der MerwePresident ISRMHead of Department of Mining EngineeringUniversity of Pretoria 0002Republic of South AfricaTel: (+27) 12 420-2443Fax: (+27) 12 420-4242E-mail: [email protected]

MANAGING EDITORSend comments or suggestions to:

Phil PiperManaging DirectorGroundwork Consulting (Pty) LtdP.O. Box 1166 Auckland Park 2006South AfricaTel: (+27) 11 375-0700Fax: (+27) 11 477-3131E-mail: [email protected]

CONTRIBUTING EDITORSend news of meetings and publications to:

N.F. GrossmannISRM Secretariat, c/o LNEC101 Avenida do BrasilP-1700-066 Lisbon, PortugalTel: 351 21 844-3385 • Fax: 351 21 844-3026E-mail: [email protected]

ISRM HomepageSubmit comments via websitehttp://www.isrm.net

Back Issues ($8) are available from theSecretariat

ISRM SECRETARIATSend articles, advertising and other material to:

Dr. Luís Nolasco LamasSecretary-GeneralE-mail: [email protected]

Maria de Loures Eusébio,Executive SecretaryE-mail: [email protected] Avenida do BrasilP-1700-066 Lisbon, PortugalTel: 351 21 844-3419 • Fax: 351 21 844-3021

2

The ISRM BoardThe ISRM Board after itsfirst meeting, in Sandton,Johannesburg, South Africa,September 2003.

Standing, left to right:John St. George, Martin Pretorius, Francois Heuze, Jian Zhao , Qian Qihu, Luís Ribeiro e Sousa,Luís Lamas.

Sitting, left to right: Maria de Lourdes Eusébio(executive secretary), Nielen van der Merwe, Eda de Freitas Quadros, Claus Erichsen

NEWS J URNALINTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR ROCK MECHANICS

S oc i é t é In t e rna t i ona l e de Mécan ique de s Roches

In t e rna t i ona l e Gese l l s cha f t fü r Fe l smechan ik

Volume 9 Number 1 May 2005

We are on the eve of another Councilmeeting, only a few short months afterthe previous one in Kyoto. There has

not been time to implement all the actions wedecided on, but that does not mean that we havestagnated.

First, I would like to draw attention to some of theimportant matters facing Council at the meeting inBrno. We are a democratic society, and everymember of the ISRM is represented in Councilthrough our national structures. The issues beforeCouncil are therefore all of our issues.

The important decisions before Council at thismeeting include the selection of a venue for the12th Congress. The competition has been stiff andthe campaigns conducted at a high level ofprofessionalism and ethics by both the candidatecountries. Council has all the information requiredto make a wise and well considered selection. Thehigh quality of the presentations indicates thatwhoever manages to gain the selection, will do it inthe same manner and we can look forward to a wellorganised Congress. I wish also to express the hopethat not winning will not dampen enthusiasm forthe ISRM activities and support on the side of theunsuccessful candidate.

Having managed the organisation of a Congress, Iam not sure that the same amount of enthusiasmwould prevail from candidates if they were to befully aware of the consequences of winning the bid!Be that as it may, I want to say good luck to the

winner and assure the team of the full support of theinternational community.

The second important decision will be the electionof the President of the Society for the term 2007 –2011. Here we have three candidates, all of whomare well respected for their scientific ability andpersonal integrity. As with the Congress election,we are fortunate in the sense that all threecandidates are more than worthy and we can beassured that the Society will be in good hands.

We have a unique situation where two of thecandidates are current Board members and shouldeither of them be elected as the next President,minor adjustment to the composition of the Boardwill be considered to avoid possible conflict ofinterest.

I request Council members to consider their choicesin both matters carefully, following discussion withtheir constituents based on the requirements andthe ability of the candidates to conform to them. Iknow that the choices will be difficult indeed, but itis good for the Society that we have to choosebetween excellent candidates for both the Congressvenue and the next President.

The third decision with long term impacts that willhave to be taken is whether or not to support thecreation of the Federation of Geo-EngineeringSocieties (FIGS) based on the principles that wereagreed upon by the Presidents of the SisterSocieties. We tried to find the delicate balancebetween creating an organisation that will notendanger the autonomy of any one organisation,and yet be tight enough to have the necessaryimpact.

The principles were agreed upon at a meetingbetween the Presidents of the Sister Societies inGent, Belgium, following a report by the Joint TaskForce. It was later finalised by circulation of thedocument between the Presidents. The ISRMmembers of the Joint Task Force were Dr MarcPanet, Dr Luis Sousa and Dr.-Ing. Claus Erichsen.Their valuable input is acknowledged.

FIGS also has to cater for the possible entry at alater stage of other related societies. To avoidunnecessary complications and delays, it wasdecided to restrict membership initially to the SisterSocieties, they being the main players as learnedorganisations.

3

Message from the President

Prof. Neilen van der Merwe

Should all three Societies approve the principles asa back bone, the final step will be to create amutually acceptable constitution based on theprinciples. This will also have to be approved by allthree Councils. Due to the uncoordinated dates ofCouncil Meetings of the Sister Societies, theearliest date at which the FIGS can be formallycreated will be 2007, if there are no delays due toobjections from any of the participants. We felt thatthis issue was too important to be handled by mail.

On a personal note, I left the meeting in Gent withmixed feelings. On the one hand, there was thesatisfaction of having had a very good andconstructive meeting with my colleagues about theFIGS and the warm hospitality of our host, DrWilliam van Impe of the ISSMGE. On the otherhand, I am now officially classified as a seniorcitizen following the insistence of the ticket sellerat the Castle Museum there that I pay the reducedentry fee for seniors! It was also interesting to notethat some of the social discussions could beconducted in my home language, Afrikaans, as it issufficiently similar to Flemish and Dutch, the homelanguages of the other two Presidents.

I had the opportunity to meet colleagues inMoscow at the occasion of the “Rock Mechanicsfor Underground Environment” conference inJanuary, which was a Regional Conference of theISRM. Even though attendance suffered due to anumber of external factors beyond the control of

the organisers, the discussions were conducted at ahigh level and I congratulate the chair of theorganising committee, Prof Sergey Yufin, who hadto do the work under difficult circumstances.

This particular conference highlighted one of thedifficulties of organising international events,namely the different statutory requirements forentry into countries by different nationals. Thisproblem unfortunately prevented a large delegationfrom participating. Both parties, the conferenceand the intended delegation, were the poorer forthis.

I was also fortunate to meet one of the giants ofrock engineering in Russia and indeed the world,Prof Eugeny Shemyakin, and several members ofthe Russian Committee. In spite of the currenteconomic problems in that vast country, we lookforward to increased membership in Russia.

For the immediate future, we will meet again inBrno and I look forward to see as many as possibleof our colleagues there. Please book early, and payparticular attention to travel arrangements.

Each of the Vice Presidents will in turn beresponsible for an edition of the News Journal. Thisedition was compiled by the Vice President forSouth America, Dr Eda de Quadros. I want tothank Eda for her hard work and congratulate heron a job well done.

Nielen van der Merwe

Message from the President (continued)

A small group of foreign delegates to the “Rock Mechanics forUnderground Environment” braved the cold to visit the Kemlin.

Prof Eugeny Shemyakin, Chairperson of the Russian Committee, at theconclusion of a successful meeting with the President.

4

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES ANDACCOMPLISHMENTS

• FREng: Fellow of the Royal Academy ofEngineering, UK

• Professor, Department of Earth Science andEngineering, Imperial College, University ofLondon, UK; have supervised 50 MSc and 15PhD students in engineering rock mechanicsto date

• Adjunct/Visiting/Honourary Professor: RoyalInstitute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden;Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, PRC;and Hong Kong University. Earlier visitingProfessorial appointments at other Universitiesincluding the Nanyang TechnologicalUniversity, Singapore, and Universities ofWisconsin and Minnesota, USA

• Editor: International Journal of RockMechanics & Mining Sciences, and Elsevier’sGeo-Engineering Book Series

• Independent Consultant specializing inproviding solutions for civil and mining rockengineering design and construction problems,often in difficult or non-precedent practicecircumstances, for radioactive waste disposal,tunnels, foundations, slopes, caverns

• Authored/co-authored four books and morethan 150 technical papers, plus a further threeedited books, including “Comprehensive RockEngineering”, 5 vols, 4407 pages, which is theonly international benchmark overview of allaspects of rock engineering

PAST WORK FOR THE ISRM

.UK National Group representative 1987-present

• ISRM Vice-President at Large (1995-1999).

• President: ISRM Commission on TestingMethods (1987-present)

• Chairman: Technical Committee for theISRM Cambridge Symposium, UK, 1984

• Chairman: ISRM EUROCK Symposium,Chester, UK, 1992

• Co-Chairman: ISRM SINOROCKSymposium, Yichang, China, 2004

MANIFESTO: GOALS FOR THE ISRM

As ISRM President, I intend to be extremely activeand to inject significant dynamism into the ISRMactivities.

The thrusts that I will introduce in the period 2007-2011 are related to the four main subject areas of:

• enhancing awareness, membership, andeffectiveness of the ISRM through the ISRMwebsite and other initiatives,

• ensuring that the ISRM actively supports rockmechanics activities worldwide, includingconferences, Commissions, and interactionwith industry, education and sister societies,

• giving particular ISRM encouragement andassistance to the less developed countries, and

• considerably increasing the generation of ISRMpublications (hard copy and electronic),especially reports of Commissions.

5

ISRM President Elect (2007 - 2011)

PROFESSOR JOHN A HUDSONFREng (UK)

6

Rocha Medal

ABronze Medal and cash prize has beenawarded annually since 1982 by the ISRMto honour the memory of Past President

Manuel Rocha and to recognize outstanding youngresearchers in the field of Rock Mechanics.

The award shall be for an outstanding doctoralthesis in rock mechanics or rock engineering. The

thesis must have qualifiedthe candidate for adoctorate or theequivalent. To beconsidered for the award,a candidate must benominated within twoyears of the date of theofficial doctoral degreecertificate.

The nomination shouldbe submitted to theappropriate ISRMRegional Vice-Presidentby registered letter, andmay be presented by thenominee, the nominee’sNational Group or some

other person or organization acquainted with thenominee’s work. The nomination should includethe following supporting information:

• A one page curriculum vitae (include the name,nationality, place and date of birth of thenominee; also position, address, telephone & faxnumbers);

• A thesis summary in English, of about 5,000words, detailed enough to convey the full impactof the thesis, and accompanied by selected tablesand figures, with headings and captions also inEnglish; one hard and one digital copy arerequired;

• One copy of the complete thesis and one copy ofthe doctoral degree certificate;

• A letter of copyright release, allowing the ISRMto make copies for review & selection purposes.

Nominations for the 2006 Medal must be receivedby 31 December 2005.

Supplementary details of the selection procedure,conferring of the award, etc., are provided in ISRMBy-Law No. 7. National Groups and CorrespondingMembers will be officially reminded by theSecretariat as the deadline approaches, but areencouraged to consider possible nominees and torecommend names to the appropriate ISRMRegional Vice-President as early as possible.

2004 WINNERDr Giovanni Grasselli

The 23rd Rocha Medal was conferred on Dr Giovanni Grasselli for his thesis“Shear Strength of Rock Joints based

on the Quantified Surface Description” on theoccasion of the ISRM InternationalSymposium on Contribution of RockMechanics to the New Century (3rd ARMS2004) held in Kyoto last November.

Also in Kyoto, the Board, acting as the RochaMedal Award Committee, selected the prize-winning Ph.D. thesis for 2005 from among thenine outstanding shortlisted theses for thatyear. The winning thesis “Wave Interaction withUnderground Openings in Fractured Rocks” wassubmitted by Dr Mark Hildyard and had beenpresented in 2002 to the University ofLiverpool in the United Kingdom. The awardwill be conferred at the ISRM InternationalSymposium “Impact of the Human Activity onthe Geological Environment” (EUROCK2005) to be held in Brno Czech Republic fromthe 18th to 20th May 2005.

Professor Nielen van der Merwe and Dr Giovanni Grasselli, 2004 Rocha Medal winner.

ABSTRACT: This paper discusses theresults of water pressure tests performedat a dam site in São Paulo, Brazil and the

effect of the high pressures on the deformation ofthe basaltic rock. The method consisted ofalternating injection (water pressure) tests andpumping tests at various test intervals. Pumpingwas performed before, immediately after theinjection tests and after periods of 12, 24, 72 and96 hours. In general, deformations observed as aresult of these tests were in the elastic domain.

1 INTRODUCTION

Conventional single hole water pressure testsperformed in boreholes to investigate the hydraulicbehaviour of rock masses are only valid in thevicinity of the test intervals. They are notappropriate to investigate the hydraulic anisotropypresent in jointed rocks. Nevertheless, these testshave been the most widely used tool to characterizerock mass permeability in engineering works overthe past 70 years.

Water pressure tests were originally proposed byLugeon (1933) to characterize regions of major andminor permeability in dam foundations. However,their use has become so widely spread that it is nowconsidered a reference for decisions about the needfor grouting in tunnelling, foundations andabutments of dams as well as other subterranianexcavations.

The interpretation of water pressure test results hasbeen the source of several controversies around theworld. Many attempts have been made to interpretthe results using Darcy’s Law to evaluate anisotropically equivalent permeability coefficient k.Often however, the often non-linear characteristicsof the pressure and flow are not taken intoconsideration.Another error commonly made, is to average thetest results. This has often been used to characterizethe permeability of the rock in the test section as

well as to extrapolate the results to a larger volumeof the rock mass being investigated. The increase inpressures at each stage has influence on thedeformations occurring during the test and henceon the flow regime. This makes the practice ofaveraging results erroneous.

The extrapolation of results for larger volumes ofthe rock mass, can only be done if the test resultsare consistent with results of other investigations inlarger scales, such as geological-structural surveys,geophysics tests and so forth.

2 NON-LINEAR FLUID FLOW VERSUSDEFORMATION

The non-linearity of flow observed in waterpressure tests has also been the subject of manydiscussions. Deformations have an influence on thenon-linear relationship between flow and pressure.Unfortunately, despite many authors stating thatthe high pressures used in the injection tests causeunrecoverable deformations around the borehole, itappears that only limited investigations have beenconducted on this subject based on results fromfield tests.

The non-linearity of fluid flow in jointed rock canbe due to the effect of turbulence, leakage ordeformation of the preferential flow channels. Theapperture of joint systems can still be affected, evenat some distance from the borehole as the channelscan open or close as a result of the deformationsimposed in the test zone by the high pressures usedin the water tests. Deformation can be an important factor in fieldsituations. If deformation does occur, it is necessaryto know whether it is recoverable or permenant ora combination of both, since this would determinehow the permeability of the joints intersecting theborehole would be permanently changed.

Some authors such as Foyo (1993) state that theconventional Lugeon tests (Lugeon, 1933) are not

7

Non-Linearity of flow and deformationin Basaltic RockE. F. de QuadrosInstituto de Pesquisas Tecnológicas, São Paulo, Brazil; [email protected]

suitable to characterize permeability because in anumber of cases hydraulic fracturing is induced inthe test zone. Foyo (1993) based his assumptions onpacker tests performed in a weak and permiablesequence of carboniferous shales and sandstonesand a weak but impermiable sequence of volcanicrocks at different sites. He proposed the use of lowerpressure testing rather to define permeability.

Hydraulic fracturing resulting from deformation inthe test zones is most likely to occur when the rockin the test zone is extremely fractured or weathered.

These deformations can lead to incorrectinterpretation of the water pressure tests.

Flow in a single joint is a function of it’s apeture(Equation 1). Any change in the apeture of thejoint or joint system in the borehole will haveconsiderable influence on the water percolation onthe joint planes, which explains the interest in thesubject.

(1)

where k = isotropic coeffiecient of hydraulicconductivity, g = gravity, e = joint aperture and v = co-effiecient of kinematic viscosity of the fluid.

It is suggested that only the initial part of the flowpressure curve obtained from field tests (see Figure 1), can be used to characterize the isotropiccoefficient of permeability, k. The inclusion of thelower pressures later in the curve will reduce theeffect of deformation on flow. When k is calculatedusing the initial curve it will be closer to reality.Non-linearity however, can persist even whensmall pressures (a few g/cm2) are used due to theeffect of viscosity and influence of surfaceroughness, undulations, geometry and distributionof head losses. This is shown in Figure 1, whichcorresponds to a water pressure test performed withvery low pressures (Cruz, Quadros & Correa Filho,1983).

Hydraulic tests performed with a number ofincreasing pressure stages having a significantinterval of low pressures (Figures 1 and 2) would bemore advisable to characterize permeability. Thetest results can be compared with diagrams based on

laboratory tests of single joints with controlledaperture and roughness (Figure 2).

Instead of water pressure injection tests, pumpingout (suction) tests performed with an appropriatehydraulic probe using four packers (Louis, 1974;Hsieh et al. 1985; Quadros & Correa Filho, 1993)seems to be more suitable to characterize k becausethe deformations are minimized. Most probablywhen suction occurs, change in the aperture of therock joints are caused by the reduced pore pressure,or other effects such as dislocations of particles,thus discounting the effect of hydraulic fracturing.

Figure 1. Flow normalized to effective head versus effective pressure(Cruz, Quadros & Correa Filho, 1983).

When hydraulic investigations are performed forevaluation of a site for nuclear waste disposalparticularly to collect data to be used for themodelling of radio-nuclide migration throughdiscontinuities in the rock mass, the use of smallpressures to characterize permeability would beespecially advisable.

In such cases, pumping tests should also rather beused. More realistic measurements could also beachieved by registering the recovery response of thesubterraneon water pressure after the end ofpumping. This test of recuperation rates increasethe time to obtain results, by one to a few morehours depending on the permeability of the rock.However, it also results in a more precise method toevaluate permeability.

8

Non-Linearity of flow and deformation in Basaltic Rock (continued)

k =ge2

12v

Figure 2. Relationship between flow Q (l /min) and effective head γ∆h

(kg/cm2) (Cruz, Quadros & Correa Filho, 1983).

3 HEAD LOSSES

When fluid is injected into the borehole, most ofthe influence of high pressures used in the testsoccurs in the immediate vicinity of the borehole. Inthis region, the roughness of the flow ispredominantly due to the drag around surfaceprotrusions, and the Nikuradse Equations for arough turbulant regime is valid.

Limits of validity for flow laws in terms of theReynolds Number and water pressure tests, areexplained in Figure 3 (Rissler, 1978). Criticalvalues are designated by Rek1 and Rek, related tocorresponding radius of influence.

Figure 3. Head losses, flow laws and Reynolds num-ber) in a waterpressure test; in the insert k/DH is the relative roughness (Rissler, 1978).

At the scale of the rock mass the spacing,persistence and interconnection of the jointsystems are the main factors influencing flow. In the

rock joints the aperture and roughness are the mostimportant parameters governing flow and headlosses.

For rock joints, the Reynolds Number (a ratio ofinertial to viscous forces) is defined as Re = V.2e/n, where V is the mean velocity, e is themean aperture of the joint and n is the kynematicfluid viscosity. In the hydrodynamic processes theco-efficient of resistance to flow λ (Equation 2) isaffected by both the geometry of the flow channelsas described above and also by the vortex andmixing of directions of the fluid in the zone of highturbulence and highest Reynolds Numbers limitedby Rek1.

(2)

where ra = height of asperities; e = aperture; ra/2e =relative roughness; λ = coefficient of resistance toflow; 3.7 = constant.

The validity of the Nikuradse Equations for flow inrock-joints were first confirmed in laboratory byLomize (1951). Figure 4 shows the limits of validityfor different hydraulic equations according todistinct flow regimens for a smooth granite fracturein laboratory tests.

Figure 4.

Laboratory test results performed by the author in a smooth granite,showing the co-efficient of resistance λ versus Reynolds Number Re andlimits of validity for some flow equations.

9


1√λ

= -2log ra/2e3.7

In-situ tests of head losses caused by the geometryof the flow channels, roughness of the joint wallsand interconnections of the joint systems showsthese factors can have a strong effect in the pressuredecay and reduce of flow velocities a few metersfrom the borehole walls.

The limits defined in Figure 4 for a smooth rockjoint shows that in the zone of turbulence, wherelower values of velocities are observed thecoefficient of resistance λ depends only on theReynolds Number. In this regime head losses aredue to viscous friction. Laboratory test results fitswell with the limits imposed by the hydraulic law ofBlasius (Equation 3) for Reynolds Numbers largerthan 2300 (the transition limit from laminar toturbulent flow) and for smooth joints where ra≈0(or JRC = 0).

λ = 0.316Re-1/4 (3)

At greater distance from the borehole, despite thelow velocities and low Reynolds Number, non-linear flow still occurs in the majority of the cases.This is due to the effect of asperities and viscousfriction on the joint walls as discussed before.Calculations can be made using equations proposedby Lomize (1953); Louis (1969) and Quadros(1982) (Equations 4, 5 and 6, respectively) which arevalid for laminar non-linear flow.

k = (4)

k = (5)

k = (6)

In these equations, the term in brackets is acoefficient that accounts for the influence ofroughness in the cubic law.

In field tests, the non-linearity can be understoodas a phenomena resulting from a coupled hydraulicand deformation process, where the geometriccharacteristics of the joints (aperture, roughness,

spacing and interconnection), the flow regimeoccurring under the influence of high pressures andhigh Reynolds Number, together with thedeformation of the testing zone, cause high headlosses during the process of percolation.

Unfortunately the non-linearity of flow, which isthe consequence of these many factors occurringduring the flow processes is seldom taken intoconsideration in the calculations to evaluate thepermeability of jointed rocks.

An attempt was made by Instituto de PesquisasTecnologicas (IPT) to define this and to ensuresome questions related to deformations in the testzone when a water pressure test is performed in abasalt. The method consisted of alternatelyperforming injection tests followed by pumpingtests at various time intervals.

4 RESULTS OF FIELD TESTS

The field tests were made at a dam site in Brazil.The characteristics and the geology of the locationis reported in Quadros and Correa Filho (1993).The rock at the location of the tests consists ofclosely spaced basaltic lava flows.

The tests were performed using a hydraulic probe(with 4 packers) developed by IPT. Injection andpumping tests were performed into seven verticalboreholes up to 12.0m into the basaltic rock (at adepth of about ~25 meters). The tests consisted ofinjecting water under high pressure using five stagesof constant pressure alternating with pumping outtests.

The maximum head used in the water pressure testswas 0.25H where H is the depth of the center of thetest interval. Pressure transducers were installed inthe test intervals, for pressure control. Readingswere automatically taken each minute.Deformation effects were observed whileperforming pumping tests before, immediately afterthe injection tests, and over longer periods that is12, 24, 72 and 96 hours after the injection tests.

10


Figure 5. (a).

Figure 5. (b).

Figure 5. (a). Results of pumping tests and (b) results of injection(multiple stages) tests. Borehole SR-2800B. Depth 17.14 to18.64m.

Table 1 and Figures 5 to 9 show some of the testresults in diagrams relating flow (l/min) to pressure(kg/cm2) in the injection tests and diagramsrelating pressure to time (minutes) in pumpingtests. These injection tests show the easine of thewater percolation in the same conditions.

Figure 5(a) shows the results of pumping testsperformed before and just after the injection test.Figure 6(a) shows these results together with theresults of pumping tests performed 24 hours later. InFigures 5(b) and 6(b) results of corresponding waterpressure tests are shown.

The results obtained from the first injection tests(Figure 5(b)) shows that the flow channels closed

during the test. In Figure 6(b) the effect is seen to becontrary, flow is affected by deformations 54%immediately after the injection tests and 9% after 24hours (Table 1).

Figure 7 (a) and (b) shows the results for anotherborehole — SR-2802D. In Figure 7(b) theinjection tests results show, that only a smalldeformation effect on flow occurs during the 5stages of water pressure tests. Suction tests madebefore and just after the injection test are in goodagreement with these results. The magnitude of thedeformation effect on flow was only 10% accordingto the calculations.

Table 1. Comparative pumping and water pressure testresults

INJECTION

PUMPING TESTS TESTS

HOLE Flow (L/Min) Flow (L/Min)

SR Before Just after After hours 1st Step 2nd 3rd (2)/

Step Step (1)

2800 47.40 36.60 – – 12,99 53,72 73.00 54%

(B) 49,20 46.74 24 49,20 44,21 57,08 53,76 9%

2801 13,2 14,90 – – 1,10 17,60 32,80 148%

(C) 0

2802 3,69 2,46 – – 1,20 21,00 33,80 10%

(D) 52,90 51,70 24 52,15 35,50 61,50 77,80 47%

2803 59,0 58,7 15 59,00 38,40 49,30 63,60 8%

(E) 4

2804 60,0 59,20 – – 34,20 74,30 107,50 79%

(F) 0

2805 49,2 48,91 96 54,34 11,90 63,90 89,50 82%

(G) 0

Figure 6. (a).

11


Figure 6. (b).

Figure 6. (a) Results of pumping tests and (b) re-sults of injection tests.Borehole SR-2800(B). Depth 14.14 to15.64m.

Examples of water pressure and pumping testsperformed before, immediately after the injectiontests and 15 hours later are shown in Figures 8(a)and (b).

Figure 7. (a).

Figure 7. (b).

Figure 7. (a). Results of pumping tests and (b) results of injection tests.Borehole SR-2802(B). Depth 20.40 to 21.90m.

Figure 8. (a)

Figure 8. (a). Results of pumping tests. Borehole SR-2803(E). Depth20.14 to 21.64m.

The results of pumping tests performed just afterthe injection tests Figure 8(a) shows that flow wasaffected by deformations on the rock in the testingzone. Results from injection tests in Figure 8(b)suggests an opening in the flow channels.Nevertheless, after 15 hours the rock was almostrecovered and effect of deformation on flow wasonly 8% (Table 1).

Figure 8. (b).

Figure 8(b). Results of injection tests performed before and just afterinjection tests. Borehole 2803(E). Depth 20.14 to 21.4m.

Figure 9. (a).

12


Figure 9. (b).

Figure 9. (a).Results of pumping tests and (b) Re-sults of injection testresults. Borehole SR-2805(G). Depth 19.64 to 21.64m.

Figure 9 (a) and (b) show that after 96 hours, theeffect of deformation on flow remains 80%. Com-paring this behaviour with the results observed inthe previous tests (Figures 6-8), the deformationeffect on the flow suggests hydraulic fracturing ofthe testing zone.

5 CONCLUSIONS

It is evident from the results shown that the waterpressure tests caused some deformation in thebasaltic rock in the testing zones. The deformationeffects are registered on the results of pumping testsperformed before, immediately after and some dayslater.

In some cases deformation seems to be recoverableafter a period of time, possibly being in the elasticlinear or non-linear range. In Figure 9 an example ofunrecoverable deformation after 96 hours delay isshown. Most probably hydraulic fracturing occurredin the test zone due to the high pressures usedduring the injection test and some weakness of therock in the testing zone.

The effect of deformation on flow tests can be up to100% magnitude. This effect is probably due to thedeformations induced in the testing zone by thehigh pressures used in the injection tests.

Multiple stage water pressure tests with anincreased number of lower pressure stages isrecommended when the objective is to characterizeaccurately the rock mass permeability. A curve

relating flow to pressures can be clearly definedfrom these tests and comparisons can be made withsimilar curves obtained from laboratory tests.

Pumping tests instead of injection tests at a fixedinterval in the borehole appears to be more suitablewhen the objective is to characterize rock masspermeability or when linear equations are used toextrapolate the results of in-situ tests. These testswill cause less damage to the rock in the testingzone.

The use of high pressures tests is consider improperwhen the objective is to evaluate permeabilitybecause they induce deformations, thus changingthe aperture of the pre-existing systems of jointsand hence affecting the test results.

REFERENCES

Cruz, Quadros & Correa Filho. 1983. Analysis of Water Lossesin Basaltic Rock Joints. 5th ISRM Congress, Melbourne,Australia, 1983.

Foyo, A. 1993. Permeability, groutability and hy-draulicmonitoring of large dam fouNdations. Proc. ISRM Int. Symp.EUROCK´93, Lisboa, Portugal, p. 115-120.

Hsieh, P.A, Neuman, S.P., Stiles, G.K. and Simpson, E.S.1985. Field determination of the three-dimensional hydraulicconductivity tensor of anisotropic media. 2. Methodologyand application to fractured rocks. Water Resources Research21, 11, 1667-1676.

Lomize, G.M. 1951. Flow in fractured rocks. In Louis, 1969.

Louis, C. 1969. Étude des ecoulements d´eau dans les rochesfissurées et de leurs influences sur la stabilité des massifsrocheurs. Bulletin de la Direction des Études et Réchèrches.Série A. (3): 5-132. (These presentée a l´Université deKarlsruhe).

Louis, C. 1974. Rock Hydraulics. Orleans. BRGM. Dep. Geol.Amenagement Geotechnique. 115 p. (745 GN 035 AME).

Lugeon, M. 1933. Barrages et Geologie. Paris, Dunod.

Quadros, E.F. 1982. Flow of water in rock joints. Dissertation.MSc. Degree. Polytechnical School. São Paulo University,1982. (In Portuguese).

Quadros, E. F. & Correa Filho, D. 1993. Scale Effect on theHydraulic Properties Determined by in situ 3-D Tests. Proc.ISRM Int. Symp. EUROCK´93, Lisboa, Portugal.

Rissler, P. 1978. Determination of water permeability ofjointed rock. Aachen, RWTH University. 149 p. (IFESM/RMWWC, 5).

13


ABSTRACT: The presence of saltstructures in prospects for oil andgas exploration is, in itself, a factor

that increases the probability of success dueto favorable conditions for hydrocarbongeneration and trapping. However, manyoperational problems such as stuck pipesand casing collapse have been reported bythe industry when drilling through thosesalt layers.

Historically, many deep wells have beendrilled through thick salt intervals in theCampos Basin, Brazil. Until the 1990’s, thelack of a reliable ways to predict saltbehavior at high temperatures and highdifferential stresses led to very high drillingcosts and even the loss of wells.

In this paper we present a methodology formud weight and casing design and also todefine the drilling strategies employed fordrilling through thick salt layers. Numericalsimulations to evaluate the creep behaviorof salt submitted to high differential stressesand high temperatures were done throughthe applications of an in-house finiteelement code. To calibrate the model,triaxial creep tests in salt samples wereperformed to evaluate and isolate reologicalproperties that represent creep behaviorunder different differential stresses andtemperatures. Numerical models conformedwell.

A recent application of this methodology ina sub salt well in the Campos Basin alloweddrilling through the salt without a problem.Results obtained by numerical simulations

were used to predict the evolution of thewell closure. This gave time for various mudweights and several alternatives of casingscapable to be analysed for supporting saltcreep. As a result, stuck rods and casingcollapse were avoided and drilling costsreduced.

INTRODUCTION

The Campos Basin in Brazil is one of the mostactive offshore oil and gas prospecting regions inthe world. This currently provides some of thegreatest challenges and opportunities for the oilindustry. However, the complex salt tectonics andthe extreme water and reservoir depths require notonly high development costs, but also innovativetechnology to bring these fields on stream. At theedge of the industry’s experience are salt sections of2000-3000 m thick that overlie targets at depths of3000-4000 m below mudline in water depth of2000-2500 m. The cost of drilling these ultradeepwater sub salt wells is substantial, and in somecases, operators have been forced to sidetrack oreven abandon wells after experiencing drillingdifficulties, with losses of several millions of dollars.

The presence of evaporite sections in locations foroil and gas exploration is, in itself, a factor thatincreases the probabilities of success in the area dueto favorable conditions for the generation andtrapping of hydrocarbons. On the other hand, thepresence of evaporites (or salt rocks) can causemajor operational problems if special procedures todrill through salt are not used.

Many operational problems, such as stuck drill rodsand casing collapse have been reported by the oilindustry when drilling through and near salt layers.Historically, in the Campos Basin, many deep wellshave been drilled through great salt intervals [1].

14

TRIAXIAL CREEP TESTS IN SALT –Applied in drilling through thick salt layersin Campos Basin - BrazilA. Maia C., E. Poiate J., J. L. Falcão / PETROBRAS, L. F. M. Coelho / IPT

In the 1980’s, the lack of reliable ways to predictsalt behavior at high temperatures and highdifferential stresses led to the loss of wells and veryhigh drilling costs.

Salt strain prediction and its effects in open andcased wells is of major importance for the drillingdesign. It allows the design of the mud weight atlevels to keep creep under control withoutfracturing formations above and below the saltzone. Furthermore, the need to run intermediatecasing strings before and after the salt layer in orderto maintain the integrity of those formations can beevaluated.

In this paper we present a methodology for mudweight and casing design and also to define thestrategy to drilling sub salt prospects. A series oftriaxial creep tests in salt rocks were performed toevaluate and isolate reological properties torepresent the ideal creep behavior of salts underdifferent differential stress and temperature. Inaddition, numerical modeling of the wellborestability during drilling has been performed.

The numerical simulations have been done throughthe application of an in-house computer code basedon the finite element method [2]. The computercode, ANVEC has been validated for more than 20years by the comparison between the numericalresults and measured closure of in an undergroundpotash mine in Brazil [2-6].

Results obtained by the numerical simulations wereused to predict the evolution of the wellbore closurewith time for various drilling fluids and analyzeseveral technically feasible alternatives of casingcapable of supporting salt creep. The methodologyhas been used successfully to design the drilling ofthree deep wells in the Campos Basin. The risk ofcasing collapse and stuck pipe due to salt creep wasminimized and drilling costs were reduced in theseholes.

CONSTITUTIVE EQUATION OF SALTBEHAVIOR

Salt rocks exhibit relatively quick time-dependentdeformation when subjected to any level of shearstress, due to their crystalline structure. This creep

behavior, slow deformation under constant stress, isinfluenced by the thickness of the layer of salt,formation temperature, mineralogical composition,water content, presence of impurities, and theextent to which differential stresses are applied tothe salt body.

The Brazilian continental margin basins have, ingeneral, high geothermal gradients, a thicksediment column on top of salt layers, neo-tectonics inducing salt movement and evidencethat salt diapirs are still moving, indicated bymapping of salt faults in Campos and Santos Basins.Information from wells drilled through deep saltsections shows that salt closure can reach highvelocities (0.05 in/h) [7].

Starting from the beginning of the 1990´s, creepconstitutive laws based on deformationmechanisms, have been recommended by theinternational technical literature, to represent theintrinsic behavior of the material [8-10].

The law describing the deformation mechanismsdue to moment was developed by Munson [8-9].The constitutive equation of Munson’s creep lawconsiders the following mechanisms: dislocationglide, dislocation climb and undefined mechanisms.The magnitude of contribution of one or othermechanism depends on the temperature conditionsand differential stress that the salt is subjected to.

The constitutive equation corresponding to thecreep law of double mechanism of deformation is asimplification of the equation developed byMunson (8-9), and it considers the dislocation glideand undefined mechanisms. The latter effect wasrecently identified as being creep in the contacts ofthe halite (salt) grains, provoked by the dissolutionof the salt due to the increase of its solubility, underthe high pressures that occur in the contactsbetween grains.

In this paper, halite is analyzed according to theelasto/viscous-elastic behavior, adopting the doublemechanism creep law, as shown in Equation 1:

(1)

15

Triaxial Creep Tests in Salt – Applied in drilling through thick salt layers in CamposBasin – Brazil (continued)

ε = ε0. .e( ( ))σ

ef

QRT0

n

σ0

QRT

where,

ε - Strain rate due to creep at the steady statecondition

ε0 - Reference strain rate due to creep (in steady state)

σef - Creep effective stress

σ0 - Reference effective stress

Q - activation energy (kcal/mol),Q = 12 kcal/mol [8]

R - Universal gas constant (kcal/mol.K), R = 1.9858 E-03

T0 - reference temperature (K)

T - temperature of rock (K)

The steady-state creep parameters were based onthe results of triaxial creep tests and applied in thenumerical model, correcting the strain creep ratewith the thermal activation factor.

SALT SAMPLES

All of salt samples were obtained from wells locatedin the northeast of Brazil (Sergipe State). Thesamples are stored in a room with temperature andhumidity control, to preserve the character of thespecimens, due to the sensitivity of the salt to bothheat and water.

As a consequence of the sampling process, crackscould be induced in the sample, which could affectits mechanical behavior. These cracks and thelarger or smaller presence of insoluble material suchas clay and interbedded shale and anhydrite, reducethe compressional velocity. To avoid this effect, thesamples were prepared (top and bottom are ground)and submitted to a quality control to verify itsstructural integrity by the measurement ofcompressional velocity using a PUNDITinstrument. Samples with compressional velocitybelow 4300 m/s were rejected.

The porosity of the halite is negligible, as itspermeability is low. The compressional velocity canbe considered a constant mechanical propertyindependent of the depth, this fact can be observed

in a sonic profile of an exploratory well that crossthick layers of pure halite.

Using the elastic theory the dynamic YoungModulus can be obtained. A dynamic Poisson’sRatio of 0.36, has been used in several works relatedwith the mechanical behavior of the salt in thepotash mine of Taquari-Vassouras - Northeast ofBrazil. It was determined by measurements ofcompressional and shear velocity in the mine, forthe application of seismic reflection techniques[11].

The creep tests were performed in specimens of saltwith a width: height ratio of 0.5.

EXPERIMENTAL ASSEMBLY AND TESTS

A laboratory with six independents temperature,axial and confining pressure serval control units wasbuilt. Figure 1 illustrates the scheme of one unit [12].

The units are operated by hydraulic and pneumaticcontrol systems (providing confining and axialpressure). Electrical resistance, heat, are determinedby instruments like LVDT´s, pressure transducersand thermocouples. All instruments are connectedin a data acquisition system MGC Plus (HBM),connected to a computer, that is controlled by codespecially written in CatMan program (HBM) tocontrol the tests, plot real time and store the data.

16


Figure 1: Scheme of the experimental apparatus.

To guarantee that the creep tests would beperformed without energy fluctuation andinterruption, a UPS and generator was installed, asthe creep tests could occur over hours or months.

After completion the experimental assembly (Figure 2), confining pressure is applied, followed bythe temperature and finally the axial pressure,inducing the differential stress to the specimen .

Specimen strains were then measured at one secondintervals while the confining pressure, differentialstress, and temperature were held constant for theduration of the test.

EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

Three important stages of behavior must behandled appropriately when material modelparameters are evaluated in the laboratory tocharacterize salt creep.

A typical creep curve for salt comprises of two orthree creep stages. Following the application of thestress difference, the strain rate is very high. Thisrate then decreases monotonically with time until aconstant rate of strain is observed. These two stagesare called transient and steady state creep stages,respectively. A third stage called tertiary creep stagethen becomes evident. This is characterized byacceleration of the creep rates that cause dilationand an increase in volume through microfracturing, leading to failure.

Figure 3 shows a typical behavior of salt creep. Inthis test, halite is submitted to a 16 MPa differentialstress at 86°C [13]. The first stage termed primarycreep is observed up to 200h. Between 200h and1600h, secondary creep is observed, with strain rate7.7673E-05. After 1700h, the tertiary creep begins.The differential pressure of 16 MPa is about 45% ofthe rupture stress of the sample, (obtained by asimple compression test).

17


Figure 2: Final assembly of the testing apparatus and hydraulic control system

Figure 4 shows the strain rate for differentdifferential stress ranges (6-20 MPa) from halitecreep tests at 86°C.

At 86°C, σ0= 9.91 and ε0 = 1.880E-06

Therefore the constitutive equation becames:ε = 1.880E-06 * (σefet/10)n

Where:

n = 3.36 when σefet < σ0

n = 7.55 when σefet ≥ σ0

Figure 5 shows the comparison of the strain ratesversus the differential stress from the experimentaltests at 86°C. The constitutive equation wasevaluated and the parameters back-analyzed fromthe behavior of the potash mine excavationscorrected for the temperature of 86°C, with thethermal activation factor (e(Q/RT

0- Q/RT)).

NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF THECREEP TESTS

The parameters that define the constitutiveequation, corresponding to the creep law of doublemechanism of deformation, were isolated fordifferent levels of differential stress defining a basicrelationship of strain rate in steady-state conditionswith the applied differential stress for thetemperature of the tests.

As the first stage of creep parameters validation, thenumerical simulation of the creep tests whichwould be used in a subsequent phase for predictionof the evolution of well closure with time, wascompared with the measured caliper results.

For pre and post processing of the finite elementmodel, the SIGMA system is used [14].

18


Figure 5: Comparrison of the strain rates as a function of the differntialstress in the steady state condition.

Figure 3: Typical behaviour of salt creep test.

Figure 4: Strain rates results from salt creep test in the stead statecondition.

The numerical simulations have been done throughthe application of the finite element method beingused the code ANVEC [3]. Both of these arePETROBRAS property.

We employed 2000 quadratic isoparametricelements (with 8 nodes) and 6241 nodal points inthe finite element model, being used anaxisymmetric two-dimensional structural model, asshown in Figure 6a to represent the specimenstested, Figure 6b. The program ANVEC considersthe non-linear physical elasto/visco-plasticbehavior with constitutive law of doublemechanism of deformation for creep.

The model considers the axisymmetric axis of thespecimen by restraining the horizontaldisplacement on this axis. At the top and base ofthe model the horizontal displacement is restrictedto represent the strong restriction to the lateralstrain of the specimen induced by the boundaryconditions of the triaxial chamber.

COMPARISON BETWEEN NUMERICALAND LAB RESULTS

Figure 7 presents a comparison of the resultsobtained by experimental test and numericalsimulation. The strain creep rate in the steady-statecondition obtained by numerical simulationreproduces the experimental results faithfully (lessthan 1% difference) proving that the methodologyused is correct.

Figures 8a and 8b are a visualization of numericalsimulation (with half volume rendering) and theexperimental specimen after the creep test respectively.

.

NUMERICAL PREDICTION OF WELLCLOSURE

Numerical simulations based on these tests wereperformed to investigate the well closure rateduring drilling of the salt zone. Several drillingfluids weights were tested, but results for twodrilling fluids weight, 12.6 kN/m3 (10.5lb/gl) and14.4 kN/m3 (12.0lb/gl) are presented. To guidedrilling through the salt zone the behavior of saltcreep as a function of drilling progress wassimulated using an axisymmetric model in a rockassumed to be pure halite.

The evaporite zone of the chosen scenario for thestudy is a thick pure halite layer to be drilled at theinterval of 2324 m to 3034 m below the sea bottom,or 3720 to 4430 m in relation to the drilling rig.Figure 9 illustrates the geological profile used in theanalysis.

19


Figure 7: Experimental versus numerical results.

Figure 8: a) Vizualization of numerical simulation and b) Experimental specimen after test. Note that these are of similar shapeand proportions.

Figure 6: a) Discreet model of simulation and b) Specimen.

ba

The hard rocks with fragile behavior, above andbelow the salt, are analyzed according to aelasto/plastic model being adopted from the plasticflow criteria of Mohr-Coulomb for the multi-axialstate of stress. For the stratigraphic column theaverage specific weight of 22.56 kN/m3 and ahorizontal thrust coefficient equal to 1 are used.Table 1 summarizes the elastic properties and shearstrengths of the rocks of interest to the analysis.

The temperature gradient was considered in twoways. First we used data of several wells, to obtain atemperature for the well being analyzed, thatresulted in 81.3° C and 109° C (at the top andbottom of the salt layer). Second we considered theexperience accumulated in the project of potashmine of Taquari-Vassouras [3-7], where theevaporitic basin presents a geothermal gradient of40° C/km, obtaining the temperature of 97.9° Cand 126.3° C. The temperature measured of theseabed is 4° C. On the simulation, we adopted thetemperatures of second case (worse case scenario)for evaluating the halite properties as function ofdepth. Figure 10 illustrates the salt layer topologyand the well location.

As the creep tests were conducted at a temperatureof 86°C it was necessary to correct the creepconstants by the thermal activation factor (e(Q/RT

0-

Q/RT)).

FINITE ELEMENT MODEL

The axisymmetric model, about the longitudinalaxis of the well, comprises 710m of evaporiteinterval and 200m of thick hard rock, below andabove the salt layer to represent the boundarycondition. We used 40880 quadratic isoparametricelements with 8 nodes and 125617 nodal points inthe finite element model, (Figure 11). To considerthe temperature variation with depth, differentlayers were built.

NUMERICAL SIMULATION RESULTS:DRILLING FLUID DESIGN

The behavior of the well is simulated in the timedomain, considering the viscous-plasticity of thehalite.

20


Material E(KPa) x 107 ν C (MPa) φ

Halite 2.04 0.36 3.0 43

Fine3.10 0.30 0.9 37Limestone

Table 1: Elastic Properties and shear strength.

Figure 9: Simplyfied geological pofile used in the analysis.

Figure 10: Top and bottom of the salt layer topology.

The objective of the numerical simulation was topredict the evolution of the well closure with timealong its longitudinal axis, during the progress ofthe drilling column.

To simulate the structural behavior of the well, weadopted two procedures. On the first it wasconsidered that salt layer was drilled in a singleexcavation stage and on the second it wasconsidered that the salt layer (710m) was drilled in71 excavation steps, simulating the bit progress at10 m/h.

Figure 12 shows the evolution of the well radialclosure with time in a single excavation stage,a 10.5 ppg mud weight. It is observed that thelargest closure of the well (of the 24 depthsnumerically monitored) occurs at a depth of -4410 meters (relative to the rotary table), in asection located 20 meters above the base of thehalite. The layer of halite that crosses the wellwould be drilled with a bicentric bit(maximum diameter of 14 3/4" and minimumdiameter of drift of 12 1/4"). If irregularitiesduring the drilling are considered in theanalysis model, a nominal diameter of 14" isused. Therefore, there is an acceptable closureof 1.75" (0.022m), for drift of 12 1/4 ".

In the graph the acceptable closure is comparedwith the evolution curves with time of the wellradial closure. It is observed that for depths greaterthan 4080m the acceptable limit for the radialclosure is reached early (125h). This modelconsidered the simultaneous excavation of allintervals. Therefore, it is a conservative simulationprocedure but serves as reference for a preliminarydefinition of the mud weight. The simulation in asingle stage is faster, allowing the evaluation of alarger number of alternatives of drilling fluidweights.

Figure 13 shows the evolution of the well radialclosure with time being considered over 71excavation steps, simulating the bit progress at therate of 10 m/h, when a mud weight of 10.5 ppg isadopted. The curves of radial closure with the timeof each depth begin when the excavation, (that isthe bit), reaches the respective depth.

For example, notice that the curve of radial closurein the depth of 4410 m begins around t = 75 hours, which is when the bit reaches thatdepth (Figure 13). The radial closure at that depthreaches the acceptable value around t = 120 hours,about 45 hours after the bit has reached that depth.Adding this time to the necessary time to reach thesalt base, (about 75 hours), it shows that 120 hours

21


Figure 12: Closure curve in 24 different depths drilled within a singleexcavation stage, 10.5 ppg mud weight.Figure 11: Finite element model.

after the beginning of drilling the salt layer theradial closure at a depth of 4410 meters would causea stuck drill rod. Comparing this result to Figure 12,it is seen that for the same depth when consideringthe simultaneous excavation of the whole saltinterval, the radial closure happens faster. In thespecific case of the depth of 4410 m, the radialclosure of the well reaches the acceptable valueearlier, after only 25 hours.

Even with the more realistic approach of thesimulation model (gradual progress of the bit withthe time) it is verified that the mud weight of 10,5ppg could not keep the wellbore open for long

enough for concluding the drilling operationwithout the risk of a stuck rod. At the same time,the wellbore would not be open for a long enoughtime to set the casing.

Based on that result, we decided to increase themud weight to 12.0 ppg and redo the simulation ofthe behavior of the well in stages, in a total of 71stages, with a bit progress of 10 m/h.

Figure 14 shows the evolution of the well radialclosure with time in function of the bit progress.The curve of radial closure at the depth of 4410 m,shows that the closure of the wall of the well beginsaround t = 75 hours, that is when the excavationreaches that depth. The radial closure at that depthreaches the acceptable value around t = 225 hours,about 150 hours after the bit has reached thatdepth. Added to this, the time necessary for theexcavation to reach the salt base of about 75 hours,it is concluded that 300 hours elapsed after thebeginning of drilling the salt layer the radial closureat the depth of 4410 meters would cause the drillstring to get stuck.

The adoption of a mud weight of 12.0 ppg providea length of time of about 12.5 days (400 hours)before the drill string got stuck. That wasconsidered enough time for drilling the salt layerand running and setting the casing. These curveshave being used during the drilling in order to guidethe operations, so that well closure above the bitdoes not cause the drill string to get stuck.

CONCLUSION

In this work we presented a methodology developedby Petrobras R&D for mud weight and casingdesign and also to define the strategy to drilling subsalt prospects. An apparatus with temperature, axialand confining pressure control was built. Triaxialcreep tests in salt rocks were performed to evaluateand isolate reological properties to represent thecreep behavior of salts under different differential

22


Figure 14: Closure curve in 24 different depths drilled with 71 excavationsteps, 12.0 ppg mud weight.

Figure 13: Closure curve in 24 different depths drilled with 71 excavationsteps, 10.5 ppg mud weight.

Rad

ial C

losu

re (

m)

Rad

ial C

losu

re (

m)

0 50 100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

0 50 100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

stresses and temperature. Computer modeling toevaluate the creep behavior of salt rocks submittedto high differential stress and high temperature wasthen applied.

The numerical simulations have been done throughthe application of an in-house developed computercode based on the finite element method.Numerical and experimental results andconstitutive equations matched and have a goodconformity. The experimental tests proved that thecorrection factor for thermal reactivation isrepresented by the exponential term (e(Q/RT

0- Q/RT)).

The program ANVEC, with extensive applicationin the simulation of the behavior of undergroundexcavations, subject to the elasto/visco-plasticphenomenon, demonstrated excellent stability andconvergence to predict the creep phenomenon inconditions of high temperature levels anddifferential stresses. The procedure of simulatingthe behavior of the well with time as a function ofthe bit progress, through the technique ofautomatic mesh rezoning is constituted in adifferential advantage of the program providingvaluable information for the drilling operation. Infunction of the bit position, the field engineer hastools to evaluate what is happening above theposition of the bit and hence the potential of risk ofstuck pipe.

Results obtained by the numerical simulations wereused to predict the evolution of the well closurewith time for various drilling fluids and analyzeseveral technically feasible alternatives of casingcapable of supporting salt creep. The methodologyhas been used successfully to design three deepwells in the Campos Basin (through 290, 400 and710 meters of salt), [15,16]. The risk of casingcollapse and stuck pipe due to salt creep wasminimized and drilling costs were reduced. Thenews challenges are drilling through very thicklayers of salt (2000 to 3000 meters) and adjacent tosalt diapers, in the Santos and Campus Basinslooking for light oil in deep reservoirs.

REFERENCES

[1] Oliveira, J. E.; Idagawa, L. S.; Nogueira, E. C.:“Evaporite in Campos Basin: Geological Aspects andDrilling Problems”, Report CENPES-475 (1985),PETROBRAS, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (in Portuguese).

[2] Costa, A. M.: "Uma Aplicação de MétodosComputacionais e Princípios de Mecânica das Rochasno Projeto e Análise de Escavações SubterrâneasDestinadas à Mineração Subterrânea", Tese deDoutorado, COPPE/UFRJ, 1984.

[3] Costa, A. M.; D’Elia, P. D.; Moreira, L. F. R.; Coelho, L. C. :“Estudo de Mecânica das Rochas e Dimensionamento dosPainéis de Lavra da Camada Inferior de Silvinita da Mina deSergipe”, Report CENPES/DIPREX/SEDEM RE-013(1990), PETROBRAS, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

[4] Costa, A. M.: "Análise da Influência da Espessura deLaje de Silvinita e Carnalita Sobrejacente à Taquidritaem Inibir a Fluência da Taquidrita, Technical Report toVale do Rio Doce Company RT-CVRD003 (1995), Riode Janeiro, Brazil

[5] Costa, A. M.: " Simulação do Comportamento deFluência do Painel D1 e Câmara Experimental C1D1,Dimensionamento do Painel de Lavra para a CamadaInferior de Silvinita da Mina de Potássio de Taquari-Vassouras-Sergipe, Technical Report to Vale do RioDoce Company RT-CVRD002 and RT-CVRD004(1995), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

[6] Costa, A . M.: “Reavaliação do Comportamento doPainel de lavra I4a da Mina de Potássio de Taquari-Vassouras”, Technical Report to Vale do Rio DoceCompany RT-CVRD 01 (2000), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

[7] Amaral, C. S.; Costa, A.M.;Gonçalves, C. J. deCastro;Fonseca, C. F.: “Reavaliação do Comportamento doPoço 1-RJS-480 por ocasião do Fechamento doRevestimento de 95/8” no Trecho de Travessia da Zona deSal”, Report CENPES/DIPREX/SEDEM-013 (1999),PETROBRAS, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

[8] Munson, D.E., Fossum, A.F., Senseny, P.E. (1990)Approach to First Principles Model Prediction ofMeasured WIPP (Waste Isolation Pilot Plant) In-SituRoom Closure in Salt. Tunneling and UndergroundSpace Technology, 5, 135.

[9] Munson, D. E.; Devries, K. L.: "Development andValidation of a Predictive Technology for Creep Closureof Underground Rooms in Salt, , paper presented at the1991 Seventh International Congress on RockMechanics, Aachen/Deutschland.

23


[10] Frayne, M. A.; Mraz, D. Z.: "Calibration of a NumericalModel for Different Potash Ores", paper presented at the1991 Seventh International Congress on RockMechanics, Aachen/Deutschland.

[11] Filho, V. M.;Costa, A. M. :”A técnica de Sísmica deTransmissão Direta na Obtenção de ParâmetrosElásticos de Maciços Rochosos com Aplicação emProjetos de Escavações Subterrâneas”, paper presentedat the 1985 Second Underground Meeting, Rio deJaneiro/Brazil.

[12] Cella, P. R. C.:"Desenvolvimento e execução de ensaiostriaxais de fluência estacionária em rochas salinas sobaltas pressões e temperaturas", Tese de Doutorado, USP,2003.

[13] Costa A. M., Poiate E. J. : “Acompanhamento dosensaios de fluência sobre amostras de rocha halita –Projeto 600102 - período de julho a outubro de 2002”,Report RT/MC-009 (2003), PETROBRAS, Rio deJaneiro, Brazil.

[14] Amaral C. S., Costa, A. M., Carvalho, M.T.M. & Lira,W.W.M, "Descrição do Sistema SIGMA – SistemaIntegrado em Geotecnia para Múltiplas Análises”,Agreement TeCGraf/PUC-Rio – CENPES/PETROBRAS, (1996), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

[15] Costa A. M., Poiate E. J., Falcão, J. L., Cardoso C. O.,Rocha, R. S.: “Previsão numérica do comportamento dopoço 1-RJS-602 durante a travessia da zona de sal edimensionamento do fluido de perfuração”, ReportRT/MC-040 (2003), PETROBRAS, Rio de Janeiro,Brazil.

[16] Costa A. M., Poiate E. J. : “Previsão numérica docomportamento do poço lua norte 1-RJS-601 durante atravessia da zona de sal e dimensionamento do fluido deperfuração”, Report RT/MC-179 (2003), PETROBRAS,Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

24


The organizing committee thought that,whether a symposium was a success or not,could be judged by if it had fulfilled some

factors. One of the important factors is what kinds ofthemes and observing keynote lectures we couldpropose and arrange. This symposium especiallyproposed and covered the following themes;

• Visualization in Rock Engineering

• Risk and Hazard Management in RockEngineering

• Energy Development and EnvironmentPreservation

Fortunately, our three proposed themes were satisfiedwith excellent keynote lectures. We understood thatone of the highlights within this symposium was theintroduction of keynote lectures and speciallecturers, which were considered as the heart of thesymposium.

All seven keynote lectures and two special lecturershave spent an enormous amount of time and energypreparing truly outstanding masterpieces of theirworks and also for presenting them in such abeautiful and fascinating manner.

The efforts of the keynote lecturers and the speciallecturers are a distinct contribution to the success of3rd ARMS.

There were many excellent technical presentationsin 3rd ARMS. In 2003, the ARMS council meetingestablished the ARMS Outstanding Paper Award.This symposium was the first time to present theARMS award. The first ARMS Outstanding PaperAward was conferred to Mr. S. Shirasagi, Kajima Co.,Japan, who is the first author of the paper titled“Evaluation system of rock property for tunnels by theseismic reflective survey and the TBM excavation” withco-authors T. Yamamoto, I. Kuronuma, E. Ogura, Y. Mito, K. Aoki.

25

The 2004 ISRM International Symposium: 3rd ARMS (Asian Rock Mechanics Symposium),“Contribution of Rock Mechanics to the New Century”, chaired by Professor Yuzo Ohnishi at KyotoUniversity, was successfully held on November 30 – December 2, in Kyoto International Conference

Hall, Kyoto, Japan. This International Symposium was jointly organized by JGS (Japanese GeotechnicalSociety), ISRM and ISRM National Group - Japan. About one thousand and three hundred pages ofproceedings from this symposium were published. The proceedings contain a collection of seven excellentKeynote lectures, two excellent Special lectures, one Rocha Medal Lecture and 230 technical papers from 26 countries. There were 469 participants including more than two hundred and ten overseas participants from31 countries.

Kyoto 2004 ISRM Contribution of Rock Mechanics to the New Century

Opening Address

Traditional opening of the Saki keg at the start of the banquet.

26

Kyoto 2004 ISRM Contribution of Rock Mechanics to the New Century (continued)

The recipient of this award was given a certificate,a memorial plaque and cash prize of US$ 1,000.

Apart from the ARMS Outstanding Paper Award,the Organizing Committee also decided to presentthe 3rd ARMS Excellent Paper Award to the firstauthor of the paper orally presented in thissymposium.

The recipient of the 3rd ARMS Excellent PaperAward received an award certificate, a memorialplaque and a cash prize of US$1,000, which wasdonated by Professor Chung-In Lee of SeoulNational University.

The award was given to Professor Koji Matsuki,Tohoku University, Japan, who was the first authorof the paper “Estimation of regional stress forheterogeneous rock mass by FEM” with co-authors T. Kato, N. Kimura, S. Nakama, T. Sato.

Before opening the symposium, the councilmeeting, five workshops, one special session andthe welcome reception were held on 29 November,2004. More than two hundred participants closelydiscussed and exchanged excellent ideas andinformation.

Kyoto is an ancient capital of Japan. Manyhistorical sightseeing points can be easily found. We believe all participants enjoyed their stay inKyoto. In the welcome reception, Kyo-dance(Maiko and Geiko dance) was performed.

Before and after performing Kyo-dance, Maiko andGeiko stayed in the banquet room and theparticipants took photos with them.

On behalf of JGS, ISRM and ISRM NationalGroup, we, the 2004 ISRM InternationalSymposium: 3rd ARMS organizing committee,would like to extend our sincere appreciation to allthe participants and the exhibitors.

The ISRM Regional Symposium on RockMechanics for Underground Environment togetherwith the 10th ACUUS Conference onUnderground Space: Economy and Environmenttook place at the Moscow State University of CivilEngineering, Russia, in the warm atmospheretraditionally attributed in Russia to such scientificevents.

The Rock Mechanics Symposium provided thescientific and practical basis for the development ofunderground spaces, whereas the event theAssociated Research Centres for the UrbanUnderground Space (ACUUS) promoted theinternational cooperation and exchange amongstthe world community of planners, researchers,builders, investors and other parties involved in theuse and development of urban underground space.

The two general themes concerning undergroundspace and environment made the two eventsinseparable.

More than 150 participants from 16 countriesparticipated actively in both events and a volumewas published with 52 excellent papers fromauthors belonging to 18 countries.

The Second International ExhibitionUnderground City 2005 was joined in venue withthe events following the success and the previousexhibition held in 2004.

ISRM REGIONAL SYMPOSIUM –RUSSIA JANUARY 2005

ISRM Regional Symposium on Rock Mechanics for UndergroundEnvironment and 10th ACUUS Conference on Underground Space:Economy and Environment Regional Symposium held in Russia,

January 2005

27

The ISRM Board met at the KyotoInternational Conference Hall on 28November 2004. The meeting took

place in conjunction with the ISRMInternational Symposium on “Contributionof Rock Mechanics to the New Century”(3rd ARMS).

The meeting was chaired by the President ofthe ISRM, Prof. Nielen van der Merwe, andwas attended by all the Vice Presidents ofthe respective geographical areas and by thetwo Vice Presidents at Large.

Matters such as finances, budget for 2005,ISRM website, co-operation with sistersocieties, progress in the organisation of the11th Congress to be held in Portugal in2007, selection of Symposia to be endorsedby the ISRM, activity of ISRMCommissions and of the Interest Groups,ISRM News Journal, as well as other mattersof interest to the Society, were dealt with.

ISRM COUNCIL MEETING 2004

The International Society for Rock Mechanics heldits Council meeting in Kyoto, Japan, inconjunction with the 3rd Asian Rock MechanicsSymposium, organised by the Japanese Committeefor Rock Mechanics. In the Council meeting 26 ofthe 46 National Groups were represented.

ACCOUNTS OF 2003 AND BUDGET FOR2005

The ISRM accounts of 2003 and the Budget for2005 were unanimously approved. With thedevelopment of the new Website, where most ofthe information is posted, and the issuing of onlyone paper issue of the News Journal per year,balancing of the accounts is expected to be reached.

NEW FEE STRUCTURE

A new scale of fees, proposed by the Board andapproved by the Council, aims at reducing fees ofsmaller countries, which currently pay aconsiderably higher fee per member than largercountries. Instead of the current USD 150 basic feefor all National Groups, the basic fee for countrieswith 10 members or less will be USD 40 and forcountries with 10 to 40 members will be calculatedby the formula: USD 3.67 x number of members +USD 3.33. The individual fee will remainunchanged.

ELECTRONIC DISTRIBUTION OF THENEWS JOURNAL

The Council approved a proposal of the Board fordistribution of the ISRM News Journalelectronically, via the Website. From the 3 issuespublished every year, one will continue to bepublished in paper. This will enable ISRM toconsiderably reduce the expenses and therefore touse the available resources in a more rational anduseful way.

28

News from the Board

Council meeting at the ISRM International Symposium in Kyoto.

ROCHA MEDAL 2005

The Board, acting as the Rocha Medal AwardCommittee, selected the prize-winning Ph.D. thesisfor 2005 from among the nine outstandingshortlisted theses for that year. The winning thesis“Wave Interaction with Underground Openings inFractured Rocks” was submitted by Dr MarkHildyard and had been presented to the Universityof Liverpool in the United Kingdom. The awardwill be conferred at the ISRM InternationalSymposium “Impact of the Human Activity on theGeological Environment” (EUROCK 2005) to beheld in Brno Czech Republic from the 18th to 20thMay 2005.

ISRM SPONSORED MEETINGS

The following list of conferences sponsored by theISRM was presented:

• 25-28 January 2005, Moscow, Russia – RockMechanics for Underground Environment: anISRM Regional Symposium.

• 18-20 May 2005, Brno, Czech RepublicInternational Symposium on Impact of theHuman Activity on the GeologicalEnvironment (EUROCK 2005): the 2005ISRM International Symposium, where theISRM Council and Board meetings will takeplace.

• 8-10 November 2005, Singapore – RockMechanics for Underground Construction(4th ARMS): approved by the Council, inKyoto, as the 2006 ISRM InternationalSymposium.

• July 2007, Lisbon, Portugal – The Second HalfCentury of Rock Mechanics: the 11th ISRMInternational Congress.

Reports were presented by the organizers of the2005 and 2006 International Symposia and of the2007 Congress. The following applicants to hostthe 12th ISRM International Congress, in 2011,

presented their proposals: NG China and NGSingapore, in Beijing; NG Korea, in Seoul. A decision on the venue of the Congress will betaken in May 2005 in Brno.

COOPERATION WITH SISTER SOCIETIES

The President of ISRM reported on the meetingsthat took place during last year between thePresidents of the three Sister Societies (IAEG,ISRM and ISSMGE). In the first meeting, held inLisbon in January, they appointed a task force, withthree representatives of each society, in order toinvestigate the possibility of creating a federation ofthe three societies and to present a proposal for thescope of activities and structure of the futurefederation. A report, prepared by the task force inJuly 2004, presented recommendations for thecreation of a Federation of International Geo-Engineering Societies - FIGS. A second meeting ofthe Presidents took place in Paris in September2004 and it was decided to request the task force tofurther investigate the financial implications of thecreation of FIGS.

The Council mandated the President to continuethese negotiations with the Sister Societies. ThePresident informed that any decision on this veryimportant issue must be submitted for Councilapproval.

NOMINATIONS FOR PRESIDENT

The President of the ISRM, Professor Nielen vander Merwe, announced that 3 nominations for theoffice of President of the ISRM for the term 2007-2011 were received: Prof. John Hudson (UK), DrClaus Erichsen (Germany) and Prof. Luís Ribeiro eSousa (Portugal). All nominees were present at theCouncil meeting. Election took place during theCouncil meeting in Brno, in May 2005.

LAUNCHING OF THE NEW WEBSITE

The new ISRM Website was launched on 1 April2005. Rock mechanics practitioners have a new

29

News from the Board (continued)

tool where they can find all sorts of informationabout the Society, its organisation and history,conferences and meetings, commissions andinterest groups, awards, corporate members,suggested methods and other publications. In arestricted area, ISRM members will find materials oftheir interest, such as the News Journal and avirtual library, or they may wish to participate indiscussion forums. Board members will have accessto working areas and new services that willfacilitate their routine work.

It is hoped that this new system will be positivelyreceived by the rock mechanics community.Launching of the system will be followed bycontinuous improvements that will prove necessary.Feedback from the users is essential, so that thesystem may become a useful working tool for allthose involved in rock mechanics or in theactivities of the ISRM.

ISRM COMMISSIONS

The ISRM President, assisted by the Board, hasappointed the following Commissions to studyscientific and technical matters of concern to theSociety:

• Commission on Case Histories in RockEngineering: President – Prof. Fengsheng Shen (China)[email protected] [email protected]

• Commission on Environment:President – Dr John Gale (Canada)[email protected]

• Commission on Maintenance and Repair ofUnderground Structures in Rock Masses:President – Prof. Luís Ribeiro e Sousa(Portugal) – [email protected]

• Commission on Mine Closure: President – Mr Christophe Didier (France) [email protected]

and has reappointed the following ones that hadbeen disbanded in accordance with provision 10.2aof the ISRM Statutes:

• Commission on Application of Geophysics toRock Engineering: President – Prof. Koichi Sassa (Japan)[email protected]

• Commission on Education:President – Prof. Meifeng Cai (China)[email protected]

• Commission on Preservation of Natural StoneMonuments:President – Dr Chikaosa Tanimoto (Japan)[email protected]

• Commission on Testing Methods: President – Prof. John A. Hudson (UK)[email protected]

• Joint Technical Committee with SisterSocieties ISSMGE and IAEG on Landslides (JTC-1)President – Prof. Robin Fell (Australia)[email protected]

In December 2004, in Kyoto, the ISRM Presidentand the Secretary General met the Chairmen of thedifferent Commissions in order to discuss andapprove a policy enabling the Commissions tosuccessfully achieve the stated objectives along theterm of office of the existing Board.In accordance with the ISRM By-Law No. 3 "Rulesto be followed by Commissions", ISRM Memberswishing to participate in the work of any of themshall get in touch with the respective Chairman.

Joint Technical Committees

The ISRM, in conjunction with the ISSMGE andthe IAEG, accepted the principle of JointTechnical Committees (JTC’s) to address subjectsof common interest to the three societies. Each JTChas a Core Group of six members. two from each ofthe Sister Societies. JTC-1, on the topic oflandslides, was the first, and is responsible fororganising the popular series of InternalSymposiums on Landslides, or ISL’s. More JTC’s areplanned for the future and is expected that JTC-2will be on the topic of visualisation of geotechnicaldata.

30

News from the Board (continued)

COMMISSION ON CASE HISTORIES

Membership• Nielen van der Merwe – South Africa

(ex officio)• Jian Zhao – Singapore (ex officio)• Eda de Quadros – Brazil• Nick Barton – Norway• Seokwon Jeon – Korea• Mike Roberts – South Africa• Martin Wittke – Germany• Anthony Meyers – Australia• Bingxu Zheng – China• Zhongxiang Kuang – China• Qian Qihu – China• Dayong Zhu – China• Yaojun Cai – China

BackgroundThe establishment of ISRM Commission on CaseHistories in Rock Engineering (CCHRE) is basedon the understanding that development of RockMechanics depends not only on the advances oftheoretical and experimental studies but also onfeedback from practice. Monitoring andinterpreting the performance of rock masses andstructures, both successful and unsuccessful ones, isimportant work that the ISRM should focus on.It is also understood that collecting anddocumenting case records is a very difficultundertaking. First, it requires a large amount ofwork that can hardly be rewarded by support fromeither government or private organizations.Second, people are always reluctant to report theirfailures, especially those that involve catastrophicloss of human lives. Third, documenting theinformation can sometimes be frustrating due tofailure in obtaining permission from the owners.The success in documenting important casehistories relies on a common effort made by oursociety.

Progress Report(1) In September 2003, during the 10th ISRM

International Congress, the Chinese Societyfor Rock Mechanics and Engineering

(CSRME) submitted a preliminary proposal forestablishing the Commission on Case Historiesin Rock Engineering (CCHRE) under theISRM. The preliminary proposal was discussedin the Board Meeting of the newly electedISRM leadership and it was approved.

(2) After the approval by the ISRM Board, aworking group that is responsible for the dailywork of the CCHRE, was promptly establishedby the Chinese Society for Rock Mechanicsand Engineering (CSRME). The main work ofthe working group is to contact ISRMRegional Vice Presidents to nominatecommission members. Other work isconcerned with the financial support. Wehighly appreciate a total of RMR 200,000donations contributed by the Yangtze RiverDesign Institute and Hongda BlastingTechnology Company respectively, whichgreatly facilitate the CCHRE’s work.

(3) During the ISRM-Sponsored InternationalSymposium on Rock Mechanics (SinoRock2004, May 18-21, 2004 Yichang China), thefirst nominal commission meeting was held atthe Three-Gorge Dam site. At this meeting,Prof. Qian Qihu, the President of CSRME,introduced the progress and future work ofCCHRE. A total of 16 persons participated inthis meeting, including Prof. Nielen ven derMerwe, Dr Nick Barton, Dr. Eda f.d. Quadros,Dr. Seokwon Jeon, Dr Mike Roberts, Prof.Qian Qihu, Prof. Zuyu Chen, ProfessorZhongkui Li, Professor Bingjun Fu, Prof.Gongchang Li (Proxy of Dr. Fengsheng Shen),Prof. Bingxu Zheng, etc. During this meeting,Prof. van der Merwe officially nominated Prof.Fengshen Sheng as the President of CCHRE.

(4) At the time of preparing this report, 15commission members have been proposed,who need to be appointed by the ISRMPresident.

Proposed CCHRE Activities in the Near Future Although some progress has been made, thedevelopment of CCHRE is still in its infancy. Thereare still many difficulties to be overcome by thejoint efforts of the ISRM colleagues.

31

Commission Reports

1. Completing the commission membership. So far, only the representatives from China,South America, Korea and South Africa areavailable. It is requested that the President andVice Presidents of ISRM give some help inorder to finalize the commission membership.Dr. Fengsheng Shen has nominated Prof. ZuyuChen the secretary general of CCHRE.

2. Finalizing the guidelines of CCHREA draft guideline of CCHRE has beenprepared and will be subject to discussions andfinal approval from ISRM leadership.

3. Establishing a homepage on ISRM websiteUnderstanding that most of the commissionwork will be carried out through the Internet,it is planned to establish a CCHRE website.We hope that the ISRM homepage will allowa link that provides direct access to ourwebsite.

4. Some activities CCHRE may undertake(1) Establishing a rock engineering database

Documenting the performance of rockmasses and structures, both successful andunsuccessful ones, is by far the mostimportant work CCHRE shouldundertake. However it is also very difficultwork. In the First Commission Meetingheld on November 29, 2004 in Kyoto,Prof. Zuyu Chen delivered a keynotelecture entitled ‘The landslide andengineered slope inventory for China’swater resources and hydropowerdevelopment’. He describes a commoneffort the Chinese water resourcescommunity had undertaken, which resultedin a 3-volume inventory with 117 slopecases, totalling 1591 pages. A CD diskcontaining this database has also been madeavailable. One of the features of this work isthat the documenting work is carried out instrict compliance with a set of standardforms, so that important information wouldnot be missing.It is understood that similar work has beencarried out elsewhere in the world.CCHRE expects to establish a platform bywhich people working in this area can sharetheir experience and hopefully, a rockengineering database developed by ISRMcan eventually be established.

(2) The case study method in GeomechanicseducationIn collaboration with the ISRMCommission on Rock MechanicsEducation, also to be seated in CSRME, it isplanned to establish a post-graduate courseentitled ‘Case Histories of GeotechnicalEngineering’ at Tsinghua University,Beijing, China. With this course we willexplore the feasibility of the so-called ‘casehistory educational method’. We hope ourexperience will be shared with ourinternational peers and some day thiscourse will be taught through the Internetunder the support of ISRM.

(3) Organizing an international symposium onmonitoring and case studiesAs an important endeavor CCHRE proposeto hold an International Symposiumentitled ‘Geotechnical monitoring: recentadvances and case studies’. We hope thatthrough this activity, people working oncase history study will meet and discussissues of common interest. The YangtzeRiver Academy of Sciences has submittedits proposal to CSRME for hosting thesymposium in Wuhan, China.

Prof. Fengsheng Shen – [email protected] or [email protected]

COMMISSION ON THE ENVIRONMENT

Membership• Nielen van der Merwe – South Africa (ex-

officio)• François Heuzé – USA (ex-officio)• Liu Hanlong - China• Carlos Dinis da Gama – Portugal• Eurípedes Vargas – Brazil• Sergey Yufin - Russia

General ProposalThe mandate of the Commission is to create aCommission report, in this case focussing onguidelines to be followed by rock engineers/

32

Commission Reports (continued)

mechanics in their activities to ensure that theenvironmental considerations receive the requiredattention, balanced by the need for progress,provision of energy, etc. We need to see man andthe needs of humanity as part of nature, not inopposition to nature.

The “justification” for an ISRM EnvironmentCommission is “The necessity of assuring thesustainable development of geomechanicalstructures constructed in rock masses”.

Proposed objectives and tasksThe Commission will focus on engineeringstructures in rock and the question of sustainabledevelopment compatibility with the developmentof structures in rock when considered at theplanning, design and operation stages. A tentativelist of topics for consideration includes:

• Sustainable development and undergroundplanning

• Underground space and groundwater problems

• Waste storage, transport of solutes throughrock

• Risk assessment and management of rockconstruction

• Underground construction and interactionwith surface and subsurface infrastructures

• Slope instabilities

• Large water reservoirs and the impact in theenvironment

• Exploitation of the subsurface

• Environmental remediation and protection

• Natural cavities in volcanic formations

• Abandoned mines

• Subsurface storage

• Dewatering of open pits in high permeabilitysystems, and interaction with the environ-mental impact assessment process.

Schedule

The schedule of ISRM International Symposia is asfollows:

1. Kyoto November 2004: Approval of conceptby the ISRM Board and appointment of the

President and first three members of theCommission. Discussion of the Commission’smandate and a review of topics and theproposed schedule.

2. December 2004 to February 2005. Finalize themembership of the Commission and outlinepotential working group topics. Initiate a fundraising activity to support some of the travelcosts by members.

3. Approval of the final Commissionmembership by the ISRM Board. FullCommission meeting in Brno, May 2005, withreport to the ISRM Board along with updatedschedule and topics.

4. Activities and schedule for 2005 and 2006 tobe decided.

5. Lisbon September 2007 (submission of finalreport).

Specific Activities

1. History of the development of ProfessionalGuidelines as they relate to the environmentalaspects of rock engineering in relatedprofessions.

2. Current guidelines in rock engineeringpractise. The EIA process in differentcountries.

3. Current progress in developing for “goodmining practise”.

4. Rock engineering developments in sensitiveterrains subject to rapid environmentalchanges.

5. World wide examples of rock engineering withsignificant environmental impacts and howthey might have been minimized or mitigated.

6. Objectives and scope of guidelines related tosustainability.

7. Concept of sustainability at it applies to RockEngineering.

8. State-of-the-art in rock engineering practiseand technology and associated environmentalimpacts.

9. Rock engineering practises, guidelines andprocedures and their impact on:

• long term stability

• changes to excavated rock, ARD, etc.

• changes to ecosystem, dewatering, etc.

33


10. Compatibility of current EIA processes indifferent jurisdictions with the need for energyand raw materials.

John Gale – Commission PresidentE-mail: [email protected]

COMMISSION ON MINE CLOSURE

MembershipThe following list of names proposed initially has tobe completed at international level especially frommajor countries involved in mining and post-mining (United States, Australia, South Africa,India, Russia, China): • Nielen van Der Merwe - South Africa

(ex officio)• Claus Erichsen – Germany (ex officio)• Semsa Canbulat - South Africa• David Reddish - England • Marc Bethournay - Canada • Matthieu Veschkens - Belgium • Jean-Pierre Josien - France• Bojan Rezun - Slovenia• P. Meier - Switzerland Proposed objectives The first aim of this Commission is to facilitatecontact between experts in rock mechanics fromdifferent countries concerned with post miningmanagement. This will create opportunities toexchange experiences, back-analyse case studies,scientific data, etc. It should be noted that there islittle specialised and precise international literatureavailable on documented back-analyses onaccidents or disorders developing above abandonedmines.Obviously, the objective will not be restricted tofacilitating contact and mutual learning but also tosetting up guideline methodologies. Therefore, thecommission aims to produce a common guidelinedocument which will, at least:

• present the relevance of post mining in thecountries mainly represented in thecommission,

• describe and explain basic mechanisms thatmay initiate disorders,

• describe and classify main disorders and theirpotential consequences on people and surfacestructures,

• create a methodology enabling experts to carryout diagnosis on the potential hazardgenerated by an old mine (e.g. this hazard maybe determined by the crossing of theforeseeable intensity of disorder with itsprobability of occurrence),

• describe (with examples of successful cases)the existing solutions managing the identifiedrisk. Those solutions may be treatment likereinforcement or backfilling and land usemanagement like restrictions on constructionor reinforcement of existing or futurebuildings.

These topics are obviously not exhaustive and willbe complemented by others (e.g. possibility of re-mining an abandoned mine), depending, onparticular, on the speciality and the interest of theCommission members.

The President of the proposed commission has beendeeply involved in the establishment of a nationalguideline based on French regulations andexperience. This guideline could be translated inorder to provide a basis for this discussion.

Indeed, the final ISRM document will be acollective document, each member of thecommission being in charge of a chapter or a part ofthe document. One efficient way to ease the workwould be to constitute a group of complementaryinternational experts (some of them specialists onunderground and others on open pit, some of themspecialists or risk analysis and other involved inremediation measures).

The opportunity of a devoted web site or adedicated area in the new ISRM website to thistopic will be discussed. The main objective wouldbe to facilitate the constitution of an internationalnetwork for scientific exchanges and for theinitiation of an international database concerningpost mining management (bibliography, congressannouncement, back analysis).

34


Organisation and schedule

As other Commissions generally proceed, thisCommission will try to hold an annual meeting atthe time and place of the annual ISRM Councilmeeting. This should obviously remain flexible,depending on specific opportunities (multi-disciplinary international congresses on postmining for example). The commission will alsoencourage members to organise special meetings onthe application of their national approachesillustrated by some in situ cases. It is to beunderlined that France is going to organise aninternational colloquium on post mining, inNovember 16-18, 2005, in a very sensitive arearelating to post mining problems, salt, iron, coal.

The commission meetings could be an opportunityto hold scientific seminars on specific topics (role ofwater on stability, how to integrate time indiagnosis, the specific case of salt mines). Theseseminars will be co-ordinated by a member of thecommission. This will offer an opportunity tocollect interesting international literature and stateof the art on those topics.

Concerning the schedule, 2004 will be devoted tothe constitution of the expert panel and to thetranslation of the French guidelines. We will thentake the opportunity of the ISRM Council meetingin November 2004 to hold the first meeting of theCommission. This meeting will be devoted inparticular to determine the framework of theCommission (do we integrate gas, how to takewater into account?) and the distribution of tasksbetween volunteer members.

2005 and 2006 will then be dedicated to developingrelationships and exchanges between members andother specialists, to hold seminars and meetings onspecific topics that will be discussed and validatedand to progress in the elaboration of commonguidelines.

The document will then be finalised during the firstsemester of 2007 in order to be available andpresented during the next ISRM Congress that willbe held in Portugal in 2007.

Christophe Didier – Commission PresidentE-mail: [email protected]

COMMISSION ON TESTING METHODS

Report on the activities in 2004

I am pleased to report that there has beenconsiderable Commission activity recently withISRM Suggested Methods (SMs) having beenpublished, being in preparation, and being planned.

The four ISRM Suggested Methods on Rock StressEstimation were published at the end of 2003 in theSpecial Issue on Rock Stress Estimation, IJRMMS,41,7-8. These SMs are:

ISRM SM - Part 1: Strategy for rock stressestimation by J.A. Hudson, F.H. Cornet and R.Christiansson

ISRM SM - Part 2: Overcoring methods by JSjöberg, R. Christiansson and J.A. Hudson

ISRM SM - Part 3: Hydraulic fracturing methods byB.C. Haimson and F.H. Cornet

ISRM SM - Part 4: Quality control of rock stressestimation by J.A. Hudson and R. Christiansson

The contents of this Rock Stress Estimation SpecialIssue are given on the next page. The four SMswere supported by 17 papers which discuss themanifold aspects of in situ stress occurrence and itsmeasurement. We invited Charles Fairhurst(former ISRM President) to write the introductoryarticle because of his 1960s pioneering work in thestress measurement field. Thus, not only is guidancegiven through the SMs, but the SMs are supportedby papers discussing the history of the subject, stressmeasurement experiences and associated issues. Inthis way, the ISRM provides engineers andresearchers with a wealth of knowledge.

This Special Issue on Rock Stress Estimation hasproved to be most successful and is a usefultemplate for future subjects. For example, on 24September 2004, a Fracture Mechanics Workshopconvened by Ove Stephansson, and which Iattended, was held in Potsdam, Germany, to discussthe generation of a new suite of fracture toughnessSMs. This is to update the 1988 SM co-ordinatedby Finn Ochterlony and the 1995 SM co-ordinatedby Bob Fowell. The purpose of the Workshop wasexplicitly to formulate the group which willgenerate the new SMs and to consider how todevelop supporting papers for a Special Issue on

35


Fracture Toughness in the same style as the RockStress Estimation Special Issue. The Potsdaminitiative was well received and is going ahead. Ifanyone is interested in contributing to the fracturetoughness SMs, please contact Ove Stephansson.E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected] similar suite of new SMs on rock fracture is alsoplanned to update the original 1978 one.

Special Issue of the IJRMMS:

Rock Stress Estimation(containing the new ISRM Suggested Methods andassociated Supporting Papers)

Guest Co-Editor: F. H. Cornet

Contents

Introductory contributions

• Preface by J.A. Hudson and F.H. Cornet

• Rock Stress Estimation: A Brief History by C. Fairhurst

• An overview of rock stress measurementmethods by C. Ljunggren, Yanting Chang, T. Janson, R. Christiansson

ISRM Suggested Methods for rock stress estimation

• ISRM SM - Part 1: Strategy for rock stressestimation by J.A. Hudson, F.H. Cornet andR. Christiansson

• ISRM SM - Part 2: Overcoring methods by J Sjöberg, R. Christiansson and J.A. Hudson

• ISRM SM - Part 3: Hydraulic fracturingmethods by B.C. Haimson and F.H. Cornet

• ISRM SM - Part 4: Quality control of rockstress estimation by J.A. Hudson and R. Christiansson

Papers

• Stress, instability and design of undergroundexcavations by C.D. Martin, P.K. Kaiser and R.Christiansson

• Determination of stress orientation andmagnitude in deep wells by M. Zoback et al.

• Measurement of in-situ stress in weak rocks atMont Terri Rock Laboratory, Switzerland byC.D. Martin and G.W. Lanyon

• Enhancing rock stress understanding throughnumerical analyses by R. Hart

• Stresses in anisotropic rock masses: anengineering approach building on geologicalknowledge by F. Tonon and B. Amadei

• Evidence of thermally-induced boreholeelongation: a case study at Soultz, France by T. Berard and F. Cornet

• Quality control of overcoring stressmeasurement data by M. Hakala, J.A. Hudsonand R. Christiansson

• Tests with different stress measurementmethods in two orthogonal bore holes inÄspö HRL, Sweden by R. Christiansson and T. Janson

• Evaluation of measurement-relateduncertainties in the analysis of overcoringrock stress data from Äspö HRL, Sweden: a case study by D.Ask

• Updating on the use of the Japanese CCBOcell: case studies by Y Obara and K Sugawara

• Stress measurements in deep boreholes usingthe Borre (SSPB) probe by J. Sjöberg and H. Klasson

• Electrical imaging and hydraulic testing for acomplete stress determination by F.H. Cornet,M.L. Doan and F. Fontbonne

• Hydraulic fracturing case study byB.C.Haimson et al.

• The hydromechanical behaviour of a singlefracture: an in situ experimental case study byF.H. Cornet, L. Li, J.P. Hulin, I. Ippolito andP. Kurowski.

Technical Note

• Current stresses in the rock mass near theKola super-deep borehole (SG-3) by S. N. Savchenko and A. A. Kozyrev

John Hudson – Commission PresidentE-mail: [email protected]

36


2006 November 08-10 – SingaporeSINGAPORE – 4th ARMS (Asian RockMechanics Symposium an ISRM-SponsoredRegional Symposium, organised by the ISRM NGSingapore, the Tunnellling and UndergroundConstruction Society (Singapore) and theProtective Technology Research Centre of theNanyang Technological University. Theme: RockMechanics in Underground Construction. ARMS-4 Organising Committee, c/o UndergroundTechnology and Rock Engineering Program,Protective Technology Research Centre of theNanyang Technological University, Block N1,Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639789, Tel.: (+65)6790 5268; Fax: (+65) 6792 1650, E-mail:[email protected], [email protected],[email protected];Website: www.ntu.edu.sg/home/cjzhao/arms

2007 July Lisbon PORTUGAL – ISRM11th International Congress on RockMechanics, organized by the PortugueseGeotechnical Society (SPG) and the ISRM NGPORTUGAL. Sociedade Portuguesa deGeotecnia, LNEC, Av. do Brasil, 101, 1700-066Lisboa, PORTUGAL; Tel.: (+351) 21844321; Fax: (+351) 218443021; E-mail: [email protected], Website: http://www,isrm2007.org

2005 September 07-11, Zaragoza SPAIN –International Conference on Geomorphology,the 6th Quadrennial Conference of theInternational Association of Geomorphologists.Organizing Secretariat, Geomorfologia, Fac. de Ciencias,Univ. de Zaragoza, C/Pedro Cerbuna 12, E-50009 Zaragoza,SPAIN. Fax: 34/976/761106, E-mail: [email protected]: wzar.unizar.es/actos/SEG/

2005 September 12-16, Osaka JAPAN – XVIthICSMGE International Conference on SoilMechanics and Geotechnical Engineering(ICSMGE). Prof. Masashi Kamon, The JapaneseGeotechnical Society, Sugayama Building, 4F, Kanda Awaji-Cho 2-23, Chiyoda-Ku, J-11-0063 Toyoko, JAPAN. Tel.:81/3/32517661, Fax: 32516688, E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected] Website: www.icsmge2005.org

2005 September 13-15, Osaka JAPAN -International Young Geotechnical Engineer’sConference, Organized by The Japanese GeotechnicalSociety (the ISSMGE MS JAPAN), and sponsored by theISSMGE, in conjunction with the 16 ICSMGE (September12-16). Prof. Masashi Kamon, The Japanese GeotechnicalSociety, Sugayama Building, 4F, Kanda Awaji-Cho 2-23,Chiyoda-Ku, J-11-0063 Toyoko, JAPAN. Tel.:81/3/32517661, Fax: 32516688, E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected] Website: www.icsmge2005.org

2005 September 14-16, HagerbachSWITZERLAND - IUT 2005 an exhibition andseminars held in an underground environment, withcapability of live equipment demonstrations. Deltacom,Gesellschaft für Projektmanagement mbH, Stormarnstr. 477, D-22844 Norderstedt, GERMANY. Tel.: 49/3572320, Fax: 35723290 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.iut.ch

2005 September 19-21, Perth AUSTRALIA -IS-FOG 2005 International Symposium onFrontiers in Offshore Geotechnics, organized byCOFS - Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems, inassociation with TCI of the ISSMGE. Fax: 61 8 9380 1044,E-mail: [email protected]: www.cofs.uwa.edu.au

2005 September 28-30, Kathmandu NEPAL, 5thAsian regional conference on Engineering Geology for MajorInfrastructure Development and Natural Hazards Mitigation.The President, Nepal Geological Society, P.O. Box 231,Kathmandu, NEPAL. E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]

2005 October 10-12, Chambéry FRANCE –Tunnelling for a Sustainable Europe, organized bythe French Tunnelling Association (AFTES) (the ITA NFFRANCE), the AETOS (the ITA NG SPAIN), the GTS(the ITA NG SWITZERLAND) and the SIG (the ITA NGITALY). AFTES, c/o SNCF Infrastructure, 17, Rue d’Amsterdam, F-75008 Paris, FRANCE. Tel.: 33/1/153429469, Fax: 153420820, E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.aftes.asso.fr

2005 October 13-14, Salzburg AUSTRIA -LIVth Geomechanics Colloquy, organized by theÖsterreichische Gesellschaft für Geomechanik (ÖGG) (theISRM NG AUSTRIA). Österreichische Gesellschaft fürGeomechanik Bayerhamerstr. 14, A-5020 Salzburg,AUSTRIA. Tel.: 43/662/875519, Fax: 886748,E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.oegg.at

37

Forthcoming Events

2005 November 06-11, Houston Texas USAAnnual Meeting and International Exposition of TheSociety of Exploration Geophysists. Mr Steve Emery, 8801S. Yale, Tulsa, OK 74137, USA. Tel.: 1/918/4975539. E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.meeting.seg.org

2006 April 22-27, Seoul KOREA – WorldTunnel Congress 2006, organized by the KoreanTunnelling Association and sponsored by the ITA. CongressSecretariat - ITA 2006, 5F Marine Centre New Building,#51 Sogong-Dong, Jung-Gu, ROK-100-770 Seoul, KOREA Tel.: 82/2/7265554, Fax: 7782514E-mail: [email protected]. Korean TunnellingAssociation, 44-3 Bangi-Dong, Hyundai Topics #1914,Soongpa-Gu, ROK-138-050 Seoul KOREA. Tel.: 82/2/22033442 Fax: 22033553 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.ita2006.com or www.tunnel.or.kr

2006 June 26-30, Cardiff UK - 5thInternational Conference on EnvironmentalGeotechnique (5th ICEG), sponsored by the ISSMGEE-mail [email protected] Website: www.grc.cf.ac.uk/45iceg/

2006 August 04-06 Hong Kong CHINA -International Conference on Physical Modellingin Geotechnics, Ms Shirley Tse, GeotechnicalCentrifuge Facility, Hong Kong University of Science andTechnology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong KongCHINA. Tel,: +852-2358 0216; Fax: +852-2243 0040E-mail: [email protected]; Website:icpmg2006.ust.hk

2006 August 27-31, Curitiba (Paraná) BRAZIL- IIIrd Portuguese-Brazillian Congress onGeotechnique and XIIth Brazillian Congress onSoil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering,organized by the Associação Brasileira de Mecânica de Solos(ABMS) (the ISRM NG BRAZIL), and the SociedadePortuguesa de Geotecnia (SPG) (the ISRM NGPORTUGAL). Prof Allessander Kormann, Curitiba, Paraná,BRAZIL. Fax: 55/41/3612436, E-mail: [email protected]: www.abms.com.br

2006 September 14-17, Nottingham UK – 10th International Congress of the InternationalAssociation of Engineering Geology and theEnvironment. Engineering geology for tomorrow‘s cities.E-mail: [email protected]; Website: www.iaeg2006.com

2006 September 18-22, Yokohama JAPAN –8th International Conference on GeosyntheticsWebsite: www.8icg-yokohama.org

CLASHESConference organisers! A clash of dates can hurtyour meeting. Please carefully check the pre-booked dates in the ISRM NEWS JOURNAL theISRM homepage or in this Events Calendar andnotify the ISRM NEWS JOURNAL ContributingEditor or the ISRM Secretariat, as soon as youknow your conference dates, theme and venue.

ISRM SPONSORSHIPConference Organisers! Apply early to the ISRMSecretariat for ISRM sponsorship, to help publiciseyour meeting. Regional and Internationalsymposia, and the 4-yearly ISRM Congress,impose different requirements for ISRMrecognition. Details are given in ISRM By-Laws 4and 5, reprinted on the annual ISRM Directoryand available on the ISRM homepage.

38

Forthcoming Events (continued)

WEB LINKS OF INTEREST FORISRM MEMBERS

IAEG – International Association forEngineering Geology and the Environmenthttp://www-cgi.ensmp.fr/iaeg

ICOLD – International Commission onLarge Damshttp://www.icold-cigb.org

IGS – International Geosynthetics Societyhttp://www.geosyntheticssociety.org

ISSMGE – International Society of SoilMechanics and Geotechnical Engineeringhttp://www.issmge.org

ITA – International Tunnelling Associationhttp://www.ita-aites.org

IUGS – International Union of GeologicalScienceshttp://www.iugs.org

SPE – Society of Petroleum Engineershttp://www.spe.org

39

ISRM News Journal Advertising Charges

Full page (170 x 258 mm high) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . black & white . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . USD $1,000Inside page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . colour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,300Inside cover page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . colour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,500Back outside cover page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . colour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,800

Half page (170mm x 125mm high) . . . . . . . . . . . . colour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 900 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . black & white . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 600

Quarter page (85mm x 125mm high) . . . . . . . . . . . colour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 700 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .black & white . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 400

Business Cards (85mm x 60mm high) . . . . . . . . . . . black & white . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 250

A 10% DISCOUNT IS AVAILABLE IF YOU ADVERTISE IN THREE (3) CONSECUTIVEISSUES.

An international money order in U.S. dollars (payable to the ISRM) should be sent to:Dr Luis Lamas – ISRM Secretary-General101 Avenida do Brasil, P-1700-066 Lisboa, PortugalTel: 351 21 844-3419 • Fax: 351 21 844-3021E-mail: [email protected]

Payment can be made by credit card:

❐ Visa ❐ Master Card ❐ Access ❐ Eurocard

Card Number: Expiration Date: Safety Code:

Name:

Signature:

Graphic File Formats

If you are planning to submit an advertisement to the News Journal please send it in the followingformats: PDF print files • Tiffs • Jpegs. All the files submitted must be saved at high resolution forprinting purposes.

All Corporate Members of the ISRM are listed in every issue of theNews Journal, under headings that describe their main activities. If you wish to be listed under another category (or categories) pleasecontact the ISRM Secretariat.

A – SUPPLIERS OF ROCK MECHANICS EQUIPMENT ANDMATERIALSBoart Longyear Interfels; Bad Bentheim, Germany Fatzer Ag Geobrugg; Romanshorn, SwitzerlandGeotechnical Systems Australia Pty Ltd.; Bayswater, AustraliaGlötzl; Rheinstetten, GermanyLaboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil (lnec); Lisbon, PortugalMesy Geo-mess Systeme Gmbh; Bochum, GermanyMTS Systems Corporation; Eden Prairie, USAOyo Corporation; Tokyo, JapanRoctest Ltd.; Montreal, CanadaSlope Indicator Co.; Seattle, USASol Expert International; Nanterre, FranceSolexperts Ag; Schwerzenbach, Switzerland

B – SUPPLIERS OF ROCK MECHANICS SERVICESBergab Ab; Göteborg, SwedenBoart Longyear Interfels; Bad Bentheim, GermanyCoyne Et Bellier; Paris, FranceEnvironmental System & Services; Richmond, AustraliaFatzer Ag Geobrugg; Romanshorn, SwitzerlandGeoframes Gmbh; Potsdam, GermanyGeoscience Ltd.; Falmouth, UKGeosolve—soluçoes De Engenharia Geotecnia E Topografia, Lda;

Lisboa, PortugalIngenieursozietat Prof. Dr. Katzenbach; Frankfurt Am Main, GermanyLaboratoire Central Des Ponts Et Chaussées; Paris, FranceLaboratório Nacional De Engenharia Civil (LNEC); Lisbon, PortugalLehrstuhl Für Ingenieurgeologie Und Hydrogeologie; Aachen,

GermanyMécasol; Paris, FranceMesy Geo-mess Systeme GMBH; Bochum, GermanyOyo Corporation; Tokyo, JapanRoctest Ltd.; Montreal, CanadaSlope Indicator Co.; Seattle, USASnowy Mountains Eng. Corporation; Cooma North, AustraliaSol Expert International; Nanterre, FranceSolexperts Ag Schwerzenbach; SwitzerlandTokyo Civil Consultant; Tokyo, Japan

C – CONSULTANTSAmberg Ingenieurbüro; Regensdorfwatt, SwitzerlandChuo Kaihatsu Corporation; Tokyo, JapanCoyne Et Bellier; Paris, FranceDia Consultants Co. Ltd.; Tokyo, JapanElectricidade De Portugal; Lisbon, PortugalGeodata Srl; Torino, ItalyGeoframes GMBH; Potsdam, GermanyGeoscience Ltd.; Falmouth, UK

Geotechnical Engineering Office; Kowloon, Hong KongGridpoint Finland Oy; Espoo, FinlandHanshin Consultants Co. Ltd.; Osaka, JapanHokkaido Engineering Consultant Co. Ltd.; Hokkaido, JapanIdowr Engineering Co. Ltd.; Tokyo, JapanIngenieursozietat Prof. Dr. Katzenbach; Frankfurt Am Main, GermanyItasca Consulting Group Inc.; Minneapolis, USAKawasaki Geological Engineering; Tokyo, JapanKiso-jiban Consultants Co. Ltd.; Tokyo, JapanLahmeyer International GMBH; Frankfurt Am Main, GermanyLehrstuhl Für Ingenieurgeologie Und Hydrogeologie; Aachen,

GermanyMécasol; Paris, FranceMeiji Consultants Co. Ltd.; Tokyo, JapanMesy Geo-Mess Systeme GMBH; Bochum, GermanyMulticonsult As; Oslo, NorwayNewjec, Inc.; Osaka, JapanNippon Koei Co. Ltd.; Tokyo, JapanNitro Consult Ab; Stockholm, SwedenPodzemgazprom, Ltd.; Moscow, RussiaProf. Dipl. Ing. H. Quick; Darmstadt, GermanySimecsol; Paris, FranceSlope Indicator Co.; Seattle, USASnowy Mountains Eng. Corporation; Cooma North, AustraliaSol Expert International; Nanterre, FranceSolexperts Ag; Schwerzenbach, SwitzerlandSp Swedish National Testing and Research Institute; Boras, SwedenSteffen, Robertson & Kirsten Inc.; Johannesburg, South AfricaSumiko Consultants Co. Ltd.; Tokyo, JapanSuncoh Consultants Co. Ltd.; Tokyo, JapanTyréns; Sundbyberg, SwedenWest Japan Engineering Consultants Inc.; Fukuoka, JapanYachiyo Engineering Co. Ltd.; Tokyo, Japan

D – CONTRACTORSBesab Betongsprutnings Ab; Göteborg, SwedenBesix S.A.; Brussells, BelgiumCetu Cse Co.; Bron, FranceEiffage Construction G.D.; Velizyvillacoublay, FranceFujita Corporation; Tokyo, JapanGeoscience Ltd.; Falmouth, UKHazama-Corporation Ibaraki, JapanIndubel-Industrias De Betao S.A.; Lisbon, PortugalJapan Underground Oils; Tokyo, JapanKajima Corporation; Tokyo, JapanMitsui Construction Co. Ltd.; Tokyo, JapanNishimatsu Construction Co. Ltd.; Tokyo, JapanNittoc Construction Co. Ltd.; Tokyo, JapanObayashi Corp.; Tokyo, JapanSato Kogyo Co. Ltd.; Tokyo, JapanShimizu Corporation; Tokyo, JapanSkanska Ab; Danderyd, SwedenSlope Indicator Co.; Seattle, USASncf; Paris, France

40

ISRM Corporate Members

Sol Expert International; Nanterre, FranceSolexperts Ag; Schwerzenbach, SwitzerlandTaisei Corporation; Tokyo, JapanThe Zenitaka Corporation; Osaka, JapanTobishima Coporation; Tokyo, JapanToda Construction Co. Ltd.; Tokyo, Japan

E – ELECTRICITY SUPPLY COMPANIESChugoku Electric Power Co. Inc.; Hiroshima, JapanElectricidade De Portugal; Lisbon, PortugalElectric Power Development Co. Ltd.; Tokyo, JapanHokuriku Electric Power Co. Inc.; Toyama, JapanKyushu Electric Power Co. Inc.; Fukuoka, JapanPower Reactor & Nucl. Fuel Dev. Co.; Tokyo, JapanShikoku Electric Power Co. Inc.; Kagawa, JapanThe Chubu Electric Power Co. Inc.; Nagoya, JapanThe Hokkaido Electric Power Co. Inc.; Sapporo, JapanThe Kansai Electric Power Co. Inc.; Osaka, JapanNational Thermal Power Corporation Ltd.; State-Uttar Pradesh, IndiaTohoku Electric Power Co. Inc.; Sendai, JapanTokyo Electric Power Co. Inc.; Tokyo, JapanTokyo Electric Power Services Co. Ltd.; Tokyo, Japan

F – MINING COMPANIESCSIR Mining Technology; Auckland Park, South AfricaLKAB; Luleå, SwedenMines De Potasse D’alsace; Wittelsheim, FranceMitsui Mining & Smelting Co. Ltd; Tokyo, JapanNittetsu Mining Co. Ltd.; Tokyo, JapanSomincor Castro; Verde, Portugal

G – PUBLISHERS

H – RESEARCH ORGANIZATIONSBRGM; Orleans, FranceCentral Research Institute Of Electric Power Industry; Chiba, JapanFGU; Zurich, SwitzerlandLaboratoire Central Des Ponts Et Chaussées; Paris, FranceLaboratório De Engenharia De Macau Laboratório Nacional De Engenharia Civil (Lnec); Lisbon, PortugalLemo; Oeliras, PortugalNorwegian Public Roads Administration; Oslo, NorwayPetrobras – Petroles Brasileiro S.a.; Rio de Janeiro, BrazilSKB; Stockholm, SwedenSlope Indicator Co.; Seattle, USASolexperts Ag; Schwerzenbach, SwitzerlandSP Swedish National Testing and Research Institute; Boras, SwedenSumimoto Mitsui Const. Co. Ltd.; Chiba, JapanSwedish Rock Engineering Research — SVEBEFO; Stockholm,

Sweden

I – GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTSGeotechnical Engineering Office Hong KongInstitut National De L’environnement Industriel Et Des Risques (Ineris); Verneuil En Halatte, France

Laboratório De Engenharia De Macau Laboratório Nacional DeEngenharia Civil (Lnec); Lisbon, PortugalLulea Tekniska Universitet; Lulea, SwedenOrdem Dos Engenheiros De Angola; Luanda, AngolaPat Laboratorio Geotecnico Servizio Geologico; Trento, ItalyRoyal Institute of Technology - Kth; Stockholm, SwedenSkanska Ab; Danderyd, SwedenSwedish Nuclear Fuel & Waste Management Co-skb; Stockholm

SwedenUniversidade De Aveiro — Serviços De Documentaçao; Aveiro;

Portugal

J – OTHER CORPORATE MEMBERSANTEA; Orleans, FranceBasissoft Inc.; Seoul, KoreaCSIRO Petroleum; Syndal, AustraliaDaelim Industrial Co., Ltd.; Seoul, KoreaDaewoo Engineering and Construction Co., Ltd.; Seoul, KoreaDoosan Industrial Development Co.; Seoul, KoreaDredging International N.v.; Zwijndrecht, BelgiumEurodril Belgium S.a.; Brussels, BelgiumGeomax Co., Ltd.; Kyeonggi-do, KoreaGeosigma Ab Uppsala, SwedenHan-gu Engineering Co., Ltd.; Seoul, KoreaHee Song Geotek Co., Ltd.; Daejeon-si, KoreaHyundai Development Co.; Seoul, KoreaHyundai Engineering and Construction Co., Ltd.; Seoul, KoreaISSEP; Liège, BelgiumJDC Corporation; Tokyo, JapanKokusai Kogyo Co.; Tokyo, JapanKolon Engineering and Construction Co., Ltd.; Kyeonggi-do, KoreaKorea Highway Corporation; Yeonggi-do, KoreaKoryo Nobel Explosives Co., Ltd.; Busan, KoreaKumho Construction and Engineering, Inc.; Seoul, KoreaKumagai Gumi Co. Ltd.; Tokyo, JapanLG Engineering and Construction Corp.; Seoul, KoreaNational Thermal Power Corporation Ltd.; State-uttar Pradesh, IndiaNMC Resources Eng. Co., Tokyo, JapanOkumura Corporation. Osaka, JapanSADE; Ponthierry, FranceSambo Engineering Co.; Ltd. Seoul, KoreaSamsung Corporation; Yeonggi-do, KoreaSamsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd.; Seoul, KoreaSanha Engineering and Construction Co.; Seoul, KoreaSK Engineering and Construction Co.; Ltd.; Seoul, KoreaSMET-F&C N.v./s.a.; Sleuwaegen, BelgiumTaisei Corporation; Tokyo, JapanToa Grout Kogyo Ltd.; Tokyo, JapanUNICEM; Paris, FranceYooshin Engineering Corporation; Seoul, KoreaWSP; Stockholm, Sweden

41

ISRM Corporate Members (continued)

42

ISRM Membership, Address Changes & Order Form

ISRM MembershipAre you a member of ISRM? If not, here is aneasy way to join.

Individual Membership For just US $25 you and/oryour colleagues can receive a one-year introductorymembership which allows you to buy ISRM goods,attend ISRM symposia, and receive the ISRM Directory andthe ISRM News Journal. Next year you will automaticallyreceive a renewal notice from your ISRM National Group, ifone exists, or from the ISRM Secretariat in Lisbon.

Corporate membership ($200/year) provides your organiza-

tion with up to three yellow-pages listings of your services or products in the ISRM Directory, with access for advertising to a select international mar- ket of more than 6,000 rock engineers and scien- tists.

Please complete the order form below and mail or fax it, together with your payment to:Dr. Luìs Lamas; Secretary-General, ISRM; LNEC, 101 Av. doBrasil; P-1700-066 Lisboa Portugal;(fax: 351-21-844-3021 • Email: [email protected])

No. requested Total

1. ISRM individual membership $25 each $

2. ISRM corporate membership $200 $

Total $

Please charge to my credit card – see below. No personal cheques are accepted.

Name (first) (last, family)

Title

Organization Name

Category of Services or Products

(see Yellow Pages categories in the Directory)

Address

Country Telephone Fax

Email:

Credit card Visa Mastercard Access Eurocard American Express.

Credit Card Number: Expiration Date Safety Code

Amount: (To be converted by the Secretariat at the current exchange rate in Lisbon.)

Date: Signature:

Address Changes? If you are a regular member and your address has changed please let us know inthe space below.

Name Title

Address

Tel: Fax:

E-Mail

To order ISRM Goods please see our website: http://www.isrm.net

or contact the Secretariat (351.21.844.3419, Fax: 351.21.844.3021, Email: [email protected]).

international society for rock mechanics news j urnal€¦ · south america, dr eda de quadros. i...

Documents