2025 (Current Year) Faculty Courses School of Environment and Society Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Graduate major in Civil Engineering
Rock Engineering
- Academic unit or major
- Graduate major in Civil Engineering
- Instructor(s)
- Mai Sawada / Akihiro Takahashi / Kazuhide Yashiro / Tomoyuki Tsukada
- Class Format
- Lecture (Face-to-face)
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - 1-2 Fri
- Class
- -
- Course Code
- CVE.C432
- Number of credits
- 200
- Course offered
- 2025
- Offered quarter
- 1-2Q
- Syllabus updated
- Mar 19, 2025
- Language
- Japanese
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
Overground structures (e.g. dams and bridge foundations)/underground structures (e.g. mountain tunnels and power plants) are constructed on/in bedrock with large strength and stiffness. The design, construction and maintenance of those structures require evaluating complex bedrock conditions and properties. This course will cover rock property measurement, mechanical behaviour modelling and applications to mountain tunnels and pumped storage power plants.
Course description and aims
The students will acquire the knowledge on the following subjects on rock as the foundation of various infrastructures, such as
1) Geological process of rock formation, 2)Mechanical properties of rock, rock and rock mass classifications、3) Site and lab investigation of rock, 4) Analytical model of rock mass, 5) Behaviour of rock mass, 6) Design and construction of structures in/on rock, 7) Case studies
Keywords
geological rock formation, rock and rock mass classification, strength and stiffness, fractures and discontinuity, rock slope, rock tunnel, large underground structures, dam
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
Lectures will be delivered and quizzes will be given at the end of each lecture.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Introduction | Rock structures and geological features |
| Class 2 | Discontinuity and classification | Various aspect of discontinuity of rock mass, and their description, and methodology of rock and rock mass classification and their application |
| Class 3 | Rock mechanics test | In situ and laboratory tests |
| Class 4 | Strength and deformation | Anisotropy and size effect of strength and deformation |
| Class 5 | Discontinuity surface roughness and strength | Surface roughness evaluation and contribution to strength |
| Class 6 | Dynamic properties and characteristics of rocks | Dynamic properties of rock and seismic behaviour of rock mass |
| Class 7 | Modelling of discontinuity and analytical methods | Brief understanding of modelling of discontinuity and basic analytical model of rock mass |
| Class 8 | Rock slope sliding, and stabilization | Characteristics of rock sliding and analytical model of slope stability |
| Class 9 | Mountain tunnel 1: introduction, investigation and design | Various types of tunnel structures, site investigation and design of mountain tunnels |
| Class 10 | Mountain tunnel 2: construction, maintenance | Construction methods of mountain tunnels, and maintenance |
| Class 11 | Mountain tunnel 3: case studies | Case studies of former tunnel projects |
| Class 12 | Mountain tunnel 4: construction accidents and natural disasters, environmental problems | Case studies of former tunnel induced accidents, natural disaster, and environmental problems |
| Class 13 | Pumped storage power plant 1: rock fill dam, gravity type concrete dam | Site investigation, design and construction of rock fill dam and gravity type concrete dam |
| Class 14 | Pumped storage power plant 2: underground power station, penstock | Site investigation, design and construction of underground power station and penstock |
Study advice (preparation and review)
To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.
Textbook(s)
Handouts will be provided by lecturers via T2SCHOLA.
Reference books, course materials, etc.
"Rock Mechanics" Kawamoto, Choman, Yoshinaka Ryunoshin, Hibino, Satoshi, Gihodo, 1985.10 (Japanese)
"Engineering properties of rocks and application to the design and consturction", Committee of Rock Mechanics, JGS, 1974.4 (Japanese)
"Determination of Design parameters in geotechnical engineering - rock structures", JGS, 2007.7 (Japanese)
Evaluation methods and criteria
Based on quizzes (50%) and reports (50%)
Related courses
- CVE.C201 ： Soil Mechanics I
- CVE.C202 ： Soil Mechanics II
- CVE.C311 ： Geotechnical Engineering in Practice
Prerequisites
None
Other
None