Rock Engineering Design

This highly original and innovative book is the outcome of the work of the Commission on Rock Engineering Design Methodology of the International Society for Rock Mechanics (ISRM) in the period 2007-2011. The work of the Commission was managed by the authors, Professor John A Hudson, ISRM President for 2007-2011, and Professor Xiating Feng, ISRM President for 2011-2015, in association with the Chinese Society for Rock Mechanics and Engineering. Recently, this reviewer (2011) has argued that the work of its Commissions has been among the major achievements of the ISRM in the 50 years since its foundation in 1962. This book adds to that impressive record of achievement.

This superb book has many outstanding features. Its original approach and arguments are set out and developed with the greatest clarity; the writing is clear, fluent and accessible; the structure of the book is logical, guiding the reader through a series of stages required to develop a good, or even deep, understanding of the subject matter; the chapter summaries are succinct and informative, as are the summaries of some topics presented in tables and figures; and the detailed technical auditing approach developed is especially valuable. Perhaps most importantly, the several detailed practical examples given in each chapter illustrate just how the approaches developed and described have been applied in practice to the most challenging rock engineering design projects. These examples, together with a summary given in Chapter 1, provide compelling evidence of the monumental achievements of rock mechanics and rock engineering in China in recent years. Through this book and in other ways, the authors have contributed significantly to those achievements.

E. T. Brown
Senior Consultant, Golder Associates Pty Ltd.

Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, 2012, 4 (1): III-IV