Mapping rock mass structure is a key part of hard rock tunneling and underground mining. There have been a plethora of technological advances in 3D mapping and rock mass data extraction, but few are more […]
The international rock mechanics and engineering geology community has lost a great figure in Prof. Paul Marinos of the University of Athens. Prof. Marinos passed away last Sunday according to the International Association for Engineering […]
Geological engineers around the world recognize the name Ted Brown who, along with Dr. Evert Hoek, developed the Hoek-Brown failure criterion for characterizing the strength of heavily jointed rock masses. Brown recently turned 80 and […]
Dr. Evert Hoek was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for 2018 by ITA Tunneling and Underground Space Association for his contributions to the field of rock mechanics. The award ceremony was held in Chuzhou, China as […]
The International Society of Rock Mechanics (ISRM) has some great lectures posted online. The latest one posted in April is ‘Why Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering?’ by Professor Emeritus Charles Fairhurst of the University of […]
The following four short courses will be taught by Prof. Pinnaduwa Kulatilake in Tucson, Arizona in May 2016 as given below. Dr. Kulatilake was one of my professors at the University of Arizona during my […]
This article describes the challenges faced by the World’s largest hard rock TBM (47.2-ft in diameter) as it tunnels through some very difficult geology while constructing a massive tunnel under Niagara Falls for hydroelectric power […]
[Updated November 17, 2009] A few new posts from Ontario-geofish [/Updated]
Those with interest in rock mechanics and tunneling might be interested in this project. The Ontario Power Generation (OPG) company is the owner of a $600M (Canadian) construction project to create a third hydro power tunnel under Niagara Falls. Apparently the project is having all kinds of problems with overbreak in some very difficult tunneling conditions which means very slow progress and big $$ overruns. (Photo from niagarafrontier.com)
I’ve been meaning to post something on this project for some time. I admit that my perspective is biased by the viewpoint you can find on the Ontario-geofish blog. I’ve mentioned Harold Asmis before, he’s the owner of the OG blog, and a former OPG employee if I understand correctly. He left OPG for a career doing geophysics and earthquake engineering for the Nuclear Power industry in Canada. I highly recommend his blog, he has great insight into tunneling, earthquakes, siting of nuclear power plants not to mention opinions on all kinds of other things. His writing style is very colorful and entertaining as well.
So, Harold has written a whole series of blog posts on the Niagra Tunnel project, including a 5-part series entitled "The Disaster of the Niagara Tunnel" and a 4-part series called "Niagara Tunnel: doing it Right". He is not directly involved with the project, but his long career with OPG and related disciplines gives him some great insights. I’ve collected a list of some of his blog posts on the Niagara Tunnel project as well as a few other links about the project. Click through for the good stuff.
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