Objectives and activities of the Commission

The objectives of the commission
1) Summarize and introduce how can we utilize geophysical techniques to evaluate in situ rock and soil.
2) Organize an international workshop on the application of geophysics to rock engineering.
3) Establish closer relationship between ISRM members and exploration geophysicists who are interested in the academic field on the application of geophysics to rock engineering.

The activities during the term from May 1996 to August 1999
The 1st International Workshop on the Application of Geophysics to Rock Engineering was held in June 29, 1997 at Columbia University, USA, and the proceedings of 112 pages were published.
The 2nd Workshop was held in conjunction with ISRM 9th Congress in Paris on August 24, 1999. The proceedings of 75 pages were published.

The activities during the term from August 1999 to September 2003
(1) The 3rd workshop was held in November 18, 2000 in Melbourne in association with GeoEng 2000. This workshop was held at the same venue as the GeoEng2000. The presentations at the workshop included field studies, laboratory studies and recent theoretical advances in geophysical monitoring of time-dependent changes in rock and soil, and geophysical detection of permeable or fractured zones. Thirteen papers were presented and followed by enthusiastic discussions. The proceedings of 82 pages were published. The contents and some other information of the workshop can be seen in the web pages those can link from the index web page of the commission of which URL address is as follows:
http://web.kyoto-inet.or.jp/people/sassa/
(2) The commission held the 4th International Workshop on the Application of Geophysics to Rock Engineering on 10th September in association with the ISRM 2001-2nd ARMS in Beijing, China. This workshop was held at the same venue as the ISRM 2001-2nd ARMS. Three keynote lectures from China, Japan and Korea and also thirteen papers were presented and followed by enthusiastic discussions. The proceedings of about 100 pages were published. Furthermore, a CD-R containing all papers presented at the workshop was made after the workshop. Some papers in this CD-R have some color figures. The price of this CD-R is US$ 30. Please contact Professor Kunihisa Katsuyama to purchase the CD-R. His contact addresses are as follows:
Professor Kunihisa Katsuyama, Department of Rural Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Ehime University, 3-5-7 Tarumi Matsuyama 790-8566 JAPAN. Fax:+81 89 946 9923. E-Mail: katuyama@agr.ehime-u.ac.jp.
The contents of the proceedings from this workshop can be found at
http://web.kyoto-inet.or.jp/people/sassa/.
(3) The Commission took the effort for publishing an issue in the ISRM News Journal of which main content is the articles on the application of geophysics to rock engineering, including the effort for getting advertisements from some companies. This issue was published as a Volume 7 Number 1 December 2001.
(4) The Commission took the effort for publishing a special issue on the application of geophysics to rock engineering in the International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences. The special issue was published as a Volume 38 Number 6 September 2001. The contents of this special issue are mainly based on the studies presented at the 1st and the 2nd International Workshops on the Application of Geophysics to Rock Engineering. However, all papers have been significantly expanded to contain much new material and further considerations following the workshops.
(5) The Commission held the 5th International Workshop on the Application of Geophysics to Rock Engineering on 7th July 2002 in Toronto, Canada, as part of NARMS-TAC 2002. Ten excellent invited papers and also progress reports of the two working groups were presented and followed by excellent enthusiastic discussions. This workshop was finished very successfully. The proceedings of about 80 pages were published.
(6) The lecture meeting on Rock Engineering was held under the auspices of the commission on 19th March 2003 at Kyodai-Kaikan, Kyoto, Japan.
The titles and speakers of the meeting are as follows:
"Fracture Heterogeneity and Seismic Wave Propagation", by Professor Laura J Pyrak-Nolte, Purdue University, USA, and "The Design of Rock Engineering Structures: Current Capabilities and Likely Future Directions" by Professor John A Hudson, Imperial College and Rock Engineering Consultants, UK.
The abstracts of these lectures can be found at the web page of the commission of which URL address is as follows:
http://web.kyoto-inet.or.jp/people/sassa/.
(7) There are three working groups in the commission.
The proposed task of the working group on Standardization of Geophysical Methods for Rock Engineering is to make a suggested method for geophysical survey in rock engineering. This working group completed the Suggested Methods for Land Geophysics in Rock Engineering. This suggested method had been approved by the ISRM Commission on Application of Geophysics to Rock Engineering, and also had been approved by ISRM Vice-President for Asia before ISRM 2003 Council Meeting on 7th September 2003. Therefore, this suggested method satisfied the ISRM By-Law Number 3 clause 9 for publication as ISRM Suggested Methods.
On the other hand, the working group on Estimating Primary State of Stress in Rock Mass using Acoustic Emission Technique completed the Suggested Method for in-situ Rock Stress Estimation from a Rock Core using Acoustic Emission Technique. This Suggested Method had been approved by the ISRM Commission on Application of Geophysics to Rock Engineering, and also had been approved by ISRM Vice-President for Asia before ISRM 2003 Council Meeting on 7th September 2003. Therefore, this suggested method satisfied the ISRM By-Law Number 3 clause 9 for publication as one of the ISRM Suggested Methods.

The activities from September 2003
The commission terminated at the time of the ISRM 10th Congress in South Africa in September 2003. But, Mr. President, Professor Nielen van der Merwe, had re-appointed this commission immediately for the term of this Board.

The Suggested Methods for Land Geophysics in Rock Engineering had been approved by ISRM as the ISRM Suggested Methods in 2003. This ISRM Suggested Methods had been published in the International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, Volume 41, Number 6, September 2004.

The 6th International Workshop on the Application of Geophysics to Rock Engineering was held successfully on Monday 29th November 2004, in conjunction with the 2004 ISRM International Symposium (3rd ARMS). The contents were shown in the web page of the commission. As shown in the program, the commission report, twelve papers and also a preliminary draft of the Suggested Methods for Borehole Geophysics in Rock Engineering were presented and followed by enthusiastic discussion. The proceedings of about 80 pages were published. Any one who want to purchase CD-R proceedings, please make contact with Commission President, Koichi Sassa. His e-mail address is shown in the web page of the ISRM. The price is US$ 30 including postage.

 The final draft of the "Suggested Methods for Borehole Geophysics in Rock Engineering" had been approved by a majority of the commission members and also Mr. ISRM Vice-President for Asia. Then, this final draft became one of the ISRM Suggested Methods in accordance with the ISRM By-law Number 3, clause 9.  The ISRM Suggested Methods for Borehole Geophysics in Rock Engineering was published in the International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences Volume 43 Number 3 pp. 337-368 April 2006.



List of Comission Members

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