SENSITIVITIES OF REPORT WRITING FOR WEAK-ROCK PROJECTS

Weak rock is the natural realm of geological engineers and engineering geologists. We are the best equipped geotechnical professionals to de al effectively with these difficult and generally complex earth materi als, and we have the obligation to produce the most informative techni cal reports possible in weak-rock assignments. Because of the strength -related problems of weak rock, we should remain cognizant of the need to emphasize several aspects of our reports. For this purpose weak ro ck occurs because of one or more strength-degrading considerations: 1. Weak to deleterious lithology; the latter imparting damaging characte ristics to concretes and to rock utilized as rip-rap and other forms o f shore protection. 2. Mineral alteration and/or weathering. 3. Intens ely debilitating geologic structure, leading to unstable ground for su rface cuts and structures and as host ground for underground openings. 4. Disruptive human action, mainly from mining, whereas the weak char acteristics are those of the previously-mined ground.