ABSTRACT
Design theory in rock engineering is directed to providing important general design principles that can serve as valuable guides to design in the geologic environment. This chapter discusses design theory and methodology for rock engineering. In a conventional engineering design, the external loads to be applied are first determined and a material is then prescribed with the appropriate strength and deformation characteristics, following which the structural geometry is selected, In rock engineering, the designer deals with complex rock masses and specific material properties cannot be prescribed to meet design requirements. The design methods which are currently used in rock engineering can be categorized as analytical methods, observational methods, and empirical methods. More recent formulations of design as an optimization problem led to the use of computer methods which enable sophisticated modeling and fast computation. The design process starts with the statement of the problem which recognizes a societal need.
