Alternative Quantification of the Geological Strength Index Chart for Jointed Rocks

The paper suggests an alternative quantification of the Geological Strength Index (GSI) Chart published by Hoek et al. in Paper prepared for presentation at the 47th US Rock mechanics/geomechanics symposium held in San Francisco (2013). The engineering parameters proposed for the horizontal and vertical axes of the Chart are the most commonly used in routine field investigations on rock masses by means of standard exposure surveys and borehole logging. They mainly include parameters traditionally used for block size characterization (i.e., volumetric joint count Jv, joint spacing S and RQD/Jn factor) as well as other parameters purposely defined in the present study and based on combinations of the traditional ratings of the Bieniawski’s RMR₈₉ classification. Adopting these options, new empirical equations for calculating the GSI have been fine tuned and tested on a real rock mass dataset. The comparison between the GSI values calculated using the new equations and those directly mapped during underground excavations has demonstrated the potentiality of the proposed methodology. The new quantification of the GSI Chart can be regarded as a useful and practical tool suitable to integrate the Hoek et al. (2013) approach. The complementary use of different and independent methods represents an effective practice to properly check and validate the final estimation of the GSI.