An application of the GIS in the engineering classification of rock masses

Abstract EN

A comparison is made of the application of two major systems or rock mass characterization, namely Rock Mass Rating (RMR) and Rock Mass Quality (Q system).

The two systems used to classify the rock masses of Jabal Setarah, a mountain in the Al-Baha area within the Arabian Shield.

Geographic Information System (GIS) technique was used utilizing the RMR and Q systems to produce rock mass zonation maps.

The studied mountain is composed of coarse grained quartz syenite.

The RMR and Q systems were calculated and compared using field measurements.

A logical agreement was found between the obtained GIS maps of the two rock mass rating systems.

Some discrepancy was observed which might be related to the application of the rating systems in an arid region although these systems are designed for humid regions.

The rock quality, engineering properties and the mountain size suggest that suitability of the mountain to be quarried for dimension stone.

In addition the Slope Mass Rating (SMR) system was used to calculate the slope stability of the quarry.

The SMR system results were compared with the conventional method of slope stability analysis and two maps were produced using GIS.

The two GIS maps of SMR system and the conventional method were found to have good agreement.