Eurocode 7 and rock engineering: Current problems and future opportunities

In 2010, Eurocode 7 (EC7) became the Reference Design Code for geotechnical design within the European Union. At the same time, EC7 entered into its first maintenance cycle, the aim of which was to identify and implement essential technical and editorial improvements to the Code. As part of this, a Workshop on the application of EC7 to rock engineering was arranged to be held at Eurock 2014. In this paper, following a brief explanation of both the history of EC7 and the principles of limit state design within the Eurocode suite, the papers submitted to this Workshop are unified in order to highlight the common themes they explore. These include: characterisation of discontinuous rock masses; application of rock mass classification schemes; partial factor calibration; the epistemic nature of rock mechanics parameters; benchmarking of rock engineering design calculations; the limited value of traditional deterministic analyses in the context of EC7; prescriptive measures; the observational method; and, the introduction of new forms of instrumentation. Although current problems have been found in all of these areas, suggestions have also been given for overcoming them. As the importance of EC7 for rock engineering design continues to grow, these suggestions have the potential to become future opportunities.