Rock failure under imposed load over caves

Abstract

An ever-present geohazard in karst terrains is the collapse of bedrock into open caves when engineering works inadvertently impose new loadings on the unsupported spans over unknown caves. However, rock collapse is a rare event. A scatter of collapse and caprock sinkholes exist across most karst terrains (Chapter 3), but their small numbers have developed through geological time, albeit without imposed loading. Nearly all collapses induced by engineering activity in karst are subsidence sinkholes that develop entirely within the soil profile (Chapter 8). Induced rock collapse may be rare, but events can be catastrophic and should be avoided by appropriate engineering design.