Establishing the Critical Mechanisms for Design in a Combined Rock Engineering-Environment Systems Model

摘要

There is now increasing emphasis on both sustainable engineering and a sustainable environment. Because the engineering process and the environmental conditions are linked, there is a need to develop models that encompass both subject areas, as recognized through the theme of this Symposium. In this paper we discuss how an overall systems model can be established using both engineering and environmental variables. The interactions between all pairs of variables are assessed and a fully-coupled model invoked to study the chains of operating mechanisms associated with different projects. This enables, inter alia, potential hazards to be identified. The methodology is discussed and the eight steps in its implementation are presented.