A survey has been made of the methods in current use in great britain for assessing rock as a fill material and the problems that are encountered with applications and control of rock fill. The overall cost of rock fill in relation to the total contract price has also been examined. It is considered that durability of the rock, although not important in some of the applications of rock fill, may be the most difficult property to quantify. However, regional engineers generally know from experience the likely behaviour of materials that are available as rock fill in their regions. In general, engineers in areas containing good quality rock consider that the current subjective specifications for rock fill are satisfactory, whereas engineers in areas where rock is of doubtful quality recognise the need for objective test procedures and have developed their own methods appropriate to the particular types of rock encountered. In areas where rock is rarely encountered it is considered important that procedures be developed to provide a means of assessing materials which could act as substitutes for rock. (Author/publisher)
Abstract