An Investigation on Mechanical Properties of In-situ Rock Mass at the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has been promoting the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory Project in Hokkaido since 2001 to enhance the reliability of relevant disposal technologies through investigations of the deep geological environment in sedimentary rocks of Japan. In the project, investigations on mechanical property of in-situ rock mass were conducted in order to evaluate the methodology to build a mechanical dataset of the rock mass based on the results of laboratory tests using rock cores and borehole logs. In this paper, the methodology to be applied for the surface-based investigation around the URL was studied based on the results of in-situ investigation in the galleries at 250m and 350m depths.