Summary

This study provides the geomechanical characterization of a rock mass constituted by a mixture of blocks embedded in a sandy silt matrix. This is usually known as a bimrock (block-in-matrix rock; Medley, 1994). The characterization was performed by means of field and laboratory tests with the aim of observing the influence of the scale effect. The study also includes a comparative analysis between the results obtained in the research and the proposals made for the characterization of bimrocks and rock masses in general. The main result concludes that the shear strength parameters of the laboratory scale samples are higher than those found in the field, contrasting with the deformation modulus that normally shows higher values in the field tests.

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