Analyzing Geological Field Data For Rock Slope Design

CIM Bulletin, Vol. 71, No. 793, 1978

D. Cruden, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering and Geology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alta.

DISCODAT is a system of computer programs written for CANMET, Canadian Department of Energy, Mines and resources, to be used in analyzing geological data for rock slope design. The programs were written in Fortran IV for an IBM 360/67 computer. A program conditions field data from field forms for storage in a line file. Data may be selectively retrieved from the line file by a general retrieval program which uses a variety of relational operators. The retrieved data may be displayed as structural diagrams or histograms produced on a line printer or in a number of maps produced on a drum plotter. There is a logical sequence which leads to the characterization of those elements of the subfabrics of a rock mass which may be kinematically active. Structural domains within the rock mass can also be outlined by a procedure described as areal analysis. Costs for a complete analysis are usually substantially less than $1/discontinuity.

Keywords: Rock mechanics, Pit slopes, Open-pit mining, Geological data, DISCO-DAT, Computer programs, Data processing, Slope stability.