Latest technology of underground rock cavern excavation in Japan

Four major projects with large-scale rock underground caverns are discussed in this report; two hydropower stations, one underground oil storage facility and one underground museum in Japan. The technology applied to the construction of these caverns have some unique characteristics and can be applied to various other underground uses for different purposes and applied to larger-scale underground rock caverns with different geological and in situ stress conditions. Generally, construction of an underground cavern is comprised of five major activities: geological investigation; cavern stability analysis; initial rock support design; excavation works; and redesign of rock support according to the observational construction method. Weighted factors allocated among these factors should be established based on the rock properties and the purpose of the underground cavern use, which would define the major characteristics of the construction project. This report discusses some of major characteristics of these projects in Japan.