Paper presented in www.RockMass.

net
March 2020

Eurocode 7 (EC7): On Geotechnical Categories, Design and Supervision

by Arild Palmström, PhD

1. Geotechnical Category
The Geotechnical Category used in Eurocode 7 defines the project and sets recommendations and
requirements for planning, control and construction. Thus, it influences the extent of:
• The documentation of the ground conditions.
• The engineering and design of the rock excavation.
• The control and the supervision of the investigations and the design.
• The inspection and the monitoring of the rock construction works.

The minimum requirements for geotechnical investigations, design verification and construction control
checks are related to the risk associated with the structure. Three Geotechnical Categories (GC) 1, 2 and 3
act as guidelines for classifying the degree of risk. For rock constructions, the risks are associated with an
assessed degree of ground uncertainties and complexity of the construction work related to potential, severe
accidents and losses, both for the construction workers and the environment.

During planning, when the ground conditions along the tunnel cannot be determined, a main issue is the
geological uncertainties and consequently construction risks. This can be accounted for in the GC, as shown
in Table 1.

Table 1: Geotechnical Categories before excavation for rock engineering and excavation planning.
(suggested by Stille and Palmström, 2018)
BEFORE EXCAVATION for planning Geotechnical Category
Consequences Ground Uncertainty
class (CC) Examples. Typical rock constructions
low medium High

CC1 - Simple foundations on rock GC1

- Low – moderately high rock cuttings GC1 GC2
Low - Tunnels of small size (< 4 m span) GC 2

- Complicated foundations on rock

CC2 - High to very high rock cuttings GC1 GC2
GC2
Medium - Large tunnels (4 to 15 m span) GC2 GC3
- Environmental requirements
- Undersea tunnels, all sizes
CC3 - Unlined pressure tunnels, all sizes GC2
- Strict environmental requirements GC2 GC3
High - Large caverns or very large tunnels (span > 15m) GC3
- Tunnels with limited rock overburden
Consequences classes (in accordance with EN 1990):
CC1: Low consequences for loss of human life, or economic; social or environmental consequences are small or negligible
CC2: Medium consequences for loss of human life; or economic; social or environmental consequences are considerable
CC3: High consequences for loss of human life, or economic; social or environmental consequences are very high
Classes of Geological and Ground Uncertainty (before excavation):
Low: Clear and simple geology and ground conditions. Ground parameters can be easily found. Experience from
construction in similar ground conditions.
Medium: Clear geology and ground conditions. Methods exist both to assess ground conditions and for dimensioning.
Experience from construction in similar ground conditions can be documented.
High: Unclear geology and/or ground conditions with potential for problematic tunnel excavation. There are limited
possibilities to assess the ground conditions before excavation starts

For the permanent use of the structure, the ground conditions are known after the ground conditions have
ben disclosed in tunnel or cavern. The main risk is related to the consequences and the probability of failure,
which is related to the quality of the actual ground encountered in the tunnel. The ground quality will form
the main issue in the design of the permanent support as well as in the maintenance control plans.
Consequently, this should be a main input in the selection of the GC, see Table 2.

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March 2020

Table 2: Geotechnical Categories after excavation for design and installation of permanent support.
(suggested by Stille and Palmström, 2018)
AFTER EXCAVATION for permanent works Geotechnical Category
Consequences Ground Quality
class (CC) Examples. Typical rock constructions
good fair Poor
- Simple foundations on rock
CC1 - Simple to moderately high rock cuttings GC1
GC1 GC2
Low - Mine drifts. Test adits GC2
- Simple water tunnels
- Complicated foundations on rock
CC2 - High to very high rock cuttings GC1 GC2
- Access tunnels. Complicated water tunnels GC2
Medium - Low to medium traffic tunnels GC2 GC3
- Storage caverns in rock
- Caverns with very large span
CC3 - Unlined pressure tunnels/shafts GC2
- Excavations with strict environmental requirements GC2 GC3
High - Heavy traffic tunnels
GC3
- Underground stations in rock
Consequences classes (in accordance with EN 1990):
CC1: Low consequences for loss of human life, or economic, social or environmental consequences small or negligible
CC2: Medium consequences for loss of human life; or economic, social or environmental consequences considerable
CC3: High consequences for loss of human life, or economic, social or environmental consequences very high

Classes of ground quality (after the ground has been encountered in the tunnel, shaft or cavern):
Good: Good or very good ground conditions and stability as documented from tunnel mapping using e.g. classification
systems (RMR, Q, RMi, etc.)
Fair: Fair ground conditions and stability as found from tunnel mapping and, if found necessary, supported by
investigations
Poor: Poor or very poor ground conditions and stability as found from tunnel mapping and description supported by
investigations and tests

The assessment of the Geotechnical Category is an interactive process. The preliminary GC assessed in the
beginning of a project shall be checked and changed, if required, at each stage of the design and construction
process. As the ground conditions mostly will vary along a tunnel, the GC may also vary accordingly.

The observational method can be applied in all geotechnical categories. Visual observations and monitoring
of construction works, structure and surroundings are used to identify contingency actions and alterations
of construction sequences. Beside their objective to verify the design, they involve elements, which can be
regarded as tools for quality control. They may also be used to evaluating the long-term performance of the
structure.

2. Design
The structure and its impact can be classified as both temporary and permanent. In Eurocode 7, the design
can make use of one or a combination of the following four methods:
Calculations according to Eurocode are based on design values, which is the characteristic value
divided with a constant partial factor defined in advance. This requires that the limit states
Use of Calculations functions are relatively simple and that the rank of influences of the parameters will not be
changed from case to case. For many types of rock mechanics problems based on rock-structure
interaction, this is not the case.
Adoption of Prescriptive Measures is commonly used in rock mechanics. Rock mass
Adoption of
classification systems based on experiences from case histories belong to this category. The rock
Prescriptive Measures support measures defined are adopted without calculations and is purely empirical based.
Experimental models
Experimental models and load tests are not common in rock mechanics design.
and load tests.

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March 2020

This is a common method for verifying the design in rock mechanics. An essential part of the
Observational Method is that the interactive design process is based on predefined contingency
actions, which are linked with results from the observations made during excavation. The type of
observations can be based on both measurements with instruments (monitoring) and visual
An observational inspections as tunnel/ground mapping.
method
Monitoring is also used to check the validity of the design and ensure that the structure will
continue to perform as required after completion. In principle, this is a part of the control work of
the constructed structure and not a part of an interactive design process. It is important to
distinguish between these two objectives of monitoring.

Every project is unique. Recommendations on the suitability of different design tools can only be indicative,
especially as various combinations of the available tools may be appropriate. In a project with major
consequences of delay or failure, the tools are often used to achieve an acceptable safe design, whilst for
simple projects with low ground uncertainty, an approach based on empirical design methods or engineering
judgement may be appropriate. Table 3 may act as guideline to determine suitable design tools for different
Geotechnical Categories.

Table 3. Guideline for choice of design tools (from Stille and Palmström, 2018)

Geotechnical Design tool

Category Use of Adoption of Use of an
calculations? prescriptive measures? observational method?
1 No, generally not used. Yes. No.
Yes, analytical methods or Yes, often in combination Yes, based on visual observations of
2 numerical calculations are used with one of the other geology1) and measurements of
as required. design tools. behaviour as required2).
Yes, numerical methods are Yes, in combination with Yes, based on visual observations of
3 often used in combination with one of the other design geology1) and measurements of
the observational method. tools. behaviour2).
1) Geology here means mainly ground conditions.
2) Behaviour here includes deformation, convergence, etc. from monitoring and observations.

3. Supervision and control

Supervision and control of the planning, construction and workmanship is part of the risk handling. The
extent depends on the complexity and risk associated to the design and thus the Geotechnical Category, see
Table 4.

Table 4: GC and controls in various stages of a project (from Stille and Palmström, 2018)
Assessment of Geotechnical
Project Stage Quality Controls (QC)1) and plans
Category (GC)
1. Quality Control of the field investigation
Ground conditions

During investigation A preliminary GC class (Table 1).

works and testing procedures.
are assumed

After investigation, before Adjust GC class according to the

Make a plan for control of the design
design investigations results (Table 1).
The GC class according to the 2. Quality Control of design
During planning
expected conditions along the Work out plan for the control and inspection
(engineering and design)
excavation (Table 1). during excavation
3. Inspection during construction with:
During excavation. GC class for the ground conditions
- QC of the ground conditions
Continuous information of encountered supported by results
Ground conditions

- QC of materials
ground conditions from investigations performed
- QC of necessary investigations2) and tests
are known

encountered (Figure 2).

- Monitoring of tunnel behaviour.
4. QC of permanent structures (design)
After excavation Adjust GC class (Table 2) after all -Supervision of the materials and works
investigations and test results have - Monitoring of tunnel behaviour.
been collected
Before permanent use Make a plan for maintenance and monitoring.
1) Control level depends on the actual GC. 2) Investigations during and after excavation