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Weaver Rock Classification
Weaver Rock Classification
assessment of rippability
J. M. WEAVER (Member)
Table 1
Ripper performance relative to seismic wave velocity through soils and rocks
o I 2 3 4
Velocity in Meters Per Second l 1000 I I I I I
Velocity in Feet Per Second l 10000 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 II 12 13 14 15
TOPSOIL
CLAY'
GLACIAL TILL
.. IGNEOUS ROCKS
GRANITE
BASALT
. TRAP ROCK
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
SHALE
SANDSTONE
SILTSTONE
CLAYSTONE
Reproduced by Sabinet gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated 2011).
CONGLOMERATE
BRECCIA
CALICHE
LIMESTONE
METAMORPHIC ROCKS
SCHIST
SLATE
MINERALS a ORES
COAL
IRON ORE
I
RIPPABLE _ MARGINAL c:::J NON-RIPPABLE ~
Table 2
Rock hardness and excavation characteristics
Soft rock Can just be scraped with a knife; indentations 3,0 - 10,0 1 200 - 1 500 Hard ripping
1 mm to 3 mm show in the specimen with
firm blows of the pick point; has du11 sound
under hammer.
Hard rock Cannot be scraped with a knife; hand 10,0 - 20,0 1 500 - 1 850 , Very hard ripping
specimen can be broken with pick with a
single firm blow; rock rings under hammer.
Very hard rock Hand specimen breaks with pick after more 20,0 - 70,0 1 850 - 2150 Extremely hard
than one blow; rock rings under hammer. ripping or blasting
Extremely hard rock Specimen requires many blows with >70,0 >2150 Blasting
geological pick to break through intact
material; rock rings under hammer.
Strike and dip orientation: The strike and dip orientation of the dis- Easy ripping 450 - 1 200 450 - 900
continuities and bedding may be either favourable or unfavourable
in terms of rippability. Ripping may prove easier and more pro- Hard ripping 1 200 - 1 500 900 - 1 200
ducti~e if carried out parallel to such planes of weakness in certain Very hard ripping 1 500 - 1 850 1 200 - 1 500
rock types. Ripping at right angles to strike could assist in re-
moving resistant bands that may occur within an easily ripped Extremely hard ripping 1 850 - 2150 1 500 - 1 850
material. or blasting
Continuity: The continuity of a joint or set of joints, or bedding Blasting >2150 > 1850
planes, within a rock mass has a marked effect on the strength of • Tractor-ripper with a working mass of45 to 49,5 t and a 280 to 360 kW
the mass and influences excavation characteristics. Penetration of engine.
a ripper shank into a cOlltinuous major joint could weaken a mas-
sive or sound rock formation so as to break out large boulders or . This recasting of velocity ranges results in. relatively more
blocks of rock. volume in the hard ripping and blasting classifications.
Gouge: The effect of gouge on the strength properties of a joint is Rock fabric
of outstanding importance. If the gouge is sufficiently thick for From experience and observations, the following generaliza-
example, the joint walls will not touch and the strength properties tions can be made:
of the joints will be those of the gouge. In assessing rippability, 1. Coarse grained rocks with a large grain size (> 5 mm) such as
the greater the amount of gouge or of 50rt material between joints pegmatites, coal, conglomerates, gritstones, calcretes and
or boulders, the easier it becomes to penetrate the formation and sandstones can be more easily ripped than fine grained rocks
the easier it becomes to rip. « 1 mm) such as quartzites, tillites, basalts, chert, dolomite
and limestone.
Boulder formations: Imbedded boulders, massive or columnar 2. Basic igneous rocks will tend to yield a higher seismic wave
formations, consisting of large blocks or spheroids in a matrix of velocity than acid igneous rocks. A basic igneous rock, such
soil or very soft rock, occ Jrfrequently in sedimentary, igneous and, as norite, is composed essentially of feldspar with dark colour-
metamorphic rocks, This condition creates marked exceptions to ed, heavy, iron and magnesium rich minerals. An acidic igneous
the standard seismic survey profile where dozeable material alters rock, such as granite, is composed of feldspar with light co-
through easy rip to hard rip to blast conditions. loured, light, silica and aluminium rich minerals. Basic igneous
Rock types which are particularly inclined to weather into a rocks therefore have a higher specific gravity and density than
Reproduced by Sabinet gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated 2011).
boulder formation are the basic igneous rocks such as basalt, acidic igneous rocks and seismic wave velocity in basic rocks
dolerite, diabase, gabbro and norite, also andesite and granite. will be higher than in acidic rocks.
The sedimentary rocks which weather to this condition are most
commonly dolomites, limestones, tillite and sandstone. Boulder Rippability classification
beds such as occur in stormbeach gravels, stream deposits, land- Bieniawski 3 in his classification of rock parameters has assigned
slides or talus usually contain little or no matrix and, depending ratings to each parameter by a weighted numerical value. The final
on the degree of compaction and consolidation, are usually doze- rock class rating is the sum of the weighted parameters. The rating
able, .although with considerable difficulty. system was originally proposed by Wickham, Tiedemann and
The presence of a layer of boulders in a soil matrix affects the Skinner 11 to assess support requirements in tunnels. Utilizing the
seismic wave velocity between the hard rock bedrock below geomechanics classification system, it is possible to produce a
(velo~ity 3 660 m/s) and the soil matrix above (velocity 1 220 m/s), rating for the assessment of rippability once one recognizes that
to yield an average seismic wave velocity that is marginal in terms the rock class which may be rated as very poor rock for tunneling
of rippability (eg 1 830 m/s). Note that boulders are detected in is, in terms of rippability, a very good rock.
the intermediate zone from th'Ei scattered time - distance points The rippability rating chart shown overleaf is therefore pro-
on the seismic graph. The con'dition described above is illustrated posed, utilizing the rock parameters already described.
in Fig. 1. ;
Church 6 has advocated a method to compensate for the condi-
Case studies
tions between the two types ofiormation. It is to lower the veloci-
Silica sand, Hartebeestpoort: The deposit comprises soft rock,
ties for ripping and blasting below the values ordinarily used for
highly weathered, massive, horizontally bedded quartzite. Seismic
normal weathering processes. These relative figures are shown
wave velocity for the material is 1 300 mls which classifies the
in Table 4.
rock as a hard rip rock, rippable by a D8 tractor. Material could be
GEOPHONE
cut from a vertical face by a Cat 966 front end loader. Using a
HAMMER
IMPACT D9G the rock could not be ripped and the ripper succeeded only
in cutting 300-mm deep by 1OO-mm wide grooves into the sur-
3m face. No brecciation or fracturing occurred at all.
, . From the rippability rating chart the following values are ob-
2,13
tained forthis material: SWV = 12; hardness = 1 ;weathering = 3;
joint spacing = 30; continuity = 5; gouge = 5; strike and dip = 15.
Total rating = 73. Analysis = Extremely hard ripping.
3660
Coal seams, Witbank: Seams comprise soft rock, unweathered,
fractured, horizontally bedded coal. Seismic wave velocity for the
GRANITE BOULDERS REQUIRING BLASTING ARE SEEN IN AN 88% MATRIX OF material is 1 520 mls which classifies the material as hard rip
RIPPABLE DECOMPOSED GRANITE. THE P~.RENT ROCK IS A MODERATELY rock, rippable by a D8 tractor. Material can be easily cut and loaded
CLOSE JOINTED FORMATION.
from vertical face by a Cat 966 front end loader. Using a D8H the
coal could not be ripped and the grousers slipped, producing
Fig 1: Typical boulder formation
Description Very good rock Good rock Fair rock Poor rock Very poor rock
Seismic velocity (m/s) > 2150 2 150 - 1 850 1 850 - 1 500 1 500 - 1 200 1 200 - 450
Rating 26 24 20 12 5
Rock hardness Extremely hard rock Very hard rock Hard rock Soft rock Very soft rock
Rating 10 5 2 1 0
Rating 9 7 5 3 1
Joint spacing (mm) > 3000 3000 - 1 000 1 000 - 300 300 - 50 <50
Rating 30 25 20 10 5
Rating 5 5 3 0 0
Joint gouge No separation Slight separation Separation < 1 mm Gouge - <5 mm Gouge - >5 mm
Rating 5 5 4 3 1
•Strike and dip orientation Very unfavourable Unfavourable Slightly unfavourable Favourable Very favourable
Rating 15 13 10 5 3
Rippability assessment Blasting Extremely hard Very hard ripping Hard ripping Easy ripping
ripping and blasting
• Original strike and dip orientation now revised for rippability assessment.
•• Ratings in excess of 75 should be regarded as unrippable without pre-blasting.