Digital rock joint mapping

Digital rock joint mapping serves as a supplement to field rock mass mapping carried out by engineering geologists, and functions as an objective tool for assessing stability and rock support.

An holistic digital workflow is used to collect information about joint sets and orientation in rock mass, which provides information about potentially unstable blocks and the need for rock support.

Data collection is done by drone and/or LiDAR scanning of the rock mass in question, in addition to manual field measurements. The scans produce a high-resolution 3D point cloud, which is processed in software such as CloudCompare and Maptek PointStudio (such as filtration, segmentation and meshing). In PointStudio, semi-automatic rock joint extraction and grouping can be processed, which enable kinematic analysis for further stability assessment. The digitization contributes to an easier flow of information, and a better understanding for all involved parties in rock support works.

The rock joints are visualized directly on the 3D model, which can also be exported and used further for estimation of block sizes and need for support. Try out the slider function in the picture above for an illustration of the technology!