Many books relating to practical and theoretical aspects of conventional underground structures such as mining tunnels or rail and road tunnels, underground excavations in rock and buried pipelines have been published. However, the literature concerning the stability and strength of underground structures of a less permanent character under dynamic and static surface loadings, has been scattered amongst many journals, research reports and conference proceedings. This unfortunate situation has now been rectified by the publication of this book which covers underground structures constructed by a "cut and fill" method rather than by tunnelling. Though most of the book contents is directed towards the optimum design of defence installations, pipelines and domestic nuclear shelters, similar conclusions and recommendations apply to buried structures constructed for any purpose.
The book is divided in seven chapters. Following a short introduction (Chapter 1), Chapter 2 presents a review of fundamental aspects of the general problem: arching theory, stress distribution theories and soil properties under static and dynamic loading. Chapters 3 and 4 are concerned with traditional methods and recent developments in analysis and design of thick-walled pipes and respectively thin-walled pipes under static loads. Chapter 5 focuses on non-circular pipes, closed cylinders and shells under static loads. The problem of dynamic loading is pursued in Chapter 6, with particular reference to nuclear and localized explosions. The final chapter surveys the problem of loading and safety in tunnels, pipelines and underground construction in a general way. Attention is drawn to the need for a unified approach of the subject.
The book is well written. It provides a clear description of the relevant theoretical techniques and the strenghts and limitations of these techniques are discussed. It has a wealth of information, well organized and not having too much detail. In addition, and most important, it has an extensive list of references.
The book is a valuable up-to-date reference work and will therefore be of considerable interest to most civil and geological engineers, particularly those designing covered tunnels, conduits and defence works under static and dynamic loads taking into account soil--structure interaction.