Rock stress and their variability-A case study Kumar Pankaj, Sarwade D.V., Mishra K.K., Senthil P, Dev Hari Central Soil and Materials Research Station, New Delhi Online published on 18 April, 2020. Abstract An estimation of the in-situ stresses in a rock mass is necessary for the design of stable underground structures in rock. The in-situ stress field influences the performance of underground structures particularly in the Himalayas having strong influence of topography and geology. Therefore, it is always advisable to measure the in-situ stresses, in whatever best way possible. Hydraulic fracturing method is one of the popular techniques which has been used to have better understanding of stress variation in Himalayan region. In published literature on Himalayan region, the direction of in-situ stresses usually trends towards North-North-East (NNE) direction. However, it is not necessary; there is a case, where average maximum horizontal stress has been found to be in North-West (N490W) direction and North-North-East (N170E) direction at two different location of a single hydroelectric project. In the present paper the variability of in-situ rock stress is discussed with respect to factors viz; inhomogeneity, rock anisotropy, discontinuity, topography and free surfaces. Top Keywords In-situ stress, Stress measurement, Hydraulic fracturing, Desilting Chamber Downstream Surge Chamber, Punatsangchhu-II, Bhutan. Top |