Estimation of stress state using measured tunnel convergence in loop galleries excavated in mudstone

A method for estimating the stress state during the construction of underground facilities such as deep geological disposal repositories is necessary to enhance the reliability of their design, construction, and long-term performance. For this purpose, numerous in situ measurements of variables such as hydraulic fracturing or the stress relief method have been typically performed to estimate the stress state. However, it is difficult in some cases to validate the stress state, particularly in sedimentary rock, because of the variation related to heterogeneous rock masses and topography. This study developed a new method for reliably estimating the in situ stress state of rocks using the measured initial elastic displacement of the loop gallery at 350 m depth in the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory (URL), Japan. The estimated magnitudes of the maximum and minimum horizontal stresses are 11.25 and 6.25 MPa, respectively, which are similar to the stresses measured using the hydraulic fracturing method performed before excavating the facility. Although the proposed method could only be applied after excavation of the gallery in the studied case, it yielded an estimate of the stress state over a region of hundreds of square meters with high accuracy, as assessed by comparison with measured results. We conclude that the method can be applied to optimizing the design, construction, and performance of large underground facilities, such as deep geological repositories. •New method to estimate the stress state using tunnel convergence data.•The method used the initial elastic displacement of the tunnel measured during excavation.•The stress state within a region of several hundred square meters can be estimated.•Better estimation contributes to the design of more reliable underground facilities.