Triaxial Tests on Cataclasites

The Semmering Base Tunnel, a major railway tunnel project in Austria with a length of approx. 27.3 km, will be constructed through signicant fault zones. Due to the overburden of up to 800 m squeezing, ground conditions are predicted in these zones. Consequently, the geotechnical parameters of the cataclasites especially in combination with high ground water pressure are of high importance for the geotechnical tunnel design. Therefore, sophisticated triaxial tests considering the ground water condition as well as the high primary stress level were performed to gain information about the behaviour of the weak rock mass.