Tunneling involves large uncertainties. Since 2009, design of rock tunnels in European countries should be performed in accordance with the Eurocodes. The main principle in the Eurocodes is that it must be shown in all design situations that no relevant limit state is exceeded. This can be achieved with a number of different methods, where the most common one is design by calculation. To account for uncertainties in design, the Eurocode states that design by calculation should primarily be performed using limit state design methods, i.e. the partial factor method or reliability-based methods. The basic principle of the former is that it shall be assured that a structure’s resisting capacity is larger than the load acting on the structure, with high enough probability. Even if this might seem straightforward, the practical application of limit state design to rock tunnel support has only been studied to a limited extent.

The aim of this licentiate thesis is to provide a review of the practical applicability of using reliability-based methods and the partial factor method in design of rock tunnel support. The review and the following discussion are based on findings from the cases studied in the appended papers. The discussion focuses on the challenges of applying fixed partial factors, as suggested by Eurocode, in design of rock tunnel support and some of the practical difficulties the engineer is faced with when applying reliability-based methods to design rock tunnel support.

The main conclusions are that the partial factor method (as defined in Eurocode) is not suitable to use in design of rock tunnel support, but that reliability-based methods have the potential to account for uncertainties present in design, especially when used within the framework of the observational method. However, gathering of data for statistical quantification of input variables along with clarification of the necessary reliability levels and definition of “failure” are needed.