CARLOS CARRANZA-TORRES 3126 East 1st Street Duluth, MN ...

PROFESSIONAL INTERESTS
ACADEMICAL POSITION
CARLOS CARRANZA-TORRES
3126 East 1 st Street
Duluth, MN 55812
Minnesota, United States
Phone: 1-218-5255295
E-mail: carranza@d.umn.edu; C Carranza-Torres@msn.com
Web: www.d.umn.edu/∼carranza; www.cctrockengineering.com
Design of underground and surface excavations (tunnels and slopes) in rock and soil. Strength and
deformability of intact rock and rock masses. Engineering Geology. Geomechanics —Rock and Soil
Mechanics. Analytical and Numerical Modelling in Geomechanics.
2008-Present Associate Professor. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota,
USA. Responsibilities include developing a new teaching and research program in the area of
geotechnical engineering (at BSc and MSc levels), with emphasis in mining engineering, as it relates
to the mining industry in Northern Minnesota (Iron mining and planned mining of Copper, Nickel
and other metals).
EDUCATION
1998 PhD. in Geomechanical Engineering. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota,
USA (Prof. Charles Fairhurst, thesis advisor).
1994 MSc. in Engineering Geology. Engineering Geology Department, ITC Delft, The Netherlands
(Prof. Robert Hack, thesis advisor).
1992 BSc. in Civil Engineering. Facultad the Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional del Nordeste, Argentina.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2011 Consultant, SRK Consulting, Engineers and Scientists, Cardiff, UK. Providing technical support
to the geotechnical team for the feasibility study of an open pit mine in Eastern Europe. January
2010-March 2011.
2010 Rock Mechanics Consultant for Chuquicamata Underground Project, Calama, Chile. Associated
to one of the designers, SRK Consulting, Santiago (Chile), providing technical support in various
geotechnical aspects of the design of the excavations for the caving project. Appointed January 2010,
for the duration of the 3-years project.
2009 Consultant, Admiralty Subway Station Project, Hong Kong, China. Involved in the verification
of the primary support for an underground cavern in rock (for a new high-speed railway line) to be
built next to existing subway station (Subcontracted by Arup, Hong Kong. July-August 2009).
Consultant, Airport Link Project, Brisbane, Australia. Involved in the verification of primary
support for a highway access tunnel in poor ground condition (Subcontracted by Arup, Brisbane.
May-June 2009).
Consultant, SRK Consulting, Engineers and Scientists, Santiago, Chile. Developed three dimensional
geo-mechanical models (using code FLAC3D) for stress analyses in pillars of caving panels
of the underground expansion project (feasibility stage) at Chuquicamata mine, in Calama, Chile.
February-April 2009.
Consultant, Design of Caverns at Grand Central Terminal, New York, USA. Involved in the
verification of primary support for two caverns to excavated in rock (for a new railway line) at Grand
Central Extension (Subcontracted by Arup, New York. January-March 2009).
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2008 Consultant, Golder Associates, for Sudbury and Toronto Offices, Canada. Developed three dimensional
geo-mechanical models (using code FLAC3D) to analyze stress redistributions associated
with expansion plan of an underground mine (Creighton Mine, Vale Inco, Sudbury). July 2008.
Consultant, SRK Consulting, Engineers and Scientists, Santiago, Chile. Involved in site visits
and in geotechnical support for the projects ‘Rajo Sur’(stability of proposed open pits at ‘El Teniente’
mine crater) and ‘Chuquicamata Subterraneo’(stability of galleries for projected underground caving
operations). March-July 2008.
Consultant, 7th Line Extension Subway Project, New York, USA. Involved in the review and
verification of primary support and reinforcement for caverns and access tunnels for a new subway
station (Subcontracted by Arup, New York. January-July 2008).
2007 Consultant, 2nd Ave Subway Project, New York, USA. Involved in the evaluation of support requirements
for gallery intersection in the 72nd Street underground station (Subcontracted by DMJM–
Harris & Arup joint venture, New York. September-October 2007).
Consultant, SRK Consulting, Engineers and Scientists, Santiago, Chile. Involved in site visits
and specific recommendations on geo-mechanical problems for expansion plans of the open pit
mines ‘Los Colorados’ and ‘El Romeral’ (Compañia Minera del Pacífico SA) and ‘Radomiro Tomic’
(CODELCO). September 2007.
Consultant, SRK Consulting, Engineers and Scientists, Johannesburg, South Africa. Involved
in a study of mechanical stability of a kimberlite open pit mine in Sierra Leone, Africa. The work
included performing analysis and interpretation of displacement monitoring data and numerical simulation
of excavation processes to assess stability conditions of the pit. August 2007.
Senior Design Tunnel Engineer, 2nd Ave Subway Project, New York, USA. Involved in the
review of design approaches for primary lining of two mined caverns and in access tunnels in rock
(Subcontracted by Arup, New York. December 2006 until July 2007).
2006 Collaborating with Dr. Charles Fairhurst in consulting project. The consulting task involved
analyzing ventilation requirements for proposed TBM excavation at Yucca Mountain project —the
work included developing and running various 2D and 3D thermo-mechanical models (using FLAC
and FLAC3D codes). October 2006.
Consultant, IM2 (Instituto de Innovación en Metalurgia y Minería), CODELCO (Corporación
Nacional del Cobre), Santiago, Chile. Developed a geo-mechanical research program (involving
analytical and numerical work) to support ongoing technological research on the process of preaconditioning
of rock masses (synchronized blasting and hydraulic fracturing) for caving operations
in copper production at the ‘El Teniente’ and ‘Andina’ underground mines. July-August 2006.
Consultant, Golder Associates, for Toronto and Montreal Offices, Canada. Developed three
dimensional geo-mechanical models (using code FLAC3D) to analyze stress redistributions associated
with expansion plan of an underground mine (Raglan mine, Falconbridge Limited, Northern
Quebec). June 2006.
2005 Consultant, División de Ingeniería del Terreno y Obras Subterráneas, Intecsa-Inarsa, Madrid.
Provided a training course on fundamental aspects of modelling water-pore pressure in saturated
ground, with applications in the design of slopes, diaphragm walls and tunnels. December 2005.
Consultant, Geodata Spa, Turin, Italy. Among other tasks, developed a numerical model
(FLAC3D) for the analysis of ground subsidence associated with the excavation of tunnels for the
Rome-Bologna high-speed railway link. November 2005.
Geomechanics consultant, contractor side, in the Turin-Lyon (high-speed railway) tunnel
project, Italy. Appointed in 2005 by Geodata (Turin) to provide technical assistance in primary
support design/verification for tunnels in the project. June-July 2005.
2004 Consultant, Yacambu-Quibor tunnel, Venezuela. Provided recommendations for support options
for tunnel sections in highly squeezing ground (together with Dr. Evert Hoek, Dr. Mark Diederichs
and Dr. Brent Corkum —site visit and meetings with the owner, November 2004).
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Geomechanical specialist subcontrated by Geodata Spa, Turin, Italy. Based in Turin, participated
in the pre-design phase of tunnels for the Turin-Lyon high-speed railway project. January-April 2004.
1998-2004 Project engineer. Itasca Consulting Group Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.. Participated
in projects involving numerical analysis of excavation problems for civil engineering, nuclear waste
disposal, petroleum and mining applications (within the company, worked for the group of Prof.
Charles Fairhurst). Assisted in the development of Itasca’s numerical codes (FLAC, UDEC, PFC and
their 3D versions). Participated as instructor in training courses of Itasca’s codes for civil engineering,
petroleum and mining companies in the US and overseas.
ACADEMICAL EXPERIENCE
2008-Present Associate Professor. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota,
USA. Courses taught (and to be taught) include: CE3425 Engineering Geology; CE3426
Soil Mechanics; CE4426 Rock Mechanics; CE5410 Finite Element Methods for Civil Engineering
Applications; and CE4436 Design of Underground and Surface Excavations in Rock.
2006-2008 Lecturer of Rock Mechanics, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis,
USA. Co-taught course ‘Rock Mechanics’ together with Prof. Joseph Labuz. Topics
involved numerical modelling and analysis and design of stability of underground excavations in
rock (see Downloads at www.cctrockengineering.com).
2010 Member of PhD Thesis Committee at Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, Marne la Vellée,
France. Served in the committee for the PhD thesis defense by Mr. Frabrice Rojat entitled ‘Comportement
des tunnels dans les milieux rocheux de faibles caractéristiques mécaniques’ (Behavior of
tunnels in rock masses of poor quality). 24 November 2010, Marne la Vellée, France.
2009 Invited Professor, Department of Rock Mechanics, EPFL, École Polytechnique Fédérale de
Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland. Taught a 15-hours course entitled ‘Discontinuum Modelling in
Rock Mechanics’. This was a credited course for the graduate program in Geomechanics at EPFL.
June 2009.
Invited Professor, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería en Minas. Universidad de Vigo,
Spain. Participated in a one-week workshop on rock mechanics and taught a short course entitled
‘Numerical Modelling in Rock Mechanics’ for students enrolled in the mining program. July 2009.
2008 Lecturer in the Program ‘Master Degree in Geotechnical Engineering and Seismic Engineering’,
Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros, Caminos, Canales y Puertos, Universidad Politécnica
de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain. Taught a 10-hours course entitled ‘Numerical Modelling of
Excavations in Rock’. May 2008.
2007 Lecturer in the Program ‘Master of Advanced Studies on Tunnelling’, Department of Rock
Mechanics, EPFL, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland. Teaught
a 20 hours course entitled ‘Discontinuum Element Modelling in Tunnelling Engineering’. The course
was a required course for students enrolled in the MSc program and an optative (credited) course for
students enrolled in the Doctorate program in Geomechanics at EPFL. November-December 2007.
2006 Invited Researcher, Department of Rock Mechanics, EPFL, École Polytechnique Fédérale de
Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland. Assisted on ongoing research project involving simulation of
attenuation of waves in jointed rock masses using distinct element models. September-November
2006.
Invited Researcher, Department of Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering, Queen’s
University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Participated in a study involving the analysis of monitoring
data and the implementation of the data into 3D numerical models (FLAC3D and 3DEC) for the
analysis of stability of a large a natural slope (Downie Slide) in British Columbia. January-February
2006.
2005 Invited Researcher, Soils, Solids and Structures Laboratory, University Joseph Fourier, Grenoble,
France. Wrote a C++ (DLL) version of the Lemaitre’s viscous-plastic constitutive model for
the finite difference codes FLAC and FLAC3D. October 2005.
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2002 Invited Researcher, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve,
Belgium. Assisted in a research project involving numerical modelling of loading tests in frozen soils.
September 2002.
1996-1998 Research and Teaching Assistant, Department of Civil Engineering. University of Minnesota,
Minneapolis, USA. Assisted in courses ‘Underground Excavations in Rock’ and ‘Soil Mechanics’.
SERVICES TO PROFESSION
2010-Present Associate Editor of Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology —technical journal published
by Elsevier. Appointed in September 2010.
2007-Present Member of the Editorial Board of Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering —technical journal
published by Springer. Appointed in January 2007.
2006-Present Member of the Editorial Board of Engineering Geology —technical journal published by Elsevier.
Appointed in October 2006.
2005-2010 Member of the Editorial Board of Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology —technical
journal published by Elsevier. Appointed in October 2005.
2004-Present Member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining
Sciences —technical journal published by Elsevier. Appointed in December 2004.
2006-2009 Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
—technical journal of the Geo-Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).
Served for 3 years, from June 2006 until June 2009.
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
2009 Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME). Member since January 2009.
2006-Present Geo-Institute, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Member since January 2006.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
2011 Alejano L. and C. Carranza-Torres (2011) An empirical approach for estimating shear strength of
decomposed granites in Galicia, Spain. Engineering Geology (Accepted for publication in March
2011). In press.
2010 Carranza-Torres C. (2010) La mecánica de refuerzo con pernos de anclaje en túneles excavados en
macizos rocosos [Translation: The mechanics of reinforcement of rockbolts in tunnels excavated in
rock masses]. Keynote lecture article. VII Sudamericano de Mecánica de Rocas (VII Rock Mechanics
South American Congress). Lima , Peru, 2-4 December, 2010.
Hormazabal E., F. Villegas, F. Rovira and C. Carranza-Torres (2010) Geomechanical evaluation
of caving macro-block options at Chuquicamata Underground Project in Chile using threedimensional
numerical modelling. Proceedings of the 2010 International Symposium on Block
Caving, to be held in April, in Perth, Australia.
2009 Carranza-Torres C. (2009) Analytical and numerical study of the mechanics of rockbolt reinforcement
around tunnels in rock masses Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering. Special Issue on Deep
Tunnels. 42: 175-228.
Carranza-Torres C. and M. Diederichs (2009) Mechanical analysis of a circular liner with particular
reference to composite supports. For example, liners consisting of shotcrete and steel sets.
Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology, Volume 24, Issue 4, Pages 506-532.
Carranza-Torres C. and J. Zhao (2009) Analytical and numerical study of the effect of water
pressure on the mechanical response of cylindrical lined tunnels in elastic and elasto-plastic porous
media. International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences. 46: 531-547.
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2008
Hormazabal E., F. Rovira, M. Walker and C. Carranza-Torres (2009) Analysis and design of
slopes for Rajo Sur, an open pit mine next to the subsidence crater of El Teniente mine in Chile.
Proceedings of Slope Stability 2009, November 9-11, 2009, Universidad de los Andes, Santiago,
Chile.
Hoek E., C. Carranza-Torres, M. Diederichs and B. Corkum (2008) Integration of geotechnical
and structural design in tunnelling. Proceedings University of Minnesota 56th Annual Geotechnical
Engineering Conference, pages 1–53. Minneapolis, 29 February 2008 (Available for downloading
at Hoek’s Corner, www.rocscience.com).
2004 Carranza-Torres C. (2004) Elasto-plastic solution of tunnel problems using the generalized form
of the Hoek-Brown failure criterion. International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences
41(3), 480–481. [Special issue with Proceedings of the ISRM SINOROCK 2004 Symposium China,
May 2004. Edited by J.A. Hudson and F. Xia-Ting.]
2003 Carranza-Torres C. (2003) Dimensionless graphical representation of the elasto-plastic solution
of a circular tunnel in a Mohr-Coulomb material. Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering 36(3),
237–253.
2002 Hoek E., C. Carranza-Torres and B. Corkum (2002) Hoek-Brown failure criterion – 2002 Edition.
In R. Hammah, W. Bawden, J. Curran, and M. Telesnicki (Eds.), Proceedings of NARMS-TAC 2002,
Mining Innovation and Technology. Toronto - 10 July 2002, pp. 267–273. University of Toronto.
[An updated ‘pdf’ version of this article is accessible from the ‘Help’ menu in the program RocLab
—downloadable for free at the Hoek’s corner, www.rocscience.com].
Fairhurst C. and C. Carranza-Torres (2002) Closing the circle. In J. Labuz and J. Bentler (Eds.),
Proceedings of the 50 th Annual. Geotechnical Engineering Conference. St. Paul, Minnesota,
2000
February 22, 2002. University of Minnesota.
Carranza-Torres C. and C. Fairhurst (2000) Application of the convergence-confinement method
of tunnel design to rock-masses that satisfy the Hoek-Brown failure criterion. Tunnelling and Underground
Space Technology 15(2), 187–213.
1999 Carranza-Torres C. and C. Fairhurst (1999) The elasto-plastic response of underground excavations
in rock masses that satisfy the Hoek-Brown failure criterion. International Journal of Rock
Mechanics and Mining Sciences 36(6), 777–809.
(Full list of publications included in Annex to the Resume.)
LANGUAGES
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Spanish, English, Italian and French (speaking/reading/writing levels).
Italian (EU) and Argentinian citizen. US permanent resident (granted on the basis of US National
Interest for work done in the Yucca Mountain Project, Nevada, USA).
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