Large-Scale Geotechnical Testing: Technical and Operational Challenges in the South American Mining Industry

Abstract

The mechanical characterization of coarse granular materials represents a critical challenge in geotechnical engineering, particularly in urban infrastructure and mining projects. Since 2001, the Centro de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación de Estructuras y Materiales (IDIEM) at the Universidad de Chile has developed and implemented large-scale instrumentation, initially motivated by the need to evaluate granular soils for the Santiago Metro extensions. Currently, the equipment allows triaxial tests on specimens with a maximum particle size of 6 inches (152.4 mm) under confining pressures of up to 2.0 MPa, a capability essential for modeling the behavior of rockfill materials and granular mixtures used in Run-Of-Mine (ROM) pads and Tailings Storage Facilities (TSF). This article presents the technical and operational challenges of these large-scale testing campaigns, covering planning, material transportation, specimen preparation, and test execution, and emphasizes the academia–industry collaboration required to obtain representative strength, deformability, and permeability parameters at a scale consistent with the field Particle Size Distribution (PSD), enabling more efficient and sustainable design of rockfill structures.