Stability analysis of a large cavern in Italy for quarrying exploitation of a pink marble

The paper presents the results of a three-year research study carred out in the underground quarry of the “Cava Madre of Candoglia”, which is a large underground cavern (80 m long, 21 m wide and 48 m high) located in the Ossola Valley of northern Italy, excavated for the exploitation of a vertical vein of pink marble. The research has shown that systematic monitoring and numerical modelling form the basis of a good design for these kinds of...