Readers will undoubtedly recognize the similarity of this book to Rock Slope Engineering by Dr Evert Hoek and Dr John Bray. We hope the following discussion of the origin and evolution of the current book will help to demonstrate the relationship between the two.

Rock Slope Engineering was published in three editions (1974, 1977 and 1981) by the Institute of Mining and Metallurgy in London. The original research for the book at the University of London was sponsored by the mining industry in response to a need to develop design methods for increas- ingly deep open pits. The 1960s and 1970s had seen the development of a new generation of high production drills, shovels and trucks that made low grade ore deposits economical to mine, and there was a consequent significant increase in the size of open pits. The investigation and design techniques originally developed in Rock Slope Engineering for mines were soon adopted in civil engineering where the slopes’ heights are usually less than those in open pits, but there is a need for a high level of reliability in terms of both rock falls and overall stability. In response to the demand for a book that clearly presents well-proven methods to design rock slopes, Hoek and Bray’s book has continued to sell steadily around the world, and has been translated into a number of languages.