This workshop focuses on support design for excavations in brittle rock, where displacements induced by sudden stress fracturing may consume much of the support’s capacity. It deals with the functionality of the support in deforming ground and with the consequences of mining‐induced support damage. It offers quantitative means to estimate the capacity of integrated support systems and a systematic approach to compare it with the static and dynamic demands imposed on the ground support. Because gradual and sudden stress fracturing not only loads the support, but also deforms it, part of its load and energy-dissipation capacity is gradually consumed, leaving less and less remnant capacity at the time when the support is needed, i.e., during a rockburst. If the support capacity can be consumed by deformation, it can also be restored by preventive support maintenance (PSM).

This concept for cost‐effective ground control is introduced and supported with operational evidence. Accounting for capacity consumption and integrating PSM into the mine development and operation schedule provides means for prudent asset management and opportunities for cost optimisation. Sudden stress fracturing of excavation walls emits seismic waves that can be used to identify the depth of strainbursting and the duration of the related rock mass bulking process. This provides essential input for support design in strainburst‐prone ground, which is a new focus of this workshop.

The rockburst hazard in strainbursting ground depends on the stress level (stress at mining stages and strength in geological domains), the amount and rate of sudden stress fracturing, intensity of ground motion, and consumed support capacity (co‐seismic and mining‐induced strain). These and other factors are used to establish the current and to forecast the anticipated rockburst hazards. This is another new focus of this workshop.

This workshop presents an integrated approach of deformation‐based support design (DBSD) using support demand and support capacity-assessment tools, and an innovative approach developed in collaboration with Newcrest Mining for rockburst hazard assessment (RBHA) using geological, stress, mining sequence, ground support and seismic data.