We investigate the evolution of the regional stress state near the Pit River, northern California, in order to understand the faulting style in a tectonic transition zone and to inform the hazard analysis of Fault 3432 near the Pit 3 Dam. By analyzing faults and folds preserved in and adjacent to a diatomite mine north of the Pit River, we have determined principal stress directions preserved during the past million years. We find that the stress state has evolved from predominantly normal to strike slip and most recently to reverse, which is consistent with regional structures such as the extensional Hat Creek Fault to the south and the compressional folding of Mushroom Rock to the north. South of the Pit River, we still observe normal and strike slip faults, suggesting that changes in stress state are moving from north to south through time.

A case study is considered in which data produced by different techniques have been gathered in various locations within a rock mass in which topography effects are most likely significant. Measurements were performed for the design of a re-powering scheme that includes a new hydraulic conduit and an underground cavern that will primarily be excavated in granite. An integrated approach for extrapolating the results from the various in situ tests to the rock mass volume of interest for the hydroelectric power scheme is presented. This approach includes the development of an equivalent continuum mechanics model. The integration of in situ tests and numerical modelling enables to determine the stress spatial variation which helps ascertain the loading mechanism at the origin of the measured stress field as well as the long-term rheological behavior of the equivalent geomaterial under consideration.

Considérons un cas d’étude dans lequel les données produites par différentes techniques ont été obtenues en divers points d’une masse rocheuse où les effets topographiques sont très probablement significatifs. Les mesures ont été effectuées pour la conception du réseau hydroélectrique. Le réseau comprend une conduite hydraulique ainsi qu’une nouvelle centrale souterraine placée à mi-parcours de la conduite et sera principalement creusé dans le granite. Les diverses données ont été intégrées à un modèle continu équivalent afin d’évaluer le champ de contrainte régional et ainsi d’extrapoler les résultats des divers tests au volume de masse rocheuse concerné par le plan hydroélectrique. L'intégration des essais in situ et du modèle permet de déterminer les variations spatiales du champ de contrainte. Il est ainsi possible d’identifier le mécanisme de chargement à l’origine du champ de contrainte mesuré ainsi que le comportement rhéologique à long terme du géomatériel équivalent considéré. / A case study is considered in which data produced by different techniques have been gathered in various locations within a rock mass in which topography effects are most likely significant. Measurements were performed for the design of a re-powering scheme that includes a new hydraulic conduit and an underground cavern that will primarily be excavated in granite. An integrated approach for extrapolating the results from the various in situ tests to the rock mass volume of interest for the hydroelectric power scheme is presented. This approach includes the development of an equivalent continuum mechanics model. The integration of in situ tests and numerical modelling enables to determine the stress spatial variation which helps ascertain the loading mechanism at the origin of the measured stress field as well as the long-term rheological behavior of the equivalent geomaterial under consideration.