Paper contribution

Evert Hoek’s legacy in Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering

Ivan Vrkljan

Proceedings
EUROCK 2026
Pages
1547-1561
Submitted
4 June 2026
Accepted
15 June 2026
Published
12 August 2026

Summary

Abstract

Dr. Hoek's contributions to the rock mechanics and rock engineering had made him one of the most established engineers in these fields. He graduated in mechanical engineering from the University of Cape Town with a B.Sc. in 1955 and an M.Sc. in 1957. In 1958 he moved to Pretoria, where he worked as a research engineer for the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). In 1966, he moved to London, where he was appointed originally as a reader and later on as a full professor of the Imperial College. During his stay in London, he published two classic books in rock engineering, one on „Rock Slope Engineering“ with John Bray, and a second on „Underground excavations in rock“ with his successor on Imperial Ted Brown. In 1975 Dr. Hoek left UK, and joined the industry with Golder Associates in Vancouver, Canada. In 1987 he joined University of Toronto as an industrial research professor when he was with P.K. Kaiser and W.F. Bawden published book „Support of Underground Excavations in Hard Rock“. In 1993 Dr. Hoek returned to Vancouver and started his own consulting business. He is probably best known for his role in the development of the Hoek-Brown failure criterion. He retired in 2018. Dr. Hoek passed away on July 6, 2024, after a short illness at his home in Vancouver.

Contributors

Authors

  1. Ivan Vrkljan Professor Emeritus at the University of Rijeka, Croatia ORCID 0000-0002-4309-5383

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Works cited

References

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