2021–2025 Research, Development and Innovation Programme for the Swedish Rock Engineering Research Foundation, BeFo
Today, rock engineering that involves major civil engineering projects in rock and in the mining
industry is more extensive than ever, with new projects about to start or already under development. The existing stock of facilities and mines that require management is considerable. These facilities include tunnels, underground caverns, shafts and tunnels for transport, energy and mining operations. The existing stock also consists of facilities that are being rebuilt to use for purposes other than those originally planned, requiring new investment and redirected efforts for operation and maintenance. Coping with this new construction, redevelopment and maintenance of existing facilities and meeting the requirements for social, environmental and economic sustainability require more specialised skills and expertise.
BeFo’s activities and its wider research programme aim to promote safe, sustainable and the most economically viable rock engineering solutions that bolster our principal funding bodies, industry and society at large. Achieving this purpose requires a holistic view and cross-cutting research in disciplines other than solely rock engineering as such. We are starting to see that researchers from different areas of expertise are collaborating more and more, thus both broadening and boosting research to new levels. This can involve collaboration broadly between researchers in rock engineering but also others in fields like soil mechanics, material degradation (concrete and steel), artificial intelligence and sustainability.
The foundation’s approach aims to facilitate uptake of research results by the market. Projects that are awarded funding are needs-driven, so the research programme is developed in dialogue with BeFo’s principal funding bodies including technical universities and other higher education institutions. The research projects are conducted in close collaboration among the parties, providing a stable foundation for disseminating the results.