Coastal protection structures are often constructed from locally quarried rock, and are subject to harsh service conditions throughout long service lives. Durability of the rock is essential. By means of a thorough review of engineering standards and similar documents we show that petrological properties are known to be key controls on durability, but seldom feature in design guides. We surmise this is due to the use of subjective petrographic assessments. A review of the wider geological literature shows that quantitative methods are commonplace in petrology, but have not been adopted in rock engineering. We report on recent research work from Iran which shows that durability can be accurately predicted by applying machine learning methods to customary rock mechanics properties, and we suggest that combining these approaches with quantitative petrological data will allow improved design of coastal protection structures.

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