Rockfall Hazard Analyses and Rockfall Protection along the Adriatic Coast of Croatia

During the last decade, large rockfalls occurred on the steep limestone slopes along the Adriatic Coast of Croatia, causing injury to people and serious damage to buildings and traffic facilities. The rockfalls along the limestone slopes were caused by unfavorable characteristics of the rock mass, weathering in combination with heavy rainfall and artificial influences during highway construction. Rockfall protection projects were conducted to protect human lives and facilities from future rockfalls. The rockfall protection program started with rockfall hazard analyses to identify the potential of rockfalls to occur and the potential consequences. At the locations of hazards where related risks were determined, detailed field investigations were conducted. Based on the indentified characteristics of potentially unstable rock masses, analyses of movement and resulting pathways were conducted. The trajectories, impact energy and the height of bouncing are dependent on slope geometry, slope surface roughness and rockfall block characteristics. Two protection measure approaches were adopted： prevention of rockfalls by removing potentially unstable rock mass or installation of rock mass support systems and suspending running rockfall masses with rockfall protection barriers. In this paper, rockfall hazard determination, rockfall analyses and rockfall protection designs for rockfall protection systems at selected locations on the limestone slopes along the Adriatic coast of Croatia are presented.

Rockfall hazard assessment in a natural and historical site: The case of ancient Kilistra settlement(Konya), Turkey

The ancient Kilistra settlement is a natural,historical and cultural heritage site in Central Anatolia(Turkey), which makes it an attractive destination for tourists. However, the settlement located on a hill with steep hillsides has suffered from rockfall events,causing the destruction of some historical buildings.The rockfall risk in the region continues to create a serious danger today for land users and visitors during uncontrolled tourist visits. This paper offers an assessment of rockfall hazard for the ancient Kilistra settlement based on experimental investigation and numerical analyses. For the study, comprehensive field studies were carried out, including the identification of slope profiles, scanline surveys on discontinuities and stability analysis of the slopes. The location and size of the fallen, detached and hanging blocks were also identified. Geomechanical properties of the geological units were determined, and also the rockfall risk rating method was applied for the evaluation of the rockfall hazard risk. Runout distance, bounce height, kinetic energy as well as the velocity of the detached and hanging blocks were determined by using twodimensional rockfall analyses. Based on the results from the rockfall analyses, possible rockfall-based danger zones have been defined for the ancient Kilistra settlement and its close vicinity. The results of this study point at an immediate necessity for the installation of support systems. Findings of the study also offer preliminary data for the description of risk administration strategies and also provide scientific contribution to the study of the hazard and risk resulting from rockfall phenomena.

Integrated hazard assessment of rockfall incidents in the Cap Aokas Cliff Region

Rock fall accidents in mountainous cliff areas have significant consequences for human life and transportation.This study aimed to evaluate the rockfall hazard in the Cap Aokas cliff region located along the northeast coast of Algeria by identifying the key factors contributing to rockfall occurrence.We employed a combination of kinematic analysis,Matterocking method,and 3D trajectory simulations to determine zones that are susceptible to rockfall mobilization.By using a probabilistic and structural approach in conjunction with photogrammetry,we identified the controlling factors.The kinematic analysis revealed the presence of five discontinuity families,which indicated both plane and wedge failure modes.The 3D trajectory simulations demonstrated that the falling blocks followed the stream direction.We then validated the susceptibility maps generated from the analysis using aerial photos and historical rockfall events.The findings of this study enhance our understanding of rockfall phenomena and provide valuable insights for the development of effective strategies to mitigate rockfall hazards.

Rockfall Hazard Alarm Strategy Based on FBG Smart Passive Net Structure

In order to realize working state remote monitoring for a passive net, alarm timely and correctly for the rockfall invasion, and solve the disadvantages in the existing means, such as needing power supply in situ, vulnerability to electromagnetic interference and environmental climate impact, a smart passive net structure based on the optical fiber sensing technology was designed which equipped with intercepting and sensing functions. The wire rope net as one part of the smart passive net was weaved with two kinds of optical fiber sensing elements, namely, fiber Bragg grating （FBG） perimeter severity sensors and optical fiber monitoring net with each end of the tail fiber containing an FBG probe. Based on the proposed smart structure, a combination alarm strategy for rockfall was proposed, which can distinguish transmission bug, whether the rockfall invasion or net broken occurs. Through a designed simulation test, the effectiveness of the proposed alarm strategy was certificated.