BRIEF OVERVIEW

GEOTECHNICAL
APPLICATIONS
OF
ROCK MECHANICS
 Part 1

ROCK
DURABILITY
AND USE AS
DIMENSION
STONE
Dimension Stone
• Quarried dimension
stone has been
used as a building
material dating to
6000 BC in Jericho
• Used extensively
for foundations,
bridges, aqueducts,
road surfacing, and
military
fortifications
Apennine highway in Italy Tioga Pass near Yosemite Machu Picchu, in Peru

One of the most common applications of dimension stone has been

construction of gravity retaining walls, usually in mountainous areas
with steep bedrock slopes.
• Nimrod’s Castle
was built by
European
Crusaders in the
12th Century using
basalt blocks and
limestone
• Earthen mounds
were often built
over tels, or rubble
piles, from
previous cities or
citadels, to gain
elevation
advantage for
defense
• Low porosity
crystalline rock,
such as granite,
has always been
desirable because
of its superior
durability
• Massive rocks tend
to be less intensely
jointed or
weathered, but
also
• Harder to excavate
• Cyclopean masonry rock retaining wall supporting a
highway in the Andes Mountains of Peru. Note tunnel
at middle right excavated in rock to convey river flow.
 RQD

• Rock Quality Designation index, or RQD, was introduced by Don

Deere in 1963. It judges rock quality based solely on
measurements of recovered rock core (above left) in 10 foot
increments, based on percent recovery and percentage of the
pieces longer than 4 inches.
 RQD
• RQD = Σ pieces > 4” long (100)
total length cored

• 100-90 Excellent
• 90-75 Good
• 75-50 Fair
• 50-25 Poor
• <25 Very poor
the reported RQD value varies along
the scan line of the recovered core
• The Rock Mass Rating (RMR) System, or Geomechanics
Classification, was introduced by Dick Bieniawski in
1972-73. It has been continually refined, based on case
studies of actual excavations.
• “Rock” is a subjective term. Karl Terzaghi
arbitrarily defined hard rock as any natural
material having qu > 4000 psi, which is similar
to structural concrete.
• Even the hardest rocks are perturbed by
discontinuities; such as these sheet joints,
which are essentially tensile fractures, which
form a never ending series of blocks.
 Part 2

STRESS
and
STRAIN
ASPECTS OF ROCK
• Unlike soils, pure rock (solid material between
joints) is an elasto-plastic material, subject to
elastic recovery AND permanent deformation,
as shown in this stress vs strain plot.
• Physical phenomena associated with uniaxial
compression tests of rock cylinders, under
near zero confinement.
• Unconfined compression tests on rock cylinders generally exhibit
significant propagation of extension cracks after peak strength is
exceeded, followed by friction and interlocking between cracked
sections of the sample.
• Example of a full-range stress-strain plot,
showing how post-failure stiffness is estimated
• Physical phenomena associated with gradual
breakdown of rock cylinders on the post-failure
side of a stress-strain plot
• The stress-strain behavior of a natural rock like
sandstone is a combination of its mineralogical
components, in this case: quartz and calcite
• The shape of the stress-strain relationship depends on
confinement, stiffness of the rock in comparison to
stiffness of the testing machine, and the rate of loading.
• Most rocks exhibit increasingly plastic behavior with
increasing levels of confinement, as shown in this series
of jacketed triaxial tests on a marble.
• So, the most brittle behavior is typically exhibited under
conditions of the least confinement, at the Earth’s
surface.
 Elastic
deformation

Plastic deformation

• Elasto-plastic behavior of Solenhofen

Limestone, as seen in measured relaxation in
percent axial strain after triaxial compression
under significant lateral confinement
• The most common physical attributes of
laboratory tests on intact rock are portrayed
here. The true elastic modulus can only be
determined by employing load cycles.
• Goodman’s concept of Modulus of Permanent Deformation, M,
was introduced in 1980. It is important to appreciate in porous
rocks which often exhibit “permanent set” with each loading
cycle, such as sandstone.
Mohr Circles are the most common technique used to describe the
failure envelope and the strength parameters friction and cohesion
Rock tends to exhibit a slightly curvilinear failure envelope with low
tensile strength, shown at lower left
• Be careful when evaluating elastic modulus values.
The terms used connote different kinds of calculations,
as shown here.
• The elastic modulus (E) varies with the stress
level and the induced strain
 Part 3

STRAIN
INCOMPATABILITY
 Strain Incompatibility

Shale seam between

sandstone beds

• The most important aspect of applied rock mechanics is

appreciating the strain incompatibility between rocks of
dissimilar stiffness, strength, and deformability, such
as shale and limestone.
 Strain
Incompatibility
• A thin seam of shale can
exert enormous impact
on slope morphology, by
engendering extension
fractures in stiffer
materials
• The shale tends to
become increasingly
plastic where
confinement decreases,
most often near the
ground surface
• Slight changes in matrix cementation can have
significant impacts on rock strength and
stiffness, as shown by these adjacent beds in
the Entrada Sandstone.
• Schematic views of bottomset, foreset, and topset
beds in a prograding delta; as well as aeolian
crossbeds on the continent.
• Materials with low permeability (such as bottomset
beds) tend to compress to greater density over a much
longer period of time, and thereby develop much
greater strength and stiffness.
 The base of cliffs and benches or
steps in cliffs are often structurally
controlled by shale seams or brittle
strata a few feet thick, as shown here.

• Stiff, brittle units often exhibit profuse exfoliation,

known as “secondary jointing” because it these
curvilinear joints form in response to local perturbations
of the stress field, due to erosion or excavation.
• Example of brittle fracture around a stiff tunnel lining. Gravity
loads are “drawn” to stiff inclusions, causing over-stressing and
brittle fracture. This tunnel opening had to be filled in because of
the problem. Zion-Mt Carmel Tunnel, Zion National Park.
 Part 4

ROCK
STRENGTH
and
FRACTURE
ANIOSOTROPY
• Variances in rock stiffness plays a significant role in
controlling fracture spacing between tensile discontinuities.
• Stronger rocks can be more brittle, and thereby, exhibit
closer fracture spacings.
• Plots of stress vs axial strain for silty Navajo
Sandstone parallel and perpendicular to bedding.
• Layered sedimentary rocks and foliated metamorphic
rocks generally exhibit marked anisotropy.
• Most rocks are brittle, and break under induced
tension when compressed, as shown here.
• Even modest lateral confinement can exert significant
increase in observed strength.
• This is why tensile reinforcement provided by rock
bolts can be so effective
Typical sequence of crack propagation observed
during an unconfined compression test on intact
rock, with joints or partings. Extension fractures
form parallel to the maximum principal stress, which
is vertical.
As extension cracks propagate, the cross sectional area of the cylinder
diminishes rapidly, increasing the fiber stress being carried by the
central portion of the cylinder (shown at left).
The vertical extension fractures eventually coalesce, allowing for a
kind of pseudo macro shear displacement to occur, shown at center.
The right image shows largest remnant of the cylinder, after testing.
• Variation in compressive strength versus bedding
inclination for slightly weathered Navajo Sandstone.
Note the significant drop in strength when tested at an
angle of 20o between σ1 and bedding.
• Physical behavior of rock cylinders with bedding
oriented at approximately 45 - Ø/2 degrees from
vertical
• Stress-strain plots for the same samples of
Entrada Sandstone, tested parallel and
perpendicular to the bedding.
• A variation of 100% is not uncommon in layered
sedimentary rocks. Remember this!
• Variation of elastic
modulus with
inclination of bedding
in dense silty Navajo
Sandstone (upper)
and buff quartz
arenite (below).
• The silty beds are
much stiffer and not
as weak at angles
between 30 and 60
degrees to bedding.
 Part 5
CONCEPTS
AND
IMPACTS OF
ROCK
STIFFNESS
Tunnel Gallery 3 failure Zion-Mt Carmel
Tunnel in April 1958
• Rock slopes are also subject to surficial slope creep; or strain
under semi-constant load. This illustrates the destablizing role
that shales play in exacerbating slope creep, because they
behave more plastically than lithified strata, like sandstone or
limestone. The presence of shale beds will dominate the overall
behavior of the slope.
 More
examples of
Plastic
Deformation

Camber structures are formed due to unloaded

of overconsolidated clay shales, which lose
strength with increasing deformation

Shale can deform plastically under

sustained loads, akin to the
‘bearing failure’ above
River anticlines in the Grand Canyon River anticlines in the Grand Canyon

River anticlines can be caused by unloading, either of excavated

material, or from rapid drawdown of a deep reservoir.
Rock Stiffness
Controls
Fracture
Spacing
• Rock stiffness, more
than any other factor,
appears to control
spacings between
secondary fractures,
such as these stress
relief joints around
adits in the Gerstley
Mine, Death Valley
• The area beneath the stress vs strain curve
is a measure of the stored elastic strain
energy of the rock specimen.
• The compressive strength exhibited by a specimen of
layered rock varies with the inclination of the rock
fabric, as shown in these data. This variance is termed
“anisotropy.”
• Full-range stress strain plots record behavior in the
post-failure envelope. The testing machine must be
significantly stiffer than the specimen in order to carry
out such tests, because elastic strain energy is stored
in the machine frame, if it is allowed to deflect
elastically.
• The shape of the post-failure envelope
depends on rock stiffness, testing machine
versus rock specimen stiffness ratio, and scale
of the specimen being tested. This is an
extremely brittle material, the Nutall Quartzite.
• Class II brittle
behavior is
often
exhibited by
brittle rocks,
or cores of
varying size
and length-to-
wide ratios
• Testing machine stiffness is a function of
elastic distortion during loading. It can be
evaluated by advancing opposing rams without
the rock specimen, as sketched here.
 Part 6

TENSILE
STRENGTH
OF
ROCK
Tensile Failure
Modes
• Rock is much weaker
in tension than in
compression.
• Most rock failures
involve tensile
fractures
• Three types: direct
tension; flexural
tension; and indirect
tension
• The bending stress influences the ultimate shear
strength of rock slabs. Like concrete, rock is weak in
induced tension. A small amount of confinement or
tensile reinforcement can have a significant impact on
strength.
Induced Tension
(Brazilian) test
• The Brazilian splitting
tension test is the most
commonly employed for
rock
• Concrete strength is
usually about 1/12th the
compressive strength
• In rock, the tensile
strength can vary between
1/12th and 1/70th of the
compressive strength,
depending on porosity
and weathering.
• The Brazilian splitting tension test
loads a cylinder core of rock with
0.5:1 length-to-diameter ratio
loaded over 15% of the
circumference, until the load falls
off and a hairline crack forms,
shown at right
• These diagrams illustrate how the elastic
modulus in compression and tension can be
measured.
• Direct tension test for an unconfined rock
core, taken to rupture. Note how the elastic
modulus is less in tension than in
compression, and how it diminishes above
80% of the peak strength.
• Tensile strength can be significantly
reduced by load cycling, as shown in these
tests.
• Definitions of loading geometry for splitting
tension tests
• Strength anisotropy in splitting tension
tests on Entrada Sandstone
• Layered rocks are highly anisotropic and can be
expected to exhibit lower splitting tensile strength
parallel to planes of bedding. This plot also illustrates
the scale effect, varying specimen diameter
• Variation in splitting tensile strength with bed
inclination, varying the length-to-depth ratio
of the rock cylinders, as shown.
• Splitting tension test data on soft to brittle rock,
compared with concrete and Griffith failure criterion
• Note how the ratio between compressive and tensile
strength degrades with increasing compressive
strength. In particular, note envelope of data for
concrete and the impact on anisotropy in layered
sedimentary rocks.
 Part 7

PHYSICAL
ATTRIBUTES
OF ROCK
JOINTS
Systematic
regional
rock joints • Regularly
influence spaced
joints
slope
usually
morphology exert a
controlling
influence
on the
geometry
of exposed
rock faces
and slopes
 Joints
control
everything

• Joints have been

used for
thousands of
years in
developing rock
quarries
Plan view illustrating spatial arraignment Block diagram showing systematic
of systematic regional joints. Note joint clusters of one joint set, or suite
overlapping nature and tendency to form
clusters

Block diagram illustrating how joints Block diagram illustrating how joint
of the same set or suite may sets intersect one another. These
occasionally intersect one another appear regular plan, but cross one
another in section.
• Schematic block diagram showing observed
variables in spacing of primary systematic regional
joints. Note how the spacing between joints
decreases with decreasing bed thickness, likely due
to variances in layer stiffness.
• Systematic joints on a 1600 foot high exposure of the
Navajo Sandstone near Hildale, Utah. Joint spacings
are between 85 and 125 feet.
Intensity of joints
• Joint intensity refers to
how numerous joints
are; e.g. the physical
separation, or, spacing,
between adjacent joints
• The stiffness of a rock
mass depends on the
stiffness of the rock
fabric AND the joint
intensity, aperture, and
infilling.
Less stiff
Joint
Spacing
• Stiff units tend to
be more brittle,
and spawn
Stiff & fractures on
brittle close spacings,
as viewed here
• Slickrock
Member of the
Entrada
Formation,
Broken Arch at
Less stiff Arches National
Park
• Upper sketch – Block diagram showing plumose structures on
the face of a joint
• Lower sketch – Sketch showing plumose and conchoidal
structure on the complete face of a joint, as they formed (seldom
visible in its whole). The conchoids likely represent the physical
extent of fracture extension during formation of the joint trace
 Surface
Roughness
• Calcite accumulations on
a joint face are often
misinterpreted as
slickensides. These
accretions are ascribable
to groundwater
percolation.
• Calcite striae can form
parallel to the cross bed
laminae or the direction of
seepage.
Mineral Halos and
“healed joints”
• Groundwater
preferentially flows
through joints in rock
• The chemistry of that
groundwater
determines whether the
joints experienced
solutioning or infilling.
• This shows a healed
joint with
mineralization halos
• Undulating conchoidal ridges on the lower face of a
large systematic joint in the Navajo Sandstone at Zion
National Park. This conchoidal ridge (next to the park
ranger) has an amplitude of almost 3 feet.
• Joint Plane Surfaces: 1) main joint face; 2) joint
fringe; 3) plumose structure; 4) fringe joints (B-
planes); 5) C fractures; 6) shoulder of joint
plane; and 7) trace of main joint face (taken from
Hodgson, 1961)
Other Attributes of Rock Joints

Joint aperture refers to

the spacing between
opposing faces of the
same joint
 Joint aperture
affected by
dilation
• Joints are zero tension
boundaries, which can
dilate, or open up, in
response to changing
loads or tectonic
deformation
• This shows the opposing
faces of a single joint in
the grabens of
Canyonlands, caused by
solution underlying salt
diapirs
 Joint Control
• Most cliffs are joint
controlled, by one, two,
or three sets of primary
regional systematic
joints.
• Note dilation of joints
seen here
• These joints are often
open behind the cliff
face, as shown here
(Coconino Sandstone
beneath Monument Point,
North Rim of the Grand
Canyon)
• A common problem with mapping discontinuities exposed in
outcrops are secondary fractures that tend to parallel the valley
side, known as valley-side joints. These joints are not often visible
and are, generally, the most deadly features.
 Part 8

MAPPING
DISCONTINUITIES
UNDERGROUND
• Unlined tunnel excavations offer an unimpeded three-
dimensional view of the rock fabric and structure. The
floor (invert) of a tunnel is not commonly mapped
because it is usually covered with tunnel muck, debris,
and water. This shows a road header working on the
East Minneapolis Sewer Interceptor Tunnel.
Common tunnel block failure modes caused by the intersection of
the tunnel opening with crossing joints
 Impression
packers used

• The discontinuities intersecting any underground opening

need to be recorded and described, as best possible, from
exposures within, and exterior to, the opening.
• When working near the ground surface, it is advantageous to
employ downhole measurement of discontinuities with their
respective strike-and-dip measurements or impression packers
to examine fractures in close proximity to the opening, as
shown at left (arrow).
 Fracture
Maps
• Fracture maps
are 2D
representations
of 3D
underground
openings
• Record the
geometry and
physical
characteristics
of individual
fractures and
geologic
contacts
• Typical fracture mapping within a circular
tunnel excavation. Note survey stationing
and absence of information collected from
the tunnel invert.
 Quantitative Description
• Joints are rarely
quantified in
of Rock Joints
geotechnical exploration
programs
• They are typically
quantified by direct
shear testing, in the field
• These sorts of insitu
tests can be expensive,
but can often lead to
reduction of support
requirements,
depending on wedge
locations
 Contractual Importance of
Underground Tunnel Mapping
• For conventional
excavation, NATM/SEM
tunnel mapping is used to
determine the initial
ground support as a
function of geology and
observed ground behavior
• This contractually
establishes how the tunnel
contractor will be paid for
installation of initial tunnel
supports
• It can also be a source of
contention between the
owner and the contractor,
if they disagree on ground
behavior
 Part 9

BLOCK
KINEMATICS
• Planar discontinuities are described by their
respective strike and dip, illustrated here. The
strike is the azimuth of a horizontal line
projected on the inclined plane. The dip is the
plunge of this same surface, taken
perpendicular to the strike. It is expressed in
degrees from horizontal.
 Ø
an
gl e
=3
0d
eg
ree
s

• Natural slopes lie at their angle of repose, which corresponds to the

angle of internal friction (friction angle), or phi (Ø) angle. Several of
the boulders on this slope were set into motion by the January 1980
Mammoth Mountain earthquake sequence.
• Slopes comprised of granular mixtures stand at their respective
friction angles, typically 33o for sand, and between 37o (crushed rock
gravel) to about 50o for angular rock.
 Don’t build roads across talus
slopes unless you want to spend
lots of money maintaining them

• Whenever we make excavations on natural slopes, we

usually engender local oversteepening, which, if left
unsupported, will eventually result in localized slope
failures (it’s just a matter of time).
• The simple
presence of water
on an inclined
surface can
significantly reduce
frictional
resistance to
sliding
• Pore water
pressure, even in
modest amounts,
can have enormous
impact on rock
slope stability
• The position on the slope dictates the stress regime of
interest. We often find ourselves working in the relaxed
zone near the ground surface, where much lower shear
stresses are at work, as compared to deeper within the
slope. Note tension zone and zone of plastic
deformation.
• The simplest form of block kinemeatics is frictional block sliding of a
rectangular block, as depicted here. The friction coefficient is often
assumed to be close to the tangent of 30o, or 0.50. The presence of
water (shown at left) can reduce this significantly, triggering failure.
 Displaced block

• The most important factor in triggering rock

slides is pore pressure along inclined
discontinuities. Pore pressure reduces the
effective stress, which in turn, reduces the
overall frictional resistance.
• The phi angle, or mobilized friction, along a sloping
discontinuity depends on the roughness and
pervasiveness of the feature, and the properties of the
infilling material. Shale seams can be particularly
treacherous because of low wetted strength.
 Rock Wedges
• Dirty Shame rock
wedge failure
which occurred
near left
abutment of
Libby Dam in
Montana, shortly
after the dam
was completed in
1973

USACE image via COL Allen W. Hatheway

• A fundamental step in applying the principles
of block kinematics is the accurate recordation
of the geometry of various discontinuities
along an exposed face.
• Stereonet projections are useful for identifying and
analyzing simple rock blocks, whose stability depends
on friction along planar discontinuities. Friction values
between 20o and 30o are commonly assumed, based on
field observations and back-analyses.
• Stereonet projection of a rock wedge formed by the intersection of
bedding and two pervasive sets of regional systematic joints.
Movement is predicted along line of intersection, which daylighted
in a 45o road cut, sketched at right. Always look at the actual
situation to make sure it agrees with the stereonet solution!
• Never treat
discontinuous rock
masses as “equivalent
soils,” employing higher
friction and cohesion
values
• This illustrates a case
where the rock was
assumed to have Ø = 55o
for purpose of designing
temporary supports
(tiebacks)
• The mass failed along a
gently inclined seam of
micaceous phyllite
 Part 10
Part 10

DANGERS
POSED BY
VALLEY SIDE
JOINTS
 The Loen Lake failures occurred along inclined
valley-side joints (images from Finn Jorstad at NGI)

• In 1905 and 1936 a cliff detached itself at Loen Lake, Norway,

falling into the blocked fjord. In 1936 the displacement wave
carried across the fjord and destroyed the adjacent
settlement, killing 73 people. 70% of rock slides in Norway
occur during first fall freeze or spring thaw.
 VALLEY SIDE
JOINTS
• Valley side, sheet, and
exfoliation joints all
describe the same
features
• When the valley side is
excavated new joints
form beneath the free
surface, due to unloading
• This caused problems at
Mammoth Pool dam site
in California, shown here
• Karl Terzaghi
recommended placing the
embankment fill, then
grouting the joints before
reservoir filing
Images from Southern California Edison via Richard Harlan
• Valley-side joints are particularly treacherous because they are
usually inclined at close to 45-Ø/2 degrees from vertical (around 60
degrees), which offers the least shear resistance to slippage.
• Catastrophic rockfall typical of steeply inclined bluffs
with out-of-plane discontinuities. This example is from
6 Mile Wash in Marble Canyon, Arizona
• Fontenelle Dam on the Green River in Western Wyoming came perilously
close to failing catastrophically in Sept 1965 during its initial filling. Seepage
emanated from the right abutment. The same failure mode befell Teton Dam
11 years later. (image from Snorteland, Shaffer, and Paul, 2009)
Stress Relief Joints in Right Abutment
 1965 Fontinelle Dam –
Reservoir Full and Spilling
(these images taken from Snorteland, Shaffer, and Paul, 2009)
(these images taken from Snorteland, Shaffer, and Paul, 2009)
Wednesday, September 8
Stress Relief Joints
at FONTENELLE
DAM
• Seepage
percolated
along
undiscovered
valley-side
joints (#7) in
bedded
sedimentary
rocks at
position #8
• 8 lines of grout
holes were then
drilled and filled
with 203,500
sacks of cement
The Camera Rollcrete Dam in Brazil was just two years old when if failed
because of excessive seepage along valley-side joints in July 2004.
• The Zion-Mt Carmel Tunnel Gallery 3 failure occurred in April 18,
1958, spilling 84,000 tons of Navajo Sandstone onto the slope below
and damaging the tunnel, containing Utah Route 9.
• Cross section of Pine Canyon at location of the Gallery 3
rockfall. Note regional dip to left and valley-side joints.
• Always try to unravel the geomorphic progression – Cliffs
tend to retreat in episodic steps. All of these steps are
usually discernable at any given site, if you just look for
them.
• Stage 1 is gross cliff retreat immediately following a major
detachment. After the remaining overhang drops, a completely
smooth face forms, arbitrarily designated here as Stage 2.
• In Stage 3 a sloping cliff toe forms, controlled by valley-side joints. In
Stage 4, crown blocks have detached along inclined valley-side joints.
• Stage 5 is described by overhangs developing above a abrupt change in
slope, controlled by the joints. This situation precedes massive detachment
of block(s) along inclined valley-side joints behind the overhanging section.
 Part 11

TOPPLING
OF ROCK
SLOPES

Toppling of columnar basalt recorded by Alexander von Humboldt

during his exploration of the Rio Magdelana in Columbia in 1797.
 W

• Whenever the resultant weight of a block, W, projects

beyond the downslope outside corner of a rectangular
shaped blocks, toppling can result, as sketched here.
• Toppling usually occurs when low friction
discontinuities dip between 50 and 70 degrees from
horizontal. These can be joints, bedding, or foliation
planes
 Flexural toppling

• Flexural toppling occurs when the length-to-

width ratio of adjacent blocks causes the
center of gravity to fall beyond the lower hinge
point, or corner of the block.
• Slope creep is often confused with toppling and vice
versa. This shows classic slope creep in the Ozarks of
Missouri, along iron stained joints in a Precambrian
rhyolite, leading up into the bedrock creep zone and
overlying residuum.
• Toppling is often easy to recognize by the textural
contrast with the country rock. This shows the Clear
Creek Toppling Complex developed in the Vishnu Schist,
in the Granite Gorge of the Grand Canyon, near River
Mile 84.
• Rock topple along a forest road near Coos Bay,
Oregon which killed two and injured another.
Rain had preceded the event (image Oregon Dept of Forestry)
• Blocky, jointed rock masses can be modeled
using programs like UDEC, shown here. This
shows an example of a toppling failure.
 Part 12

ROCK FALL
HAZARDS
 Rockfalls
• Rockfalls are a
common problem
along highways in
mountainous
terrain
• They can be costly
and deadly; easily
triggered by short
bursts of intense
precipitation
• (Upper image from Federal Lands Highway
Program via Phillip Lamoureux; lower image
Colorado DOT via Jerry Higgins)
• Many rock masses are mixtures of dissimilar
materials with markedly contrasting stiffness,
as seen in this glacial till.
• Some rockfalls occur
during the initial fall
freeze or initial spring
thaws
• Other rockfalls appear to
be triggered by large
temperature swings
• Rock falls are generally
driven by pore
pressures, not by the
volume of water. Its all
about pressure, not
volume.

Images courtesy of the California Dept of Transportation

Tumbling rockfalls seldom occur just once. If you look around you will
usually see the remnants of previous rockfall events, as seen at lower right…
(Near Termino, Italy on Jan 21, 2014)
Rockfall Mitigation
• Standard
guidelines exist
for mitigating
damage from
rockfalls
• These include
debris ditches,
rock fences, and
placing mesh on
the raveling
slope using
rockbolts
Triple-twisted galvanized or PVC-coated gabion wire
mesh is an excellent structural material to employ on
raveling rock slopes where insufficient right-of-way
exists to construct a catchment ditch and fence.
Some mechanism for periodic mucking of
accumulated debris should be incorporated into the
remedial scheme
Rockfalls can be triggered by freeze-thaw cycles,
significant precipitation, weathering and creep, or by
significant temperature variations.
Typical design details for
rockbolt stabilization scheme
on raveling rock cut slope
http://web.mst.edu/~rogersda/umrcourses/ge341
/Notes%20on%20Rockbolting.pdf