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Geomechanical Field Survey to Identify an Unstable Rock Slope: The Passo della Morte Case History (NE Italy)

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Abstract

In this work, a geomechanical study performed on a natural rock slope located in north-eastern Italy (Tagliamento River valley, Friuli Venezia Giulia Region) is presented. The detailed geomechanical survey has provided a large bulk of field data proving that the investigated limestone slope is characterized by strong rock mass damage, thus resulting in a critical stability condition. Field evidence includes: (1) local faults crossing the rock mass and representing internal sliding surfaces; (2) slickensides and fault slips within the rock mass; (3) fracture joints of gravity-induced origin; (4) strong rock mass damage in over-stressed zones of the slope; and (5) slope monitoring data recorded by some installed devices. Three failure scenarios have been identified: a wedge failure involving a limestone block of 110,000 m3 (failure scenario 1: BLOCK1); a larger wedge failure involving an assembled limestone block of 200,000 m3 (failure scenario 2: BLOCK1-2-3); and a retrogressive failure involving a rear dolomitic block possibly triggered by the collapse of the limestone slope, mobilizing a maximum volume of 335,000 m3 (failure scenario 3: DOLOMITIC BLOCK). This paper shows that to comprehensively study stability problems involving natural rock slopes we must consider the interaction between pre-existing discontinuities, internal sub-blocks subdividing the unstable slope, rock mass strength and gravity-induced fractures that form during the delicate phase preceding slope collapse. Gravity-induced joints can be differentiated on the field from those of tectonic origin on the basis of some geometrical features, in particular their lower persistence and higher joint roughness.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the Civil Protection of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region for the useful slope monitoring data provided. The authors would also like to acknowledge the anonymous reviewers for their help in improving the paper.

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  1. Dipartimento Politecnico di Ingegneria e Architettura, Università degli Studi di Udine, via Cotonificio 114, 33100, Udine, Italy

    Alberto Bolla & Paolo Paronuzzi

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  1. Alberto Bolla
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Correspondence to Alberto Bolla.

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Bolla, A., Paronuzzi, P. Geomechanical Field Survey to Identify an Unstable Rock Slope: The Passo della Morte Case History (NE Italy). Rock Mech Rock Eng 53, 1521–1544 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-019-01963-w

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