Rock falls can be a public safety issue. This book provides comprehensive information on identification of these hazards, and design and construction of protection methods. Rock Fall Engineering describes first, the theoretical background to rock fall behavior in terms of the impact and trajectory phases of rock falls, and second, how this information is applied to modeling of rock falls and the design of ditches, fences and sheds. The theory of rock fall behavior is verified by comparing the calculations with five carefully documented case studies.
The book covers four main topics as follows: Describes
causes of rock falls, including geology, climate and topography, and
provides detailed documentation on rock fall impacts and trajectories at
five sites with a wide variety of topographic and geologic features - Discusses theory of impact mechanics, and its application to velocity and energy changes during impacts and trajectories - Reviews methods of modeling rock fall events, and presents analyses for the five case studies - Examines
rock fall protection in terms of selecting appropriate method(s) for
site conditions, and design principles in which the objective is to
absorb impact energy in an efficient manner. This
book, which contains many worked examples, is of interest to
practitioners and researchers working in the fields of geological
engineering and natural hazards.