Rock Slope Geohazard Assessment and Mitigation to Protect People and Infrastructure

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Billions of dollars of new infrastructure will be built in steep terrain in Canada over the coming decade due to population growth and new natural gas, oil, and mining developments. People living or working near steep rock slopes and the associated infrastructure are exposed to geohazards. The long-term objectives of the research program are to improve geohazard assessment techniques and to build the missing links between geohazard assessment and the design of appropriate risk mitigation measures to reduce losses associated with rock falling from steep rock slopes. The short-term objectives address three deficiencies in the current risk management for steep rock slopes. Existing geohazard assessment methods can take too long and can expose geotechnical engineers doing the assessment to unsafe fieldwork. Overly simplistic geometric formulae (in current building codes) are used to define areas where it is safe to build; these formulae do not consider important factors such as the rock mass quality and the infrastructure vulnerability. New technologies such as slope meshing have been introduced in Canada but design methods are needed for specifying how these should be used.  The research objectives are to: