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Rockfall threat assessment along railways in carbonate rocks in Croatia

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Abstract

This paper presents a methodology for estimating rockfall threats in carbonate rock cuts along railways in Croatia. The assessment is based on the Rockfall Hazard Rating System (RHRS). In general, the RHRS versions developed for Tennessee and Colorado are combined and modified to comply with Croatian carbonate rock mass properties, specific geological environments and values measured in the investigation area. The modifications are related to the classification parameters and corresponding adjustments of their classes. The exponential scoring of parameter classes is retained, but the calculation of final rockfall threat classes is modified. The proposed methodology is developed and applied to 366 cut segments along railways with a total length of 74.888 km. All rock cuts are located in the Dinaric karst area of Croatia, where carbonate rocks are locally susceptible to rockfalls, which mostly include sliding, toppling and ravelling. Rockfall threat is calculated for each cut segment with 15 different scoring models. The optimal scoring model is chosen according to the verification results. The verification is based on three different verification parameters: preliminary rockfall threat assessment, rockfall scars and cut stability, which are defined by the Regional Maintenance Administration of Croatian Railways. An ordinal logistic regression is performed to determine the threshold values for each rockfall threat class. The established methodology is used to detect the most vulnerable railway sections, which are selected for detailed inspection and reclamation. The research also enables a proactive approach of rockfall management along linear infrastructure in Croatia but also worldwide in similar geological environments.

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Acknowledgements

The research for this study was carried out within the project “The restoration of the rock cuts in the segments of the railway network of Croatian railways”, by engineering geologists from the Croatian Geological Survey, Department of Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology. We appreciate their efforts for data collection during EG inspection. Special thanks to Dr. Dražen Navratil for constructive discussions and ideas. We are also grateful to employees of several Regional Maintenance Administration of Croatian Railways (Rijeka, Ogulin, and Split) for providing available data and sharing their experience.

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  1. Department of Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology, Croatian Geological Survey, Sachsova 2, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia

    Iris Bostjančić & Davor Pollak

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  1. Iris Bostjančić
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Correspondence to Iris Bostjančić.

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Bostjančić, I., Pollak, D. Rockfall threat assessment along railways in carbonate rocks in Croatia. Bull Eng Geol Environ 79, 3921–3942 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-020-01822-x

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