STATISTICAL MODELING FOR EVALUATING THE OPTIMAL PLACEMENT OF ROCKFALL PROTECTION STRUCTURES ON A ROAD

Abstract

We propose an rockfall prevention methodology coupling numerical simulation, risk assessment, and the optimal design of protective measures on a transport corridor. Firstly, rockfall simulations are carried out and the location and the kinetic energy when rocks reached the transport corridor respectively is recorded. Secondly, the rockfall hazard is quantified, followed by the mitigation effect of placing a protective measure. Thirdly, an optimization problem that aims to maximize the total mitigation effect under constraints is formulated. Its solution finally shows the optimal placement of protective measures on the transport corridor. In this study, the effectivity of the proposed methodology is validated in a simplified application.