Proceedings of the Rocscience International Conference (RIC 2023)

Coastal Cliffs Rockfall Analyses and Mitigation Measures Assessment Using RocFall3: A Case Study Along Shortland Esplanade in Newcastle, NSW (Australia)

Authors
Davide Ettore Guccione1, *, Abigail Watman1, Klaus Thoeni1, Oliver Buzzi1, Anna Giacomini1
1Priority Research Centre for Geotechnical Science and Engineering, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia
*Corresponding author. Email: davide.guccione@newcastle.edu.au
Corresponding Author
Davide Ettore Guccione
Available Online 8 November 2023.
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6463-258-3_77How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Rockfall; 3D simulation; Rocscience; Rockfall protection
Abstract

Rock slope instabilities affecting several coastal cliffs in Australia, such as rockfalls, block topples and wedge sliding failures, pose a significant risk to people and infrastructure located along important national transport networks. Such instability phenomena, mostly driven by pre-existing structures within the rock mass, is expected to increase in the coming years upon the rise of predicted extreme climatic events. An accurate estimation of the likelihood and severity of these instabilities is essential to minimize the risk, assess the efficiency of existing mitigation measures and design the most appropriate protection solutions. This paper presents the case study of a very popular walking path along the Newcastle coastline, also known as Newcastle Shortland Esplanade, located in Newcastle (NSW, Australia). Following a previous significant rockfall event in 2002, rockfall protection measures are currently in place, including rock face bolting and rockfall barriers located at the bottom of the slope. High-resolution three-dimensional models of the site obtained by recent drone surveys and field investigations allowed us to assess potential rock volumes involved. Rockfall simulations using the new software RocFall3 (Rocscience) have been conducted to verify the efficiency of current rockfall barrier installed at the base of the rock face.

Copyright
© 2023 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the Rocscience International Conference (RIC 2023)
Series
Atlantis Highlights in Engineering
Publication Date
8 November 2023
ISBN
978-94-6463-258-3
ISSN
2589-4943
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6463-258-3_77How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2023 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

TY  - CONF
AU  - Davide Ettore Guccione
AU  - Abigail Watman
AU  - Klaus Thoeni
AU  - Oliver Buzzi
AU  - Anna Giacomini
PY  - 2023
DA  - 2023/11/08
TI  - Coastal Cliffs Rockfall Analyses and Mitigation Measures Assessment Using RocFall3: A Case Study Along Shortland Esplanade in Newcastle, NSW (Australia)
BT  - Proceedings of the Rocscience International Conference  (RIC 2023)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 827
EP  - 834
SN  - 2589-4943
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-258-3_77
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-258-3_77
ID  - Guccione2023
ER  -