Determining rockfall volumes in three sites along Habs Mountain Road in southwestern Saudi Arabia, using LiDAR technology.

摘要

The rugged elevated topography is a characteristic feature of the western and southwestern regions of Saudi Arabia. Few arterial roads connect the scattered villages of these regions to major cities, such as Habs Road in Jazan region. Rock fall poses a serious hazard to people, property and animals along the rock cuts of this road. Although no traditional Rockfall studies have previously been applied to this road, accessibility and rock formation shape and structure variability influenced the choice of using Terrestrial Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) technology to calculate the volume of rockfall at selected sites along this road.;Software has been developed at the Geological Engineering Program of Missouri University of Science and Technology to calculate the volume of rockfall from a sequence of scans conducted at the selected sites (A1, A2 and A3), at the exact locations, during different time periods, extended for over two months. The pre and post processing of the point cloud data gathered using ScanStation II, measured the real and virtual gain and real and virtual loss of rockfall material due to rainfall, weathering factors, animal and human disturbance, degree of slope-face, and the effect of minor or major earthquakes occur in the region.;The results of the study showed that the site (A1) is more hazardous compared to the site (A2) and site (A3) is the most stable compared to the site (A1) and (A2). The compact rock formation of site A3, the disintegrated rocks of site A2 and the relative loose rocks of upper site A1 (possible valley deposits), were suggested by the study of the determining factors of road safety. The study also found that using terrestrial LiDAR technology and new software reduced time, effort and increased accessibility, despite the limited number of scans conducted.