Rockfall protection trough ground reinforced embankments for an electric substation in Perú

Chung C.T. · 13th Landslides and Engineered Slopes. Experience, Theory and Practice, ISL (2021)

Resumen

Rock fall protection systems in geotechnics is a specialty that must be carefully studied and evaluated from different aspects that affect the functionality of the system and its design. The present article presents background describing the types that exist, the real-scale tests and the numerical modeling that later served to define the main design criteria that are used to solve a problem of rock fall that can lead to a potential risk on buildings, material goods and in the worst case, loss of human lives. This paper proposes a type of solution that can be designed to mitigate potential risks associated with rock fall events and debris flow. The ground reinforced embankments built with reinforced soil walls are an interesting solution when energy levels are higher than 5,000 KJ. This paper shows a case study for the protection of an electrical substation located in the province of Huancavelica in Peru. As part of the design of the structure, the geotechnical, geological and hydrological studies of the study area were carried out in order to properly characterize the materials and determine the potential risk areas due to falling rocks that affect the electric substation.