Rock Wall and Slope Stabilization: Suitable Materials

Landslides, ground collapses, and the presence of unstable masses are, unfortunately, phenomena that occur regularly. Every day, events demonstrate the accelerated levels of ground movement and alteration. But why do they happen? And how can these phenomena be slowed down?

When a piece of rock detaches from the mass or a landslide occurs, the main reasons are generally related to hydrogeological instability, the stability of the plot, and the absence of plants that fix the soil and prevent it from sliding.
Stabilizing slopes and rock walls are techniques to counter these risky events and secure various affected areas. The work must be carried out following a careful analysis of the location and an equally meticulous choice of solutions, to mitigate the detachment of soil covers and/or debris material.
In the next paragraphs, we will analyze the stabilization interventions and the appropriate materials to use.

What is Used to Stabilize Soil?

Soil stabilization can essentially occur at three different times:

Landslide in motion, when the condition of instability is current;
Possibility of a landslide, when an actual risk is observed;
Landslide occurred, when the ground has disintegrated.

Generally, phenomena involving rock walls are defined as "micro collapses" because they involve the surface of the rock without affecting the overall stability of the mass. In this case, the intervention (also defined as coating or cortical reinforcement) involves the use of equipment such as double twist mesh combined with nailing, plates, and reinforcement cables.
Technicians and designers deciding on the intervention methods can choose between two types of coatings:

Simple coating, a technique of accompanying the falling material to the base of the slope;
Reinforced coating, a consolidation work of the slope to prevent further movements and falls of elements and portions of land.

Stabilizing slopes also involves the use of metallic nets and nailing, with specific thicknesses and arranged to favor future greening of the area.
The coatings are carried out considering various factors, such as the inclination and length of the intervention, the material, and the thickness, all to strengthen the stability of the soil and improve its conditions.

In this case, the interventions can be of two types:

Active, characterized by the installation of anchoring bars that, combined with the metal mesh, act as a whole;
Superficial, mainly characterized by the use of the mesh that serves to reinforce, control the surface, and regreen.

Anchors, Eyebolts, and Nailing

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, to avoid or reduce the dislodging of rock walls or slopes, in addition to metal meshes, various elements of bolting are used, including:

These elements can be subjected to treatments aimed at increasing the protection of structural steel and prolonging its durability over time, such as electrolytic galvanization or hot-dip galvanization.

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