Rockfall protection of road infrastructures: design approach and numerical simulations

The protection of road infrastructure from the rockfall phenomenon is very de-manding both for design and for construction of rockfall defense works. In particular, design approach is strongly influenced by the phenomenon’s aleatory nature and the difficult determi-nation of the geomechanical parameters that characterize the interaction between the in motion rocky boulders and the affected slope ground. In this context the Authors propose a probabilis-tic methodological approach finalized to rockfall design of works through implementation of a three-dimensional simulation software called ROTOMAP®. This approach is described through the application to a case study on the road SS18 “Tirrena Inferiore” (Italy) recently affected by a drought rockfall. The results allowed verifying the effectiveness of the proposed methodology in the design process of new defensive rockfall works and in the verification of defensive exist-ing works. The reliability of the design/verification process is linked to the execution of a large number of simulations.