On the Use of Dips and RocFall for Designing Structures in Highly Fractured Igneous Rocks in the Chilean Patagonia

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-258-3_76How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Rock Slope Engineering; Structural Geology; Patagonian Batholith

Abstract

The Carretera Austral, today Route 7 of Chile, is one of the most important roads in the Chilean Patagonia. The road is in a mountainous area with very steep slopes. Due to the challenges presented by the zone a geotechnical assessment is necessary to make improvements to the road. During the opening of the penetration path, the rock mass was damaged in some areas by the poor application of explosives. This type of project requires that the geotechnical engineer have a deep knowledge of structural geology and behavior of the igneous rock (granodiorite) in the area, before, during and after construction. To meet the geotechnical demands and infrastructure needs of the project, a survey of the dis-continuities was conducted, and several boreholes were drilled to better under-stand the structure of the Patagonian Batholith. Using Dips and RocFall software, we gained insights into the data that allowed for a more comprehensive geotechnical engineering analysis. We also classified the rock mass and designed protection systems for the road using steel wire mesh and special drill bits. We used geometric design, orthophotos, and low drone flights to inspect inaccessible areas, such as the crest of the slopes, to identify zones where tensile cracks may have formed. As a result, we were able to determine the best placement of structures for the widening of the new road without causing greater damage to the igneous rock mass.

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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TY  - CONF
AU  - Néstor René Espinoza Guillén
AU  - Jorge Andrés Arriagada Triana
AU  - Lorna Andrea González Martínez
PY  - 2023
DA  - 2023/11/08
TI  - On the Use of Dips and RocFall for Designing Structures in Highly Fractured Igneous Rocks in the Chilean Patagonia
BT  - Proceedings of the Rocscience International Conference  (RIC 2023)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 820
EP  - 826
SN  - 2589-4943
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-258-3_76
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-258-3_76
ID  - Guillén2023
ER  -