Abstract
In the steep mountainous areas in northwest Xinjiang, where rock mass is broken seriously due to intense freeze thaw weathering, rockfall is one of the most common geological hazards on highway high slopes. Engineering geological investigations on geological hazards along a segment of the G219 highway was conducted, indicating that rockfalls on the high slopes threaten the safety of vehicles on the highway seriously. In this study, a combination of field investigations, laboratory experiments and numerical simulation methods was performed to identify unstable high slopes, simulate the rockfall trajectories and assess the rockfall hazard in the study area. The results show that there are five high slopes (i.e., W01, W02, …, W05) where rockfall hazard is extremely serious. Considering both the total kinetic energy and the accumulation rate of blocks, rockfall influence area zonation was performed, leading to the conclusions that the sections of highway on W01 to W05 are located at the medium-intensity low-accumulation zone, high-intensity medium-accumulation zone, high-intensity low-accumulation zone, high-intensity low-accumulation zone and medium-intensity high-accumulation zone, respectively. Based on the analysis, a zonation map was accomplished, which could help engineers select effective mitigation measures against rockfalls to avoid casualty and property losses.
Highlights
With the promotion of the Western Development strategy, especially the proposal of the One Belt and One Road national strategy, a large number of high-level highways will be planned and constructed in mountainous areas of west China in the future, and rockfall, which is one of the most common geological hazards, is becoming a growing concern
In this study, the Wukeerchaolong gully-Songshu gully segment of the G219 line of Jimunai-Hebukesaier highway was selected as the study area, where rockfall is one of the most
The Wukeerchaolong gully-Songshu gully segment of the G219 line of Jimunai-Hebukesaier highway was selected as the study area, where rockfall is one of the most common geological hazards on highway high slopes
Summary
With the promotion of the Western Development strategy, especially the proposal of the One Belt and One Road national strategy, a large number of high-level highways will be planned and constructed in mountainous areas of west China in the future, and rockfall, which is one of the most common geological hazards, is becoming a growing concern. The G219 line of Jimunai-Hebukesaier highway is located at the border of the Aletay region and Tacheng region, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China (Figure 1), which is an integral part of the northern section of the Kanas port-Alashankou-Aksu-Yengisar high-level highway, and it has far-reaching significance to promote sound and fast development of the economic society in northwest Xinjiang. This highway is situated in the cold-arid areas in northwest China where the freeze thaw weathering is rather intense. Based on the field investigation and numerical simulation results, considering both the total kinetic energy and the accumulation rate of the rockfall, the zonation of the areas suffering from the rockfall was performed
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