Phase 2: Quantitative Evaluation Process for Improved Rockslope Safety and Reduced Maintenance

Thousands of problematic rock slopes adversely impact Oregon Department of Transportation's (ODOT’s) infrastructure and will soon require substantial mitigation as Oregon’s highway rockcuts near the end of their respective design life. This deterioration is predicted to be further exacerbated with climate change. Many short-term mitigation techniques such as scaling or blasting are very expensive and dangerous as these techniques require personnel to physically scale the cliff, while longer term mitigation solutions (e.g., nailing) are often too cost prohibitive to deploy beyond a few select slopes. Rockfall mitigation efforts are further compounded by the subjective, ad-hoc nature of the mitigation process, which can lead to uncertainty regarding actual slope improvement and predicted improvement duration. It is also uncertain how long—and how effective—mitigation efforts actually are, particularly with respect to the longevity of scaling before the eroding slopes return to a similar or even more precarious state. Further, when rock slopes are not clearly improved with mitigation, clean-up costs for rockfall accumulate for our District maintenance crews. Taken together, the lack of quantitative information regarding how mitigation efforts actually improve the overall stability of rock slopes runs counter to ODOT’s aim for budget efficiency and transparency, with potential negative impacts on an already highly limited rockfall mitigation budget which could then in-turn negatively impact the safety of the traveling public. Quantitative, objective methods that better inform successful rockfall mitigation techniques, maintenance strategies, and overall asset management is needed. Recently, ODOT Research invested in the development of a series of lidar-based tools for quick assessment and monitoring of rockfall events (SPR809). Specifically, SPR809 refined the Rockfall Activity Index (RAI) hazard screening tool, analyzed seismic hazards, and developed a user-friendly Graphical User Interface (GUI) for implementation. RAI is a point cloud-derived, high-resolution, low-cost, morphology-based, objective approach for assessing rock slopes that can objectively and efficiently analyze large geographic regions. RAI may also be used to identify specific locations to target for mitigation by identifying rapidly eroding areas of the slope and precarious overhangs. This proposed research leverages these recently developed tools to further develop a new methodology for verifying rockfall mitigation effectiveness that can also be used to direct future mitigation and maintenance efforts.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Contract Numbers:

  SPR 864

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Oregon Department of Transportation

  355 Capital St NE MS42
  Salem, Oregon  United States  97301
• Project Managers:

  Glover-Cutter, Kira

• Performing Organizations:

  Oregon State University, Corvallis

  101 Kearney Hall
  Corvallis, OR  United States  97331
• Principal Investigators:

  Olsen, Michael

• Start Date: 20220901
• Expected Completion Date: 20260430
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Asset management; Detection and identification systems; Laser radar; Maintenance management; Rock slopes
• Geographic Terms: Oregon
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01964173
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Oregon Department of Transportation
• Contract Numbers: SPR 864
• Files: RIP, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Aug 28 2025 11:23AM