Assessment of rock slope stability for a coastal area near Kuşadası, Aydın, Turkey


Thesis Type: Postgraduate

Institution Of The Thesis: Middle East Technical University, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Geological Engineering, Turkey

Approval Date: 2013

Thesis Language: English

Student: Yavuz Kaya

Supervisor: TAMER TOPAL

Abstract:

The study area, which will be open to tourism in Kuşadası (Aydın), has steep and high cliffs near the Aegean coast. In the area where some slidings and rockfall problems occurred in the past the geological hazards should be investigated and nature-friendly remedial measures should be taken. The aim of this study is to perform engineering geological studies to:(i) search geological hazards, (ii) reveal the slope stability problems, (iii) recommend nature-friendly solutions in order to prevent/minimize the hazards and (iv)compare the results obtained from 2-D and 3-D rockfall analyses. To accomplish these tasks, the geological survey was performed, the information about the discontinuities was collected by means of scanline surveys, the rock samples were collected, the in-situ and laboratory tests were carried out, the slope stability and rockfall analyses were performed for different slope conditions, remedial measures were offered for the problematical areas considering the data obtained and the results of 2-D and 3-D analysis were compared. Under the light of these studies, rock removal, drainage, greening (vegetation), filling the caverns, wall building and erosion prevention were offered as remedial measures. The comparison of the 2-D and 3-D rockfall analyses shows that the end points and bounce height values are different for each method. The differences between the 2-D and 3-D model originate from the slope geometry, the algorithm used in the software and the different input parameters. According to the field observations, the 2-D model is more realistic than 3-D model.