NEMETON: Decision Support System for Rockfall and Rock Slide Hazard Mitigation

Abstract

Rockfalls and rock slides belong among the most dangerous slope processes since even small magnitude events involving single boulders may cause high damage to infrastructure or may lead to serious injuries or even fatalities. In the environment of the Czech Republic or other Middle European countries, this phenomenon is often highly localized, involving single rock slopes. Solving such a problem usually requires direct involvement of local authorities, where are rarely found people with experiences in solving rock slope stability problems. This fact along with high costs of almost any structural mitigation measures possibly applied on rock slopes makes mitigation process subject to many political and economic interests which not always result in the most effective slope stability solution. In such situations, the NEMETON decision support system should offer help and guide through the whole process of rock slope hazard mitigation. It is designed to provide complete information to three groups of involved actors. The first are investors (e.g. local authorities, private companies), second are civil engineers and designers responsible for finding and designing specific technical solution of the slope stability problem and the last group are construction companies, whose precise work affects directly the quality of the mitigation structures.