The Missouri Rockfall Hazard Rating System (MORFH RS) is a new scheme for rating rockfall hazards along the roads of the Missouri State highway system. Existing rating systems used in other jurisdictions focus on the risk of failure and ignore the consequence of failure, or they lump the ratings for risk and consequence together. Missouri highway rock cuts tend to have low heights but are typically highly weathered, with special problems from karst and paleokarst. In MORFH RS, risk and consequence factors are given equal weight but isolated from each other. MORFH RS utilizes two phases: 1) identification of the most potentially problematic rock cuts using mobile digital video logging; 2) characterization and prioritization of remediation for the potentially problematic rock cuts identified in phase 1, using MORFH RS. In phase 2 four types of parameters are evaluated: 1) parameters that can be measured on computer scaled video images; 2) parameters which are descriptive, and need field evaluation; 3) parameters which are obtained from MODOT records; 4) conditional parameters which are evaluated under specific conditions. Only those parameters were selected that were deemed meaningful and/or relatively easy to measure or estimate. Parameters were assigned to either a risk or consequence category or both. MORFH RS has been tested on sections of Missouri highways. About 300 rock cuts were evaluated and used to prepare, modify, test, and verify the system. Sensitivity analysis of the system was done by quantifying potential errors in the video measurements and by a rating comparison of 12 MODOT and University of Missouri-Rolla (UMR) personnel on 10 rock cuts along Highway 63.

Surficial slope failures, or nuisance slides, constitute a significant economic and manpower burden for many transportation agencies because of the frequent and recurring nature of the slides. TRB recently estimated that annual costs for stabilization of nuisance slides exceed the costs for repair of major landslides; this estimate suggests that annual costs for repair of nuisance slides on the National Highway System alone exceed $100 million. Recent work has shown the feasibility of using slender recycled plastic members for in situ reinforcement of surficial slides in slopes and embankments. This paper describes the activities performed to evaluate the technique and the results and conclusions derived from the work. Topics covered include the description of five instrumented field test sites, material properties of the recycled plastic members used, construction equipment and techniques used to install the members, general performance observed at the field test sites, and the costs of the technique as compared with other methods.

This paper describes the design and construction of the first hybrid MSE wall for a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) project in the USA that used a combination of rock-filled gabion baskets and geogrid reinforcement. The wall was used to stabilize an encapsulated pyritic rock fill deposit that formed a highway embankment on a long steep mountain side slope. The paper describes a unique set of project constraints that led to the final design and gives details of the analysis methods that were employed to ensure a stable and environmentally safe project. The paper also describes the specialized laboratory testing that was carried out to ensure that the connection formed between the gabion baskets and reinforcement was adequate.