A Case Study: Cost-Benefit and Risk Analyses of Gabion Wall for Rockfall Protection Method in Bozkir, Turkey

Abstract

The construction of residential buildings, highways, and dams in the areas under the risk of rockfall constitutes a significant threat to life and property safety. Previously, the easiest solution for rockfall protection was to move the settlements in the regions under rockfall risk to another location although it was expensive. Another method is removing the rocks by hand, machine, or using explosives, since it is dangerous. Nowadays, various rock improvement methods of constructing barriers exist due to the developing technology and facilities. In the study, to resist the rockfall, a case study on analysis of a gabion wall in the Dereköy neighborhood of Bozkır District in Konya was presented. In the preliminary design stage, mapping studies, rock kinematic analyses, and the possible rockfall scenarios in the study area were carried out to determine the current conditions of the land before the construction works. The rockfall analysis shows that the rocks on the slope will reveal energy of 400-500 kJ, and the splash heights may vary between 30-150 cm. As a result of this data, a 420m-length and 3m-height gabion wall was constructed. The gabion wall, which has a 10000-kJ energy damping capacity, eliminates the risk of rockfall for 150 houses in the region. A huge cost-benefit has been achieved by constructing a gabion wall instead of other methods (expropriation of 150 houses or the surface coating with steel mesh) as a precaution against the hazard of rockfall in the study area.