Publications
Rock Fall Engineering

Rock Fall Engineering provides, for locations in mountainous terrain with high rock fall hazards, comprehensive procedures for the design and construction of protection structures. The procedures include the theories of trajectories and impact mechanics, and their application to the determination of translational and angular velocities, and kinetic and rotational energies. The theories are verified against a number of detailed case studies, and the results of rock fall simulation using a widely available modelling program.
Protection structures include ditches, fences, nets, mesh and MSE barriers, and rock fall sheds and canopies. A component of the designs is the application of risk management to select the most appropriate protection method for each site. The main topics covered are:
- Rock falls – causes and consequences
- Documentation of rock fall events
- Rock fall velocities and trajectories
- Impact mechanics
- Coefficient of restitution
- Energy changes during impacts and trajectories
- Rock fall modeling
- Selection of protection structures
- Design principals of rock fall protection structures
- Rock fall protection I: barrier, nets, fences
- Rock fall protection II: rock sheds