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Fracture Analysis and Slope Stability in Southern Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
Fuscaldo., Robert Joseph
Fuscaldo., Robert Joseph
Abstract
The Skyline Drive is a heavily used road that transects areas of high relief in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Shenandoah National Park in the western part of Virginia. Past rockfall events suggest that some hillslopes along the Skyline Drive are unstable and pose risks to people and development in the park. Fractures in three rock cuts along extensively excavated parts of the Skyline Drive were analyzed and applied to the Markland test in order to assess the stability of hillslopes in the southern region of Shenandoah National Park. In plotting the orientation of fracture sets as well as the trend/plunge of the slope face and internal angle of friction on stereographic projections as performed under the Markland test, the potential for planar and/or wedge failures in the three outcrops was assessed. It was determined that the three hillslopes are stable and that planar and wedge failures are highly improbable. Over the course of this research, several small-scale rock fall events were observed indicating that some unknown factors are affecting the stability of the hillslopes and pose some risk to both property and people who visit the park.
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2006-01-01
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Geology