Rockfall Engineering

Researchers in civil engineering explore rock instabilities from perspectives of triggering of rockfalls, the propagation of falling rocks, and the interaction of rocks with protective structures. Their topics include the geophysical detection and characterization of discontinuities in rock slopes, the mechanical stability analysis of fractured rock slopes, methods for predicting rockfall trajectories and run-out zones, rockfall hazard zoning for land use planning, a new design method for rockfall shelters covered by granular layers, and a design procedure for a three-layer absorbing system in rockfall protection galleries. The information could be of use to practitioners, researchers, and students of civil engineering and related fields. Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Stephane Lambert is a Research Engineer at CEMAGREF, Grenoble, France. His research are mainly on protection structures, natural hazards and geosynthetics.

Francois Nicot is a Researcher at CEMAGREF, Grenoble, France, and an Executive Member of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE). His contributions mainly concern the mechanical behavior of granular geomaterials. He is also Editor-in-chief of the European Journal of Environmental and Civil Engineering.