NHESS Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences NHESS Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. 1684-9981 Copernicus Publications Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/nhess-8-473-2008 Improvements of safety conditions of unstable rock slopes through the use of explosives Casale M. 1 Oggeri C. 2 Peila D. 2 3 Pangea, Torino, Italy DITAG, Politecnico di Torino, Italy Italian National Research Council, ICAG – Section of Torino, Italy 15 05 2008 8 3 473 481 Copyright: © 2008 M. Casale et al. 2008 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This article is available from https://nhess.copernicus.org/articles/8/473/2008/nhess-8-473-2008.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://nhess.copernicus.org/articles/8/473/2008/nhess-8-473-2008.pdf

The paper discusses operations aimed at creating a safer natural or man made rock slope by artificially inducing the displacement of unstable elements by blasting. A detailed analysis of the problems with the use of explosives present when conducting these activities is carried out focusing on the advantages and disadvantages of this technology. The results of two examples of demolition of instable rock elements are presented and discussed thus providing suggestions for future blasting designs.

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