Rock Mech. Rock Engng. (2003) 36 (5), 422–424 DOI 10.1007/s00603-003-0018-8
Book Review This section of the journal is being opened to the review of recent events in Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering and related Conference Proceedings. The hope is to contribute to the dissemination of knowledge and information among our readers on topics of high interest and relevance in our field. (G. Barla, Editor) Picarelli, L. (ed.): Fast slope movements. Prediction and prevention for risk mitigation. International Conference. Naples, May 11–13, 2003. 2 vol., Patron editore, Bologna, Italy. Landslides every year cause loss of human lives, goods and properties, as well as heavy damages to structures and infrastructures. Falls and flow-like movements are the most catastrophic landslides for the high velocity and travel distance they may attain. While falls mostly involve fractured rock masses, flow-like movements can involve many types of material, from fractured and soft rock to sand or clay. Prediction of where and when a fast landslide will occur is certainly a very difficult problem. Since the evaluation of the size of involved soil mass and of its velocity is difficult too, risk mitigation is one of the major tasks for people engaged in land management. Being aware of the social and economic impact of these phenomena, the Associazione Geotecnica Italiana, the two Universities of Napoli and the University of Salerno, under the auspices of the sister societies, ISSMGE, ISRM and IAEG, of the IGS and of the Italian Research Council, organised a double event: an international conference on ‘‘Fast Slope Movements – Prediction and Prevention for Risk Mitigation’’ and an international workshop, by invitation, on ‘‘Occurrence and Mechanisms of Flows in Natural Slopes and Earthfills’’. Luciano Picarelli was the chairman of the Organising Committee, G. Sorbino and L. Olivares, the Scientific Secretaries, respectively, of the conference and of the workshop. The conference took place in the Castel dell’Ovo, in Napoli, and the workshop in the Hilton Hotel, in Sorrento, a nice small resort town between Napoli and Salerno. The two events took place in the same week, between 12 and 16 May, 2003. On May, 14th, a free day between the two meetings, the participants had the opportunity to visit the town of Sarno, which in May, 1998, was shocked by a series of catastrophic flowslides which caused a number of deaths. The conference started on Monday 12 May. The opening ceremony was introduced by the President of the Associazione Geotecnica Italiana, Alberto Burghignoli. Short speeches were given by the Rectors of the two Universities of Napoli, Guido Trombetti and Antonio Grella, and of the University of Salerno, Raimondo Pasquino, by the Deputy Mayor of the town of Napoli, Rocco Papa, and by the Council Member of the Regione Campania, responsible for scientific research, Luigi Nicolais. The opening ceremony included a conference of the past President of the ISSMGE, Kenji Ishihara, on ‘‘Characteristics of waterfront landslides induced by earthquakes’’ (chairman W. Lacerda). Prof. Ishihara presented four case histories regarding landslides triggered by earthquakes in coastal environment, highlighting their common features in order to address issues of geotechnical importance to maintain a high safety level for facilities. The first day was devoted to the first session on ‘‘Risk assessment – from theory to practice (soil=rock characterisation, groundwater regime, slope analysis, thresholds, hazard assessment, intensity, vulnerability, mapping . . . )’’, a topic concerning the instruments available to assess the risk posed by catastrophic landslides in critical areas.
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The session was opened by the general report delivered by Leonardo Cascini on ‘‘Risk assessment of fast landslides – from theory to practice’’. In his Report, Prof. Cascini discussed the various approaches available in the literature for risk assessment, and introduced the lesson learned from risk management, both at small and large scale, over an area of about 12,000 km2 located in the central-southern Italian territory. The general report was followed by four panel reports presented by: – P. Mouroux, on ‘‘Risk assessment and prevention for landslides and rockfalls at La Clapiere slopes’’; – M. Pastor, on ‘‘Modelling of fast landslides’’; – C. Faella, on ‘‘Flowslides effects on constructions’’; – B. Gravagnuolo, on ‘‘Urban development and landslide risk increase’’. As clearly suggested by the titles, the reports examined different aspects of risk assessment, as the evaluation of the probability of slope failure in a real case regarding fractured rocks (hazard), the assessment of run-out and velocity of landslides (intensity), the evaluation of their effects on man made works (vulnerability) and the use of landslide prone areas for settlements. The afternoon was dedicated to a presentation of eight papers selected by the scientific committee and floor discussion. Prof. R. Fell, President of the International Committee on Landslides of ISSMGE, ISRM and IAEG, acted as chairman and discussion leader. At the end of the floor discussion, the special prize Gianmaria Iaccarino Award, to the best paper presented at the conference, was delivered by Tullio Pescatore in a short and touching ceremony. Such a scientific prize had been established by the Organising Committee after the sudden and unexpected death of Gianmaria Iaccarino, one of the members of the Scientific Committee, recognised expert on fast landslides. Two papers got ex-aequo the prize: – ‘‘Dynamics of distal debris-flows induced in clayey earthflows. Implications for hazard assessment’’, by J.P. Malet, A. Remaitre, O. Maquaire and J. Locat; – ‘‘Analysis of rock avalanches generated by planar rock slides on high mountain slopes’’, by P. Tommasi, C. Consorti, P. Campedel and R. Ribacchi. The first day was concluded by an Invited Lecture presented by Tim Davies on ‘‘Run-out of large rock avalanches and volcanic debris avalanches’’ (chairman G. Giani). The lecture emphasized the role of fragmentation in generating isotropic dispersive stresses within a travelling debris mass, and demonstrated that the long runout of many large rock and volcanic debris avalanches is a consequence of extra spreading caused by such dispersive stresses. The morning of the second day was dedicated to the session on ‘‘Risk mitigation (slope stabilisation, alert and alarm systems, protection criteria, land management ...)’’, opened by the General Report of Norbert Morgenstern on ‘‘Risk mitigation against fast slope movements’’ (chairman D. Cazzuffi). In his report, Prof. Morgenstern emphasised the need of an integrated regional risk mitigation strategy, where a combination of both structural and non-structural measures must be adopted in order to achieve significant results. In this respect, he also evidenced the importance of an adequate land-use planning and emergency policies to mitigate landslide disasters. The members of the panel board presented the following reports: – C. Bonnard on ‘‘Fast slope movements: mitigation strategies to protect communities in mountainous areas’’; – G. Barla on ‘‘Lessons learned related to risk mitigation: illustrative example’’; – H. Nakamura on ‘‘Estimation of the runout distance of fast landslides’’; – Y.C. Chan on ‘‘Debris flows in the urban area of Hong Kong’’. The reporters presented various examples adopted for mitigation measures in different geoenvironmental contexts, as well as mathematical models for the estimation of runout distance of fast landslides occurring in different materials. As a rule, the session included a presentation of eight selected papers and a floor discussion chaired by C. Viggiani. The afternoon was devoted to an invited lecture by Pasquale Versace and a Round Table.
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Announcements
Prof. Versace discussed about ‘‘Flow slide mitigation in the Sarno area after the catastrophic events of May, 1998’’. He illustrated the activity carried out until now by the Regional administration to mitigate the residual risk in the area of Sarno and of other nearby villages where thousands of people still live at the foot of the mountain. The lecture recalled the consequences of the flowslides in 1998, and illustrated the continuous monitoring which is being carried out in the area as well as the criteria for risk mitigation, mostly based on the construction of passive works as check dams, diversion channels and large reservoir located at the end of natural channels and gullies. The Round Table, on ‘‘Criteria for land management – comparison among different experiences’’, was chaired by Paolo Canuti. It included contributions by C. Bonnard, J. Corominas, S. Evans, R. Fell and H.N. Wong. They discussed with Prof. Canuti about their experiences on the subject, regarding not only the countries where they work (Switzerland, Spain, Canada, Australia and Hong Kong), but also other areas in the world threatened by catastrophic landslides. The conference was concluded by Giovanni Barla, past President of the Associazione Geotecnica Italiana and past Vice-President of the International Society for Rock Mechanics. About 200 persons attended the conference. The first volume of the conference proceedings includes 81 papers. The second volume, with the General Reports, panel and round table contributions, as well as the invited lectures, is to be published in the near future. L. Picarelli, L. Olivares, G. Sorbino, Italy
Announcements May 18–21, 2004: Sinorock 2004, Three Gorges Project site, China. Prof. John A. Hudson, Sinorock, 7 The Quadrangle, Welwyn Garden City, Herts, AL8 6SG, UK. E-mail:
[email protected]; web site: http:==sinorock2004.com.cn May 22–27, 2004: World Tunnelling Congress 2004 & ITA General Assembly, Singapore. Tunnelling & Underground Construction Society, c=o 425A Race Course road, Singapore 218671. Tel: þ 65-2998992. Fax: þ 65-2998983. E-mail:
[email protected]; web site: http:==www.tucss.com=wtc2004 June 28–July 2, 2004: 9th International Symposium on Landslides, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Secretariat 9ISL-Rio 2004, Programa de Engenharia Civil, COPPE-UFRJ, P.O. Box 68506 CEP 21.945-970, Rio de Janeiro (Rj), Brasil. Tel: þ 55 21 2562-7200. Fax: þ 55 21 2280-9545 or þ 55 21 2290-6626. E-mail:
[email protected]; web site: http:==www.quattri.com.br=isl October 07–09, 2004: EUROCK 2004 and 53rd Geomechanics Colloquy, Salzburg, Austria € GG), Paracelsusstrasse 2, A-5020 Salzburg, Austria. Austrian Society for Geomechanics (O Tel.: þ43-662-875519. Fax: þ 43-662-886748. E-mail:
[email protected]. Website: www. oegg.at=engl=index.html November 30–December 02, 2004: 3rd ARMS 2004, Kyoto, Japan. Japanese Committee for Rock Mechanics, c=o Resources Development Engineering Laboratory, School of Earth Resources Engineering, Kyoto Univ., Sakyo, J-606-8501 Kyoto, Japan. Tel: þ81-75-7534770. Fax: þ 81-75-7534771. E-mail:
[email protected]. May 18–20, 2005: Eurock 2005, Brno, Czech Republic. ISRM NG Czech Republic. Dr Pavel Konecny, Inst. of Geonics AS CR, Studentska´ 1768, CZ-70800 Ostrava-Poruba, Czech Republic. Tel: 420-69-6979111. Fax: 420-69-6919452. E-mail:
[email protected]. Verleger: Springer-Verlag, Sachsenplatz 4–6, A-1201 Wien. – Herausgeber: Prof. Dr. Giovanni Barla, Politecnico di Torino, I-10129, Turin. – Redaktion: Politecnico di Torino I-10129 Turin. – Satz und Umbruch: Thomson Press (India) Ltd., Chennai. – Offsetdruck: G. Grasl Ges. m.b.H., A-2540 Bad V€ oslau. – Verlagsort: Wien. – Herstellungsort: Bad V€oslau. – Printed in Austria.
