Kinematic Analysis and Rockfall Assessment of Rock Slope at the UNESCO World Heritage city (Safranbolu/Turkey)

Rockfall is one of the most significant natural hazards affecting human life. Preparing and triggering natural factors of rockfalls caused by geological conditions, in general, are mainly earthquakes, precipitation, freeze-thaw, physical and chemical weathering, joints in the rock mass, tree roots, etc. Initial velocity, weight, type and shape of the falling rock as well as the type of rock forming the slope mainly control the characteristics of boulder falling. This paper deals with rockfalls affecting Safranbolu, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Turkey. Scan-line surveys were performed to define the geologic properties of the limestone rock mass and joint properties in the study area. Kinematic analyses have been made for the slopes in the study area, considering the main joint sets, and failure potentials have been determined. A series of rockfall simulations were carried out using computer software, and rockfall zone maps were created with kinetic energy, bounce height, horizontal location of rock endpoints and velocity of the rocks.