A22 Modena-Brennero Highway

A contract was stipulated  in 1997 between the A22 Modena-Brennero Highway and the Geotechnical Engineering Group of the University of Trento to study a slope in Castelrotto (BZ) whose stability affects the highway safety. The contract included the survey of the geotechnical campaign as well as the installation of piezometers (3) and inclinometers (7), inclinometer measurements with  monthly frequence, laboratory tests on soil and rock samples, and the analysis of the stability of the slope. The final report, delivered in 1999,  pointed out  that the factor of safety of the slope is close to unity and no countermeasures can be virtually undertaken as the moving mass is about . Based on this study, the Brenner Highway decided to move the track undergorund in order to by-pass the unstable slope
[personnel involved: L. Mongiovì, A. Tarantino, M. Bragagna].


In the meantime, the Brenner Highway has decided to continuosly monitor the movements of the landslide. To this end, another contract was stipulated in 2000 to design an automatic monitoring system and to define suitable warning thresholds. The slope was then instrumented with 7 fixed inclinometers and a rain gauge. The readings are acquired by means of a data acquisition system and transmitted via GSM to the University of Trento and the Brenner Highway.  This work is still underway.
[personnel involved: L. Mongiovì, L. Simeoni, M. Bragagna].


Province of Trento
This contract involved remediation of a slope in the Trento Region, whose stability affects the safety of a sixteenth-century castle (Castel Valer). We carried the in situ geotechnical investigation and performed the laboratory tests (identification, water retention characteristics, direct shear tests). A reinforced earth wall was designed to stabilise the slope. A method was developed to assess the factor of safety of the slope in the absence of reliable measurements of in-situ pore water pressures. Futrhermore, numerical simulations were carried out to assess the effect of precipitation on slope stability.
[personnel involved: L. Mongiovì, L. Simeoni, A. Tarantino, A. Gajo, M. Bragagna].


National Dam and Reservoirs Authority
A research contract was stipulated between the National Dam and Reservoirs Authority (Servizio Nazionale Dighe, Dipartimento dei Servizi Tecnici Nazionali della Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri) and the University of Trento to analyse the 'Reliability of stability analysis methods of earth dams'.  The projects was developed in five tasks:
1) Methods and procedures for slope stability analysis;
2) Stability analysis of earth dams;
3) Analysis of the design of some major existing dams in Italy;
4) Comparison between rules and regulations in force in European and extra-European countries.
5) Guidlines for stability analysis of earth dams.
[personnel involved: L. Mongiovì, G. Bosco, A. Tarantino]



 
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