Seismic Vulnerability of Natural Structures: Stone Pinnacles on the Amalfi Coast,a Case Study

Abstract eng:
The landscape beauty and the dangerousness of some stone formations with a cylindrical shape (pinnacles) leaning on the underlying National Road 163 (the Amalfi Coastal road) in Southern Italy, requested a seismic vulnerability study. Due to the erosion of the rock and the presence of sub-vertical cracking planes in the rocky slope, particularly close to Positano town, some pinnacles more than ten meters in height arose as a danger to the transit. Based on some inspections performed to have a detailed survey of the pinnacles, using the Laser Scanner 3D technique and with the collaboration of geologist-mountain climbers, numerical models and different structural analyses to assess their seismic vulnerability have been performed and compared: starting from simplified mechanical models of rigid blocks, passing through elastic analyses and finally to Finite Element (F.E.M.) analyses. Numerical dynamic and static analyses, particularly, the modal dynamic analyses for the elastic continuum and the non-linear static analyses, considering both cracking and plasticity behavior of the rock have been performed. The analyses concerned the pinnacles both under the actual in-situ conditions and according to some strengthening interventions to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of the design. The overall study involved several pinnacles with different shapes and different dimensions; in the present paper only one of them, the most relevant for its dimensions, location and structural issues, is presented.

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