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Rockfall Risk Assessment Along Cliffed Coastlines of Algarve, Portugal

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INCREaSE (INCREaSE 2017)

Abstract

The Algarve coastal region is the leading tourism destination in Portugal. During summer season, many of the day-time visitors’ recreation activities take place at the beaches, and therefore nearby the cliffs base. This continuous exposure of people, in the vicinity of the beaches cliffs, constitutes a risk due to the possibility of rockfalls. The sector of the rocky coast under study, as an extension of almost 46 km, located in the Barlavento coast of the Algarve, where the sea cliffs are subvertical and shaped in carbonate Miocene rocks. The sea wave action, on the base of cliffs, is a fundamental erosion mechanism. The undercutting action of the waves creates an unstable cantilevered profile of the cliffs, which can lead to intermittent and discontinuous events of failures, thus threatening individuals exposed nearby. In order to identify the principal causes and triggering factors responsible for the manifestation of cliff instability, quantify their interactions, obtain their weighted coefficients, and calculate the instability index, which refers to the inherent potential instability of each coastal cliff, the Rock Engineering System method was used. Rockfall hazard estimation and risk assessment techniques proposed by the Australian Geotechnical Society were applied. For the Maria Luisa Beach, in Albufeira, the results of the analysis suggest that, for an occasional beach user, the risk may be small, when compared to the risk from other voluntary activities. Nevertheless, a bigger exposure (22 or more hours per year), may increase the annual probability of loss of life on an individual to 10−4/year.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Engineering—Civil Engineering Department, University of Algarve, Campus da Penha, Faro, 8005-139, Portugal

    José Viegas & Jean-Pierre Gonçalves

  2. Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Beira Interior University, Calçada Fonte do Lameiro, Covilhã, 6201-001, Portugal

    Luís Andrade Pais

Authors
  1. José Viegas
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  2. Jean-Pierre Gonçalves
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  3. Luís Andrade Pais
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to José Viegas or Jean-Pierre Gonçalves .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Engineering, University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal

    António Mortal

  2. Institute of Engineering, University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal

    Jaime Aníbal

  3. Institute of Engineering, University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal

    Jânio Monteiro

  4. Institute of Engineering, University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal

    Cláudia Sequeira

  5. Institute of Engineering, University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal

    Jorge Semião

  6. Institute of Engineering, University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal

    Manuela Moreira da Silva

  7. Institute of Engineering, University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal

    Miguel Oliveira

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Viegas, J., Gonçalves, JP., Pais, L.A. (2018). Rockfall Risk Assessment Along Cliffed Coastlines of Algarve, Portugal. In: Mortal, A., et al. INCREaSE . INCREaSE 2017. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70272-8_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70272-8_3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-70271-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-70272-8

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