Name Pratik Ghimire

Faculty Civil
Roll Number PUR074BCE056

Pratik Ghimire
IOE PURWANCHAL CAMPUS, DHARAN
CIVIL ENGINEERING
 TASK 1
SUMMARY REPORT ON FIELD WORK

INTRODUCTION
The visit was Deurali- Gupha Pokhari Highway under
construction. Gupha Pokhari is a natural pond situated at the
height of 2890 meters above the sea level, situated in Gufa VDC
of Tehrathum district of Nepal. Gupha Pokhari is also called
‘Rhododendron Capital Of Nepal’.

Our Geology Field visit was arranged by our won

respected teacher Champak Babu with the support of our HoD
Raju Ghimire sir along with our leader CR Prajwal Bhandari on
4th and 5th of Shrawan 2076. Our Geology field visit was based
on the objective of to know the knowledge about the geological
structures, their engineering significance and to analyze the
failure mechanism by stereographic projection.
We Civil C/D students approximately 44 students were
taken to field visit location by our own campus bus. We took a
rest in Hotel Yak. On the evening, our time was spent in
learning some basic theoretical knowledge. Another day, on the
morning, our time was spent on the geological field study on
Basantapur about 90-100km from Dharan, Sunsari.
OBJECTIVES
(a) To understand different types of geological structure
found in rocks (i.e. faults, joints, folds, thrusts, etc.)
(b) To be familiar with stereographic projection and how
to draw it.
(c)To understand different type of failure occur in rock
mass (i.e. plane, wedge and toppling failure etc.).
(d)To study about rock slope stability along under the
construction highway.

METHODOLOGY
In this, we were learnt about stereographic
projection and different type of failure plane. Stereographic
projection is a powerful method for studying geometrical
problems in structural geology by projecting the lines and
plane features for the determination of the angular
relationship between the line as well as the planes in
geotechnical engineering and tools for the estimation of
cut of slope angle for the preparation of hazard maps.
Kinematics Method:-
 Kinematic methods are based on the principle of
kinematics which deals with the geometric condition that
is required for the movement of the rock block over the
discontinuity plane, without considering any forces
responsible for the sliding.

For kinematic check, stereographic projections are

used. The stereographic projection is a methodology used
in structural geology and engineering to analyze
orientation of lines and planes with respect to each other.
A standardized mapping system known as stereonets are
used to project different lines and planes in stereographic
projections. Stereonets are circular graphs used for
plotting planes based on their orientations in terms of dip
direction (direction of inclination of a plane) and dip
(inclination of a plane from the horizontal).

There are basically three types of failures are

occurring in the rocks which are given below:-
a) Plane failure: When the joints, bedding or foliation
planes dip parallel to the slope with an angle equal or less
than the hill slope, plane failure occurs.
b) Wedge failure: When slope failure > plunge angle of the
block >angle of friction along failure plane, then wedge
failure occurs.
c)toppling failure: Steep dipping of discontinuities parallel
to the slope face and dipping into it steeply causes
toppling failures.

Empirical Method:-
 Empirical methods can be applied over large area to
investigate slope stability condition, in general. For simple
cases such as uniform planar discontinuities these
methods can be applied directly. However, for complex
cases, involving variable slope geometric and geologic
conditions, these empirical methods cannot be applied.
In past several empirical methods based on rock
mass classification systems have been developed. The
important slope classification systems are as below:-
i) Classification proposed by Selby (1980),
ii) Slope Mass Rating (SMR) (Romana, 1985),
iii) Modified Slope Mass Rating (MSMR) (Anbalagan
et al., 1992),
iv) Slope Stability Probability Classification (SSPC)
(Hack, 1998) and rock mass classification system
for slopes proposed by Liu and Chen (2007).
FIELD OBSERVATION AND RESULT

Joint Number Strike Dip direction Dip amount Remarks

1 S75°E/N75°W N15°E 39° J1

2 N25°W/S25°E N65°E 82° J2

3 N50°E/S50°W S40°W 60° J3

CONCLUSIONS
In conclusion, from the two day geological tour to the
Gupha Pokhari, we realized that the engineering geology
has wide scope in civil engineering field and is very much
important in both theoretical and practical point of view.
We are now able to identify different type of mass
movement activities,its cause and nature, slope stability
measurement for stability analysis through stereonet
analysis.
Despite, this Geological tour to Tinjure site could be
more fruitful. We were not able to achieve all our
objectives as per our syllabus. We were unable to visit an
underconstruction hydropower site due to some difficulties
like weather condition, transportation difficulties, condition
of roads to the way of hydropower site and time limit.
However, we enjoyed a lot at that place and got a huge
opportunity to learn something practically about geology
that we can’t achieve only through course and academic
syllabus. I am grateful to our Geology teacher Champak
Babu sir.

TASK 2
# Write an essay about any one of the Geological
hazard and their mitigation measures in Context
of Nepal. (600 words)
Answer:
Landslides
A geological hazard is one of several types of
adverse geologic conditions capable of causing damage
or loss of property and life. These hazards consist of
sudden phenomena and slow phenomena. They are
events caused by geological features and processes those
have potentials to create severe threats to human,
property and the natural and built environment.
Earthquakes, floods, landslides, volcanoes, avalanches
and tsunamis are typical examples of such events.
Landslide is one of them.
Landslide is a major geologic hazard, caused by
earthquakes and floods. Although, landslides are generally
not as exciting or costly as earthquakes, major floods,
tropical storms, and other natural disasters, they occur in
more expanded places and may cause more property
damage than any other geologic hazards.
Landslides are more widespread than any other
geological event. A wide variety of ground movements,
such as rock falls, slope failure, and shallow debris flows
can classify landslides. When a portion of a hill slope
cannot support its own weight a landslide will occur. When
rainfall or some other water source increases the water
content of the slope the weakness is irritated, reducing the
strength of the materials. Although gravity acting upon an
increased slope is the main reason for a landslide, there
are other elements that contribute to its cause. Loud
sounds that occur during an earthquake also cause
landslides. Erosion caused by rivers, glaciers, or ocean
waves create oversteepened slopes. Heavy rains and
melting snow weaken rock and soil slopes. Furthermore,
vibrations from machinery, traffic, and even thunder may
trigger failure of weak slopes. Excess water can run
through slope material and can cause a debris flow or mud
flow. The rock and mud left over after a landslide may pick
up anything in its path, such as trees, houses, and cars,
causing bridges and tributaries to become blocked which
causes flooding throughout its path.
The causes of landslides include nature of slope,
nature of soil, dipping of weak planes, rise of water table,
excess pore pressure in soil layers, overgrazing by live
stocks, vibration from machinery or traffic, blasting, etc.
Nepal is highly vulnerable to landslide because of its steep
mountainous train, weak geographical formation along
with steep topography in hilly region, over grazing of
protective slope cover high intensity rainfalls during
monsoon. As Nepal is tectonically active, mass movement
such as landslide is triggered by earthquake.
So, the control measures of landslides are very
important in context of Nepal as landslides frequently
occurs during monsoon and other time too. As it causes
damage to lives of living organisms including humans and
animals and also degrade the quality of ecosystem,
causes obstruction to river flow in valleys, damage to
sewer and other pipelines, destruction of buildings and
other infrastructures, the prevention measures should be
adopted. The preventive measures include bio-restoration
where deep rooted trees hold the debris/soil firmly
preventing from the effect of landslide. Retaining
structures such as Gabion walls, Stone Masonry walls,
Concrete Masonry Walls and proper drainage system
should be adopted.
So, landslides are the destructive geological
hazards in Nepal. They have been taking the lives of many
people and animals. We humans are also responsible for
the cause. So, public awareness should be done among
the public about the adverse effects of landslides and their
prevention measures. The Government of Nepal also
should initiate some actions towards it.

TASK 3
# Discuss briefly on Geomechanical classification of
the rock mass(RMR). (250 words)
Answer:
RMR (Rock Mass Rating System) Classification is
also known as the CSIR Classification (Council for
Scientific and Industrial Research). It is the geomechanical
classification. This system combines the most significant
geologic parameters and represents them with one overall
comprehensive index of rock mass quality, which is used
for the design and construction of excavations in rock,
such as tunnels, mines, slopes and foundations.
The following six parameters are used to classify a
rock mass(Intact rock + Discontinuities) using RMR
system.
1) Uniaxial compressive strength of rock material
2) RQD
3) Spacing of discontinuities
4) Condition of discontinuities
5) Orientation of discontinuities
6) Groundwater conditions

Each of the six parameters is assigned a value

corresponding to the characteristics of the rock. These
values are desired from field surveys and laboratory tests.
The sum of the six parameters is the "RMR value", which
lies between 0 and 100.

Advantages of Rock Mass Classification System

 - It results quantitative information for design purpose
and enables better engineering judgement and more
effective communication on a project.
- It assists proper and effective communication as a
foundation for sound engineering judgement on a
given project.
- Correlations between rock mass quality and
mechanical properties of the rock mass have been
established and are used to determine and estimate
its mechanical properties and its squeezing or
swelling behavior.

Disadvantages of Rock Mass Classification

System
According to experts, tunnel design should be done
by methods of applied mechanics and not relying too
much on rock mass classification systems such as
RMR, MRMR for underground mining, Geological
Strength Index and Q-system. Such limitations are
based on the fact that classification systems are good
for communication and in some cases good for
producing correlations in particular geological
environments.