Transportation Geotechnics 30 (2021) 100595

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Transportation Geotechnics
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/trgeo

Geotechnical slope stability and rockfall debris related safety assessments

of rock cuts adjacent to a rail track using aerial photogrammetry
data analysis
Surya Sarat Chandra Congress a, Anand J. Puppala b, *
a
Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Texas A&M University, Room: 801A, Dwight Look Engineering Building (DLEB), College Station, TX
77843-3136, United States
b
Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Texas A&M University, Room: 801B, Dwight Look Engineering Building (DLEB), College Station, TX
77843-3136, United States

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Transportation infrastructure facilitates the accessibility and mobility of goods, people, and services through its
Rail vast network spanning across the USA. The departments of transportation (DOT) agencies face many challenges
Infrastructure in monitoring and maintaining these infrastructure assets for continuing their service and operations, especially
Rock-cut
those located adjacent to slopes in rural and remote areas. Mobilizing and conducting traditional infrastructure
Slopes
Excavation
inspections in those conditions can be laborious and time-consuming. Also, the unstable or highly weathered
UAVs rock slopes pose significant rockfall hazards due to the moisture content, intrusion, and temperature changes,
Photogrammetry transpired over a period of time, causing weathering and rockfalls, ultimately resulting in debris accumulation.
Clearance Recently, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in conjunction with close-range photogrammetry techniques are
Safety being researched and used ubiquitously for infrastructure monitoring applications in and around mountainous
regions. In this study, a rock-cut located in a remote terrain where a rail track was passing through was aerially
inspected and imaged for performing a comprehensive safety assessment and analysis to evaluate the stability of
rock-cut and ways to assess rockfall safety zones and boundaries. A unique approach was developed by
leveraging the aerial mapping and data compilation along with an immersive three-dimensional visualization of
slopes for conducting stability analysis followed by the evaluation of rockfall debris zones adjacent to rail tracks.
Successful assessments conducted in this study indicate that the methodologies will benefit the transportation
agencies in effectively monitoring and managing transportation infrastructure adjacent to hilly terrains and
ensure the maintenance of safe clearance zones needed to safeguard the public and property.

Introduction
The vastness of the transportation infrastructure facilitates the na­
tion’s economic growth by mobilizing goods and people and contributes
to the quality of life of the public by providing access to the facilities
such as schools, hospitals, commercial centers, and others. The enormity
of the infrastructure assets also poses many challenges due to the need
for continuous monitoring and maintenance of these assets in sound and
serviceable conditions in both rural and urban settings [1,2]. It should
be noted that two-thirds of rail freight contributes to the nation’s
economy, which mostly originates from rural areas [3]. In the USA,
some of the freight railway tracks are located near steep rock-cuts and
hilly terrains in remote areas. Timely monitoring and maintenance of
these assets will not only ensure their proper performance without any
interruptions or delays caused by unexpected slope failures or rockfall
mishaps but will also result in the smooth operation of freight traffic
operations that will save Millions of dollars annually [4]. With 140,000
route miles, the freight rail network in the United States is the largest
freight system in the world with thousands of miles of rail tracks located
in many rugged terrains and mountain areas in Southwestern, North­
western and Western parts of the USA [5]. These tracks need constant
monitoring and maintenance works due to unstable and recurring slope
failures and landslides, rockfall events, and others. In 2015, a passenger
train got derailed in Northfield, Vermont after colliding with rockfall
debris and this accident caused extensive injuries to the crew and pas­
sengers as well [6].

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: congress@tamu.edu (S.S.C. Congress), anandp@tamu.edu (A.J. Puppala).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trgeo.2021.100595
Received 13 January 2021; Received in revised form 29 April 2021; Accepted 5 June 2021
Available online 8 June 2021
2214-3912/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
S.S.C. Congress and A.J. Puppala
One of the widely used methods to evaluate the stability of rock
slopes is the two–dimensional (2D) slope stability analysis due to its
simplistic generalization and established history of the practice
requiring minimal data inputs [7]. However, this method does not
consider the end effects that exist in the real field scenario and hence
results in overly conservative slope designs that unnecessarily increase
the project costs.
Also, the unstable slopes contribute to potential perilous conditions
at the adjacent transportation infrastructure assets caused by the
downward movement of loose or disintegrated rock formations due to
various factors. Continuous rockfalls and accumulation of debris over
time may result in temporary closures and associated delay costs.
Transportation infrastructure assets, especially rail tracks cater to fast-
moving freight traffic and hence have strict safety requirements stipu­
lated by the transportation agencies on maintaining appropriate safe
clearance zones around the rail tracks [8–11]. Overall, there is always a
continuing need for utilizing advanced surveys and data collection tools
and developing methodologies to quickly and effectively evaluate these
rockfalls and debris-related safety concerns.
Conventional monitoring tools for transportation assets often require
more manpower and result in time-consuming and laborious field
monitoring activities. In some cases, they either provide incomplete
field data or can pose danger to the working personnel due to the rugged
area and unsafe slope conditions. With the advent of new tools and data
collection platforms as well as sophisticated data processing techniques,
the traditional infrastructure health monitoring approach is set to
change as the safety, flexibility, and ease of operation offered by un­
manned aerial vehicle (UAV or UAS) platforms have resulted in strong
consideration by more than 70% of the departments of transportation
(DOT) agencies in the USA. These platforms facilitate remote data
collection of infrastructure asset conditions without compromising the
safety of the personnel working on these tasks [12]. Close range
photogrammetry (CRP) is a science of measuring distances of an object
captured at two or more viewpoints in an aerial setting. UAVs or UASs
coupled with Close Range Photogrammetry (CRP) technology facilitate
the qualitative and quantitative evaluations of the infrastructure health
conditions.
In this study, an innovative methodology was developed with UAVs
as the primary data collection platform to image and collect the topo­
graphical features of the cut slopes adjacent to transportation infra­
structure assets and evaluate their existing safety conditions. Aerial data
collected was comprehensively analyzed to first address the slope sta­
bility of the rock-cuts and then evaluate the safe clearance zones of rail
tracks adjacent to potentially unstable slopes. The paper briefly outlines
the literature available on slope stability analyses, rockfalls, safe clear­
ance zones, and the use of unmanned aerial vehicles for asset manage­
ment practice. Proposed methodology sections then describe various
features that need to be factored in the selection of a drone for infra­
structure monitoring, followed by field studies planned and executed for
the collection of rock slope data. Then, a comprehensive stability anal­
ysis was performed by using the 3D geometry of a slope undergoing
circular failure pattern using aerial image data. Both 2D and 3D slope
stability analyses studies were performed, and the results were incor­
porated in the methodology to evaluate the existing stability conditions
as well as ways to enhance the factor of safety of critical slope regions.
Further, the methodology for evaluating the safe clearance zone around
rail tracks was described and demonstrated comprehensively. The last
section of the paper presents salient findings and conclusions of the
methodologies used to analyze the rock-cut area and reconfigure it to
enhance stability and safety. It should be noted that these methodologies
though presented for rail tracks, can be extended to other transportation
lines including roadways located near high-risk landslides and rockfalls
causing issues including nuisances, asset damages, and loss of lives.
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Transportation Geotechnics 30 (2021) 100595
Background
Slope stability studies
Slope stability analysis, one of the applications that dates back to the
early 20th century, still remains one of the most actively researched
study areas in geotechnical engineering [13]. In practice, most of the
stability methods are selected based on the simplicity and familiarity of
the method rather than the type of problem being dealt with. Therefore,
most of the designs result in either under-or over-designed [14,15].
Many studies compared 2D and 3D slope stability analyses. Seed et al.
[16] conducted both 2D and 3D analyses on the Kettleman Hills landfill.
They examined the influence of considering 3D geometry on the force-
equilibrium analysis of landfill slopes. The obtained 2D factors of
safety were about 1.2 and 1.1 for the partial and full base wetting cases,
respectively, whereas the 3D factors of safety were about 1.08 and 1.01
for the partial and full base wetting cases, respectively. Bromhead and
Martin [17] stated that 2D analysis can sometimes produce a larger
factor of safety than 3D analysis. This can be attributed to either the 2D
analysis oversimplifying the problem [18] or considering incorrect po­
tential failure mechanisms including the shape and location of the
sliding surface [19].
Recent practice has witnessed an increase in three-dimensional sta­
bility analyses of slopes where extruding a 2D section to form a 3D
model and then conducting a 3D slope stability analysis on the asset
were performed to compensate for the lack of data collection tools to
obtain comprehensive three-dimensional geometry information of the
slopes [20–22]. The analysis results for complex slopes can be better
understood by using an actual 3D model since the 2D section used for
extruding the 3D model may not be the most critical section when
considering the 3D effects. Nevertheless, conducting three-dimensional
stability analysis on the actual 3D geometry of a slope section is
imperative for not only reducing the project costs by considering the
optimum level of risk but also ensuring the stability of the slope. All
these studies emphasize the need for conducting 3D slope stability
analysis.
Rock slope stability analysis programs are often used to analyze and
determine a preferred alternative to relocation or abandonment of the
facility [23]. In most cases, stabilization of rock-cuts or slopes is the most
preferred choice either due to lack of alternatives or due to the necessity
to clean up and repair the distressed slope such that the infrastructure
operations can be resumed quickly. The emphasis is given on how to
stabilize unstable rock slopes using the available methods to keep the
costs to a minimum and provide higher safety.
In this study, both 2D and 3D slope stability analyses were used in
combination to obtain a comprehensive idea about the stability of the
rock slopes, and then remedial and necessary excavation works needed
to increase factors of safety of the zones that need to be strengthened.
Since maintaining safe slopes, in real practice, does not only depend
upon the stability analysis but also on the planning of excavation costs,
equipment, and activities, there is a research need to develop a field
methodology that can offer a holistic representation of all those factors.
Rockfall and safe clearance zones
Rockfall is characterized as the movement of rocks, influenced by
structural, environmental, and anthropogenic factors, from a steep cliff
or slope enough to trigger its descent [24]. At times, these rockfalls,
depending on the height and steepness of the slope, gain significant
kinetic energy during their downward movement. Many DOTs follow
Rockfall Hazard Rating System (RHRS), developed by the Federal
Highway Administration (FHWA), to classify and enforce appropriate
mitigation measures. The cost of maintenance and operations of the
infrastructure assets adjacent to the rockfall zones has increased
considerably due to the exposure and degradation of rocks constructed
30 to 40 years ago. There were also some instances of train derailment
S.S.C. Congress and A.J. Puppala
due to the rockfall debris pile on tracks. One of such incidents occurred
in January 2007 near Lytton, British Columbia [25]. Agencies across the
globe adopt different approaches to mitigate such occurrences. For
example, the California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS)
used Ritchie’s criteria and conducted notable work on rockfall shadow
zone and catchment areas to provide attenuators or maintain a safe
distance from the adjacent transportation infrastructure in the State of
California [24]. Similar guidance procedures are also developed and
adopted by Colorado, Washington, and other states.
Besides, many DOT agencies across the United States have devised
specific clearance zone areas around rail tracks to allow a safe passage
for the locomotive traffic [8–11,26]. These clearances are created to
indicate that the presence of any rockfall debris or fallen objects within
that zone has the potential to conflict when the train passes or pose
danger to the maintenance personnel doing regular inspections and
repair activities. The minimum clearances needed around the rail are
equal to 2.74 m (9 ft) on either side of the centerline of the railroad in the
horizontal direction and 6.7 m (22 ft) in the vertical direction above the
rail tracks. These clearances indicate that the lowest part of a structure
built over the tracks of a railroad, including a bridge, viaduct, foot­
bridge, or power line should not be located less than 6.7 m above the top
of the rails on the track. Also, a structure, including a platform or fence,
or material may not be built or placed so that any part of the structure or
material is laterally located more than 2.74 m (9 ft) from the centerline
of a railroad track, including a mainline, spur, switch, or siding [11,26].
The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) also
defined the dynamic envelope, near railroad crossings, as the three-
dimensional clearance space needed for trains to safely pass and keep
motorists out of the danger zone [27]. These clearances, unless there is
an approved waiver, need to be maintained in all cases. This can be a
challenge to DOT agencies, especially at the locations where the infra­
structure assets pass through cut slopes with weathered material that
may cause frequent rockfalls and debris pile-up on or near the rail tracks.
Using visual inspection and conventional approaches may result in
inaccurate assessments and laborious tasks, respectively. Collecting
comprehensive geometry data of steep and irregular slopes with
frequent rockfalls from the weathered material, like the one field study
considered in this research, can pose a dangerous environment to the
data collection personnel. Hence, there is strong research need to devise
an effective methodology based on advanced tools that can quickly and
efficiently monitor and identify the protruding objects on the rock slopes
and debris or potential rockfall materials in reducing the minimum
required safe clearance.
Unmanned aerial vehicles
Aerial images captured using unmanned aerial vehicle-close range
photogrammetry data (UAV-CRP) technology can generate three-
dimensional mapping products including high-quality dense point
cloud models, orthomosaics, digital elevation models (DEMs), and dig­
ital terrain models (DTMs) in a short time period [28–32]. These three-
dimensional products are made of densely distributed point clouds and
eliminate the need for assumption or interpolation of geometric data by
providing real-field like navigable 3D models of rock slopes. The dense
point cloud model is a database formed by points that are accurately
defined with location coordinates and color information. A higher level
of quality of dense point clouds can be generated with higher processing
time. Orthomosaic is a map generated by correcting the images for
distortion and provide a stitched image with a uniform scale to measure
the horizontal distances between features on the two-dimensional
image. DEM is a raster image with color-coded pixels, arranged in
rows and columns of an image, with color representing the elevation of
the corresponding point in the image [33]. Also, several previous studies
have utilized remotely collected aerial data to complement the slope
stability analyses with geographical information [32,34–38].
Nagendran et al. [36] and Congress et al. [37] conducted stability
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Transportation Geotechnics 30 (2021) 100595
analyses on two different rock slopes, located in the northern region of
Peninsular Malaysia and Texas, USA, respectively. They developed 3D
models of the sloping topography from 2D photographs using structure
from motion (SFM) photogrammetric technique. Nagendran et al. [36]
used the limit equilibrium method (LEM) based 2D and 3D analyses
software to obtain the FOS of the slope. The 2D analysis was conducted
on a section extracted from a 3D global minimum slope surface.
Nagendran et al. [36] found that the FOS from the 3D deterministic
analysis was higher when compared to 2D deterministic analysis.
Additionally, they also discussed the reasons behind different FOS
values. Firstly, the 2D analysis adopted over-conservative simplification,
whereas actual 3D geometry was considered in the 3D analysis. Sec­
ondly, the 3D analysis considered both strong and weak rock surfaces to
identify the failure surface.
Congress et al. [37] conducted a 3D limit equilibrium slope stability
analysis of a rock-cut and compared the critical FOS values obtained
from Bishop’s, Janbu’s, and Morgenstern-Price’s methods. They
considered generalized Hoek-Brown failure criterion for rock-cut ma­
terial and observed that the FOS obtained from Morgenstern-Price’s
method was higher than the other two methods, which is consistent with
the findings of other previous studies about the relatively conservative
nature of Bishop’s and Janbu’s methods.
Seeking motivation from all the previous studies that utilized UAVs
as a primary data collection tool, a few methodologies have been
developed in this study to comprehensively conduct the slope stability
analysis and resloping earthwork calculations of slopes undergoing
circular failure, and evaluate the safe clearance zone of rail tracks for the
presence of objects including rockfalls and debris. Methodologies are
described and demonstrated in the following sections.
Aerial infrastructure monitoring and safety assessments
Drone selection
Selecting a drone for transportation infrastructure monitoring de­
pends upon various factors out of which five major contributing factors
are discussed below. A summary of the below sections is provided in
Table 1.
Payload characteristics
Payload capacity is an important characteristic considered while
selecting a drone for inspection as it affects the flight time. Drone
payload includes different sensors and accessories required to obtain
high-quality inspection data. Light detection and ranging (LiDAR),
visible, infrared, multispectral, and hyperspectral cameras are some of
the different sensors that are widely being used as payloads on UAVs.
Some copters also require additional global navigation satellite system
(GNSS) configuration onboard for high precision location data which
increases the total weight of the payload on the drone.
A gimbal compensates for the change of roll/pitch angle of the in-
flight aircraft and provides a steady platform for the camera to collect
Table 1
Drone selection criteria.
SNO. Criteria Remarks
1 Payload Data collection sensors, accessories, and batteries
2 Inspection Top and bottom gimbal, fixed- and rotary-wing
Objective
3 GNSSa Navigation and geotagging (RTK and/or PPK)b
4 Safety Features RTH, waypoints, obstacle sensors, and vision
sensors
5 Flight Time Payload, wind, hovering time, and radius
a
Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)
b
Real-time kinematic (RTK); Post-processing kinematic (PPK)
S.S.C. Congress and A.J. Puppala
quality images. A servo gimbal offers a low-cost solution for capturing
high-quality images; however, a brushless gimbal offers a better plat­
form for collecting high-quality videos. The payload capacity of select
drones can be increased by using intelligent batteries with high energy
capacity. Even though the majority of the present available commercial
drones are powered by lithium polymer (LiPo) batteries, there are
ongoing studies on manufacturing solar-powered and hydrogen fuel cell-
powered drones which will help in increasing the flight time and
payload capacity of the drones in the near future.
Inspection objective
Selection of UAV and its accessories also depends upon the objectives
of inspection as they might warrant specific requirements such as the
need to use a top gimbal for accessing hard-to-reach sites or areas un­
derneath the infrastructure asset. Due to the inability of the bottom-
mounted cameras to collect straight-up imagery, drones with top
mount capability are needed for such inspections. Quantitative inspec­
tion tasks require high precision in georeferencing data of the imagery
for developing accurate 3D models. Hence, those tasks require GNSS
accessories added to the payload capacity. The type of inspection,
qualitative or quantitative, also dictates the type of sensor being used.
Qualitative inspection, at times, may require a zoom lens, whereas
quantitative inspection requires the use of a camera with a global shutter
to avoid the rolling shutter effect and obtain high-quality models.
GNSS availability
Due to the inaccuracy in the location data provided by the onboard
GPS, the inspection tasks requiring higher accuracy location data need
drones equipped with GNSS configuration. The off-the-shelf drones
available now are capable of either only assisting in GNSS georefer­
encing or GNSS-guided navigation. Additional drone accessories are
being offered by commercial companies for georeferencing the images
using GNSS data. There are two types of geotagging using GNSS data:
real-time kinematic (RTK) and post-processing kinematic (PPK)
methods. The former configuration assists in correcting the image co­
ordinates in real-time, whereas the latter provides an option to correct
the locations after the flight using post-processed satellite data. The RTK
requires the drone to have a continuous connection to the base station
during flight operation and hence can be costly due to the additional
equipment required to ensure the connectivity. Even though the PPK
workflow does not need continuous connection during the flight and
offers the ability to predict the information gaps using the forward and
backward passes, it can only be accessed after the base station is updated
with the satellite constellation data, which can take a minimum of 24 h
depending on the location.
Drone safety features
Drone selection for an inspection task depends upon the drone safety
features required for a specific task as operations can be challenging,
especially in rugged terrain conditions. Most commercial drones are
equipped with ‘obstacle sensing and avoidance’ along with a ‘return to
home’ feature, during normal operation as well as when the battery
approaches a critically low level. They also provide a real-time estimate
of the battery level required to safely return home, at a pre-flight
specified safe altitude, when the connection between the remote
controller and the drone is either lost or interrupted. Pressing the GPS
and vision sensors enabled return to home (RTH) button on the remote
controller returns the drone to the home location preset/recorded before
the flight. This feature helps in safely bringing the drone back during the
loss of line of sight of the UAS. Some drones also use vision sensors to
precisely land automatically. These features are available in both
manual and automatic flight plan modes, however, are unavailable in
sporting mode, which is out of scope for infrastructure monitoring.
Flight plan, either lawn mowing or spiral pattern, consists of a pre-
programmed flight path comprising of the waypoints through which
the UAV safely traverses the airspace to collect the data. This helps in
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Transportation Geotechnics 30 (2021) 100595
eliminating any human error that might occur during a manual flight.
Most of the drones available in the market have either the drone com­
pany or third-party released applications to create a flight plan by
controlling various flight parameters. During the flight, the telemetry
display on the remote controller or tablet provides the details on the
flight characteristics such as altitude, distance, location coordinates, the
time elapsed, and time remaining in a flight operation plan in addition to
the battery life remaining. Some drones also facilitate the resumption of
the flight mission of the area from the previously interrupted waypoint,
due to a battery change or any unexpected event. These are helpful for a
remote pilot in command (RPIC) to safely conduct aerial mapping of
large areas requiring multiple battery sets and launching points to
maintain the visual line of sight of the drone.
Headless mode is also another safety feature to have, particularly
while conducting inspections at farther locations. As it is difficult to
identify the front and rear ends of the copter operating at larger dis­
tances, operating in headless mode provides ease in inspections by
synchronizing the drone actions with directions that are faced by the
pilot. Connectivity is another important safety factor that needs to be
considered especially while conducting inspections in an area densely
populated with trees and buildings. The range of the remote controller
and the video transmission need to be selected appropriately for the
inspection task.
Flight time
Flight time is the most sensitive property of a UAV as it can be
affected by most of the other characteristics discussed above. Keeping
the payload constant, the flight time provided by the battery sets can
also get affected during the flight due to extreme weather conditions
(like wind gusts) and with different maneuvers during the infrastructure
inspection. Also, having an RTK GNSS navigation capability helps in
efficiently navigating through the waypoints instead of the GPS navi­
gation that may take longer to find the waypoint location within the
specified hovering radius and time. Hence, flight time offered by the
combination of the payload and the battery needs to be considered while
selecting the drone for a specific inspection task.
Based on the above knowledge, a drone system equipped with a
visible camera mounted on a servo gimbal and capable of providing
GNSS data for georeferencing was used to conduct the aerial monitoring
of the rail section, located in rugged terrain, considered in this study.
Data collection and processing
Data collection was performed by a team comprising a primary RPIC
and a visual observer (VO). Due to the remoteness and the complexity of
the rock-cut location, an additional RPIC was also part of the aerial data
collection team and served as the secondary VO. The drone took off and
landed on the flat surface of the drone box since the uneven surface,
especially with the wind tunnel effect created by the rock slopes on both
sides, was not conducive towards safe takeoff and landing (Fig. 1).
The aerial data was collected by triggering the camera, using an
intervalometer, to capture the faces of the rock slope. The geotagged
images were aligned and stitched to build dense point cloud and mesh
and applied texture before generating the digital elevation model and
orthomosaic. More details about the data collection and model pro­
cessing can be found in the previously published studies [4,32,37].
In addition to aerial photogrammetry data, terrestrial LiDAR was
also collected, processed, analyzed, and compared with the UAV data,
shown in Fig. 2. The measurements of the rail spacing at different lo­
cations within the inspection area were measured using the 3D models
obtained from the aerial imagery. The nearest and farthest rail spacing
measurements in LiDAR data are represented by the cyan and orange
lines, respectively, measured in the three-dimensional models devel­
oped from the aerial photogrammetry data. The width of outer-to-outer
rail spacing was found to be 1.55 m (5.1 ft). It can also be observed in the
profile view of the rail track provided in Fig. 11.
S.S.C. Congress and A.J. Puppala
Fig. 1. Aerial data collection (a) hexacopter UAV (b) take off position.
Fig. 2. Rock-cut measurements (a) terrestrial LiDAR (b) aerial photogrammetry data [1 foot = 0.3048 m].
Compared to the terrestrial LiDAR data, the average percentage of
error in measurements made from the UAV-CRP data was found to be
less than 1%. The highest magnitude of error in rail spacings measured
from UAV data was close to 2 cm. Considering the low magnitude and
percent error, the scale of the area, and the required resolution for the
stability analysis, three-dimensional models of the rail line and the rock-
cut developed from the UAV-CRP data were further used in the stability
analysis as described in the below sections.
Slope stability analyses
Generally, rock slope stabilization and protection methods are clas­
sified mainly into three categories: reinforcement, rock removal, and
protection [39]. Providing rock bolting, dowels, tied-back walls, shot­
crete, buttresses, drainage, and shot-in-place fall under reinforcement
methods. Performing resloping, trimming, and scaling fall under rock
removal methods. Providing ditches, mesh, catch fences, warning fen­
ces, rock sheds, and tunnels fall under protection measures [39,40].
Resloping and removal of a rock slope were considered in this research
study to enhance rock slope stability. They were demonstrated holisti­
cally by performing the limit equilibrium method (LEM) based stability
analysis on three-dimensional rock slope models developed from aerial
photogrammetry data.
The rock-cut section was in a highly weathered condition as the
original rail line track passing through the rock-cut was constructed
more than a century ago. The rock-cut slope was considered as an
equivalent continuum undergoing circular failure. Spencer’s 2D and 3D
stability analyses methods were used to analyze the factor of safety and
then perform the earthwork calculations required for stabilizing the
slope based on various resloping angles [23,40,41]. Due to the non-
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Transportation Geotechnics 30 (2021) 100595
linear behavior of the rock mass failure envelope, a generalized Hoek-
Brown (HK) criterion formulated by Hoek and Brown [42] was used to
represent its true failure envelope. The water table at this location was
located very deep, hence its influence on the rock slope was neglected.
The material properties of the limestone rock formation considered
for the case study include the unit weight of 24 kN/m3, intact compact
strength value of 30 MPa, geological strength index (GSI) of 25, intact
rock constant (mi) of 8, and disturbance index (D) value of 0.7 [37]. The
minimum factor of safety (FOS) values for rock slopes that are generally
recommended and adopted vary between 1.3 and 1.5 depending on the
type of infrastructure and risk involved [23,40,43]. In this study, a
minimum allowable FOS of 1.4 for slopes adjacent to the high-risk
transportation infrastructure was considered [40]. LEM-based slope
stability analysis was conducted to obtain a minimum FOS closer to 1.4,
before rounding it off to the nearest tenth.
Methodology
The authors followed a generalized methodology that can be adopted
for conducting resloping analysis of slopes undergoing circular failures
using three-dimensional data obtained from aerial photogrammetry, as
shown in Fig. 3. The definition of the terms used in the methodology is
provided here: (1) global critical slip surface is the surface with mini­
mum FOS (2) safest crest point (SCP) on a 2D section is identified as the
intersection point of the crest surface and the deepest slip surface having
the minimum allowable FOS (3) initial safe slope angle (ISSA) of each 2D
section is determined by measuring the horizontal angle of the line
joining the toe and the SCP (4) final safe 2D resloping angle (FSRA2D) is
the maximum horizontal slope angle of the 2D slip surface that satisfies
the minimum FOS requirement after excavation of the 2D section (5)
S.S.C. Congress and A.J. Puppala
Fig. 3. Flowchart of the methodology for stabilizing rock slopes by resloping using aerial photogrammetry data analysis. Air Traffic Control (ATC); Three-
dimensional (3D); Two-dimensional (2D).
final safe 3D resloping angle (FSRA3D) is the maximum horizontal slope
angle of the 3D slip surface that satisfies the minimum FOS requirement
after excavation of the 3D model. The methodology is outlined as
follows:
Aerial data collection and processing were presented in Congress
et al. [37] and Congress [4]. Similar methods are used to develop the
aerial photogrammetry-based 3D models of rock slope representing its
real field condition. The geotagged image data is processed to develop
3D mapping products needed for the present slope stability assessments.
These data outputs are imported into the commercial 3D stability
analysis software. Material properties, failure criterion, and stability
analysis method details are then inputted to perform three-dimensional
stability analysis and obtain a 3D global critical slip surface of the slope
(Fig. 4a). Later, the slope area under this critical slip surface is divided
into two-dimensional planar sections for conducting the 2D stability
Fig. 4. Three-dimensional slope stability analysis (a) global critical slip surface (b) two-dimensional sections perpendicular to the slip surface.
6
Transportation Geotechnics 30 (2021) 100595
analysis (Fig. 4b). Same material properties, failure criterion, and sta­
bility analysis method were followed for both 3D and 2D analyses. The
targeted minimum FOS value for the 3D and 2D analyses can be selected
based on the requirements of the agency/user.
Two-dimensional stability analysis is then conducted on the 2D
sections formed in the previous step to identify the initial safe slope
angle (ISSA) and final safe 2D resloping angle (FSRA2D) for each 2D
section. The average FSRA2D, of all the sections spanning over the 3D
global critical slip surface, is used to determine the resloping angle and
reconfigure the 3D model of the entire rock slope area. 3D slope stability
studies on these resloped models are performed further to identify the
final safe 3D resloping angle (FSRA3D) that yields the targeted minimum
FOS of 1.4 after excavation and resloping.
S.S.C. Congress and A.J. Puppala Transportation Geotechnics 30 (2021) 100595

Resloping of rock-cut
Both slopes of the rock-cut, left and right, were classified as rock
slopes 1 and 2, respectively. The methodology was applied to rock slope
1 shown in Fig. 4. First, three-dimensional slope stability analysis was
conducted using the 3D model of the rock slope and obtained a global
critical slip surface with a FOS of 1.3. The 3D global critical slip surface
area was further divided using twelve equally spaced 2D sections as
shown in Fig. 4b. The number of sections can be further varied based on
the preciseness required. All 12 sections were analyzed using the 2D
slope stability analysis method to identify the distribution of the factors
of safety within each 2D section. All 2D sections yielded a critical
minimum FOS equal to or less than 1, reinforcing the popular conscience
about its conservative nature compared to the 3D slope stability anal­
ysis. Fig. 5 presents the analysis results of Section 6 before and after
resloping. After resloping through excavation, the slope mass trans­
formed into a more stable zone primarily due to a reduction in the
disturbed portions of the slope that contribute to overturning moments
(Fig. 5). It can also be observed from the distribution of the slip surfaces
with higher FOS corresponding to the resloped 2D section. The average
FSRA2D for the rock slope was obtained as 62◦ and was used further for
identifying FSRA3D.
Fig. 6. Three-dimensional stability analysis of resloped (68◦ ) rock slope (a)
initial rock slope (b) 3D global critical slip surface (c) excavated volume.
Earthwork calculations for resloping
The rock slope was excavated using five resloping angles until it met
The FSRA3D for the rock slope was calculated by increasing the the safe global minimum FOS criteria, and the corresponding excavation
steepness of the rock slope in two-degree angle increments starting from volumes were calculated following the above-mentioned procedure. The
FSRA2D until when the global minimum FOS of the resloped 3D model FOS obtained for each of the resloping angles and the excavation volume
reached below the allowable limit. Three-dimensional stability analysis is plotted on a three-dimensional graph with resloping angle, FOS, and
was conducted on all those resloped 3D models, with resloping angles excavation volume on X, Y, and Z axes, respectively, as shown in Fig. 7.
ranging from 62◦ to 70◦ , to identify the three-dimensional rock slope Overall, three-dimensional models from aerial photogrammetry data
that satisfies the minimum FOS requirement, as shown in Fig. 6. The are found to be useful in conducting these analyses and providing the
resloping angle of 68◦ was selected as the economical resloping angle transportation agencies with necessary practical information about the
due to the 3D slope stability analysis yielding a FOS of 1.4. The rock corresponding earthwork-related costs for maintaining allowable FOS,
slope and the excavated mesh can be observed in Fig. 6a. The global especially for irregularly shaped slopes such as the rock-cut considered
critical slip surface of the resloped rock slope is provided in Fig. 6b along in this study. Navigable three-dimensional models also provide an idea
with the excavated portion of the rock slope in Fig. 6c. about the type and size of the excavation equipment that can fit or access
The mesh of the excavated slope was exported as a DXF file and these remote areas during excavation. During these inspections, it was
imported into commercial software for converting it into a solid mass also observed that the rockfall debris can intrude the safe clearance
and estimating its volume by using the convotosolid and massprop com­ zones and pose perilous conditions to the maintenance and operation of
mands, respectively. A similar procedure was performed for all the transportation infrastructure. The authors devised a methodology to
resloped 3D rock slopes, the estimated FOS and corresponding volumes evaluate the safe clearance zone by leveraging aerial photogrammetry
are depicted in Fig. 7.

Fig. 5. Two-dimensional slope stability analysis of rock slope 1 at Section ‘Summary and conclusions’ (a) before resloping (b) final safe 2D resloping angle
after resloping.

7
S.S.C. Congress and A.J. Puppala
Fig. 7. 3D plot between excavation volume and factor of safety for corre­
sponding resloping angle.
data as described in the below sections.
Evaluating rockfall safe clearance zones
Rail tracks cater for fast-moving freight and passenger traffic and
hence agencies often implement stringent restrictions on the type and
size of the falling rocks or objects, existing within and adjacent to the
railroad right of way to safeguard the public and property. Many states
across the United States, unless there is an approved waiver, require a
minimum overhead clearance of 6.7 m (22 ft) above the top of the rail on
railroad tracks and a lateral clearance of more than 2.74 m (9 ft) from
the centerline of a railroad track [11,26]. Agencies perform regular vi­
sual inspections and follow up with terrestrial surveying, where neces­
sary, to ensure that these clearance spaces are maintained near rail
tracks. The loose material from the unstable slope surfaces often rolls
down and creates debris on/near the rail track and accumulates over the
period posing perilous conditions for locomotive operations and the
maintenance personnel navigating through the area. Assessing these
clearances near unstable or weathered rock slopes is a challenge since
regular monitoring with traditional data collection tools can be unsafe,
laborious, and costly, and can pose difficulties in mobilizing equipment
to the inaccessible areas. A research need was identified and a meth­
odology to mitigate those hazardous conditions was developed to offer a
holistic view of the existing field conditions using the advanced data
collection tools.
Methodology
The flow chart of the methodology adopted for evaluating the safe
clearance zone for the presence of rockfalls and debris around rail tracks
located near unstable slope areas is shown in Fig. 8 and outlined as
follows:
The 3D mapping products of the inspection area are imported into
commercial software that can analyze the 3D dense point clouds and
meshes. The points representing the rails are identified and marked.
Since each point in the dense point cloud has location information,
including X, Y, and Z coordinates, and texture, these points are joined to
form the elevation profile of both rails of the track. This elevation profile
is used to form two bounding lines, on either side of the rail track, at a
horizontal distance of 2.74 m from the centerline of the rail track. The
elevation of the bounding lines is maintained the same as the elevation
of the top of the nearest rail.
8
Transportation Geotechnics 30 (2021) 100595
Fig. 8. Flowchart of the methodology for evaluating safe clearance zones using
aerial photogrammetry data analysis.
Later, a horizontal plane joining the bounding lines on either side of
the rail track is formed to serve as a virtual horizontal delineator for the
objects falling above and below the level of the top of the rails. This
horizontal plane can be extruded up to 6.7 m above the rails in the
vertical direction to form a safe bounding area to evaluate the presence
of any protrusions. Since all the objects in the inspection area are rep­
resented by the points in the dense point cloud, the location coordinates
of the bounding box can be used to locate and mark the obstruction
points falling within the safe space. The areas, within the safe clearance
zone, having clearance breaches and the areas maintaining standard
clearance can be classified and marked separately. This methodology is
devised based on the rail track clearance requirements in the United
States and can be modified according to any other clearance
requirements.
Evaluating the clearance zone
In this study, the vicinity of the rail track adjacent to the highly
weathered rock slope, analyzed for stability in Section ‘Slope stability
Analyses’, was also inspected for the existing clearance zone. The three-
dimensional models developed from the aerial photogrammetry and
used for the slope stability analysis were also used for evaluating the
clearance zone as described below.
The 3D mapping products of the rock-cut area were imported and
analyzed for safe clearance zone demarcation. The points representing
the rails were identified and marked in cyan. These points were joined to
form the elevation profile of the rails, as shown in Fig. 9a. Subsequently,
bounding lines in green, at the level of rails, were drawn on both sides of
the rail track at a horizontal distance of 2.74 m from the centerline of the
rail track as shown in Fig. 9b. A horizontal partitioning plane in red was
formed, extending on either side of the track, by joining the bounding
lines as shown in Fig. 10a. A virtual safe space zone was created for
evaluating the presence of any intrusions. The areas having reduced
clearance i.e. objects protruding into the safe zone were automatically
identified by utilizing the elevation coordinates of the points, repre­
senting them in the dense point cloud model, and marked in black as
shown in Fig. 10b.
The close-up view of the rockfall debris identified, using the devel­
oped methodology, can be seen in the scaled view of the rail track shown
in Fig. 11a. The unique bird’s eye perspective and immersive experience
offered by the three-dimensional models, developed from the aerial
photogrammetry data, were utilized to obtain a profile view (Fig. 11b) of
the rail track adjacent to the problematic area identified in Fig. 10. The
profile view can be observed to show the dense point cloud of the track
and debris, which is color-coded according to the elevation of those
points representing the existing field scenario. Each of the points rep­
resenting the debris/object has X, Y, and Z coordinates stored, which can
be efficiently merged within any GIS platform of state and federal DOT
agencies for a better representation and prioritization of mitigation tasks
based on the level of risk posed to the whole network.
The advantages of this proposed methodology are manifold as it not
only facilitates quick identification of the potential rockfall and rock
S.S.C. Congress and A.J. Puppala Transportation Geotechnics 30 (2021) 100595

Fig. 9. Identifying features for creating the safe clearance zone (a) rails (b) bounding lines.

Fig. 10. Evaluating the safe clearance zone (a) horizontal partitioning plane (b) close-up view of rockfall debris protrusion.

Fig. 11. Rockfall debris visualization (a) aerial view (b) profile view of the rail track point cloud depicting debris protrusion [1 foot = 0.3048 m].

protruding areas in the safe clearance space but also visualizes and
provides the locations of the problematic locations. Overall, this safe
clearance zone analysis along with resloping studies performed on the
rock-cut along the rail track highlight the multi-dimensional nature and
applications of the aerial photogrammetry data in providing multiple
attributes from a single flight mission. Though the description here is on
rock-cuts along rail tracks using aerial photogrammetry, the same ap­
proaches including data collection using aerial LIDAR works can be
extended for highways situated in rough terrain and mountainous
environment. Imagery collected in safe and quick UAV surveys will also
provide any impending distresses of the slopes, which in turn can be
used to develop remedial measures for repairing these slopes thereby
preserving the transportation assets.

9
S.S.C. Congress and A.J. Puppala
Summary and conclusions
In this research study, a highly weathered rock-cut slope was
comprehensively analyzed first for slope stability studies and then
evaluated the safe clearance zones in the case of rockfall events. The
methodologies developed for the above two purposes used an optical
camera sensor mounted on the UAV as the primary data collection tool.
The same methodology can be applied to the dense point clouds
collected using an aerial LIDAR. The methodologies adopted in the study
have proven to be quick, safe, and efficient compared to traditional
surveying methods. They are user-friendly and also can provide inter­
active 3D models that can be used for assessing the rate of change in
slope movements from 3D models developed from the same UAV flight
plan conducted over a timeline.
The three-dimensional model of the rock slope was used to perform a
combination of 2D and 3D slope stability analyses to identify the
economical resloping angle of the rock-cut. Besides, the excavation
material for different resloping angles yielding various levels of safety
was obtained and presented pictographically to assist DOT agencies in
estimating the costs and planning the rock-cut stabilization tasks.
Navigable three-dimensional models also provide an idea about the type
and size of the excavation equipment that can fit or access the rugged
terrains during excavation.
The rock-cut slopes were in a highly weathered condition that
contributed to the presence of disintegrated rockfalls adjacent to the rail
track. A methodology was developed and successfully demonstrated to
utilize the aerial three-dimensional models in evaluating the safe
clearance zone available adjacent to the rail track. The immersive nav­
igation provided by the 3D dense point clouds enabled the identification
of the problematic areas with rockfall debris protrusion. This can be
further extended to the roadway infrastructure passing through rockfall-
or landslide-prone areas.
In particular, the methodology adopted for slope stability analysis
can help in setting up a realistic FOS, rather than the current industry
practice of accounting for an additional 30 to 50 percent for slope sta­
bility analysis. The higher amount of FOS is considered to account for
the uncertainties caused due to assumptions on end effects, material
characteristics, topography, slip surface, and other factors affecting the
2D stability analysis, which is widely considered in the current practice.
However, conducting 3D stability analysis on actual 3D models to
address most of these uncertainties might help in setting up a realistic
yet economical FOS and reduce the project costs.
Collecting comprehensive data collection of steep and irregular
slopes may be dangerous to the data collection personnel. In addition,
proactively identifying the presence of debris along the rail corridors is
expected to provide safety to the locomotive traffic as well as the DOT
personnel performing regular maintenance tasks. Overall, the method­
ologies presented in this paper not only provide safety to the locomotive
traffic plying on the rail tracks but also the data collection personnel by
aerially accessing the hard-to-reach areas and putting the personnel out
of harm’s way.
Data availability
Some or all Data, models, or code generated or used during the study
are available from the corresponding author by a reasonable request
through email.
Author contribution statement
The authors confirm contribution to this paper as follows: Surya S. C.
Congress: study conception and design, data collection, analysis, and
interpretation of results, draft manuscript preparation; Anand J. Pup­
pala: study conception and design, analysis, and interpretation of re­
sults, draft manuscript preparation.
10
Transportation Geotechnics 30 (2021) 100595
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Texas Department of Trans­
portation (TxDOT) for granting the funds for research project 0-6944.
The authors would also like to acknowledge Cody Lundberg and Kevin
Weinhold for their help during data collection. The authors gratefully
acknowledge the support and generosity of the NSF Industry-University
Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) program funded ‘Center for
Integration of Composites into Infrastructure (CICI) site at TAMU (NSF
PD: Dr. Prakash Balan), for its partial support towards this work. The
authors would like to thank Rocscience Inc.
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