WOLLEGA UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF NATURAL AND COMPUTITIONAL SCEINCE

DEPARTEMENT OF EARTH SCEINCE
PROGRAM ;EXPLORATION GEOPHYSICS (Msc)
Course; RESEARCH METHOD IN GEOSCEINCE ASSIGNMENT
TITLE:AN
INTEGRATED GEOPHYSICAL METHODS TO DETRMINE
THE CAUSE OF ROAD FAILURITY, CASE STUDY IN ETHIOPIA
BY; Endalw Assfaw------------ID-------1401074

SUBMMITED TO; Dr, Fikadu Tamiru

Submission date;27/04/2022
  INTRODUCTION
Road failure constitutes a major problem in most part of the world including our country. Most
Ethiopian roads fail immediately after construction and even before their design age. Some of the
factors responsible for these road failures are poor construction materials, bad design, poor
drainage network, geological factors, abandon river channels, high water table, water flooding
and fallen tree trunks that were left and buried . However, geological factors are rarely
considered as one of the factors responsible for such failures even though these roads are built on
the soil.
It is to be noted that the Integrated geophysical method of prospecting and delineation of
anomalous zone in the subsurface extend its wide application to buried material (both of
economic and non economic values). Also geological factors are not often considered as
precipitators of road failure even though the highway pavement is founded on the geology
(Momoh et al., 2008).
geophysical method has successfully help in the search and exploitation of the subsurface. In
particular, seismic method is commonly used to get detailed information of the subsurface
lithology, geologic setting (mapping), locating refracting interfaces separating layers of different
seismic velocity, subsurface mapping, lithological boundary differentiation, engineering
geophysics and static correction.
It is sad to note, that, the perennial or incessant failure and poor rehabilitation work on these
roads has become a very common phenomena and a source of concern. Generally, in seismic
refraction surveying technique, the method uses seismic energy that returns to the surface of the
Earth after travelling through the ground along refracted ray paths. The vast majority of
refraction surveying is carried out along profile lines which are arranged to be sufficiently long
to ensure that refracted arrivals from target layers are recorded as first arrivals for at least half the
length of the line. It involves putting the first geophone relatively far away from the shot point,
and the shot and detector are on the same line. Consequently, the ABEM TERRALOC MARK-6
were used. And a hand held hammer was used to generate the source energy.
Many factors causes road failure, these include;
Geogical, geomophological/geotechnical, road usage, poor or bad construction practices and
maintenances. The influence of geology and geomorphology in the design and construction
phases may not have been adequately considered. The problem could also be as a result of
inadequate knowledge of the characteristics and behavior of residual soils and not putting the
bearing capacity of rocks in relation to vehicular traffic into consideration. Furthermore, the
geological factors in road failure covers the nature of soils (i.e. laterite) the near surface
geological sequence, existence of geological structure like cavities, ancient stress, channels and
shear zones, near surface geological sequence. Sometimes there is the presence of some
concealed subsurface geological structure as well as rock weakness or deficiency. One or more
of the aforementioned factors has been noticed to have contributed in some of our highway and
rail track
failure. For the purpose of information, geomorphological factors are concerned or related to
topography and surface/subsurface drainage systems. Also, subsurface geologic sequence and
 concealed geological structure can be mapped by geophysical method, hence its relevance
(Ozegin et al., 2007).
  STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Road construction requires adequate knowledge of the conditions of subsurface . The non-
consideration of geologic factors has led to many road failures in the country. The perennial
road failure experience in Ethiopia has been characterised by different problems, these include;
loss of precious lives, properties, transportation challenges and environmental degradation.
Previous studies have shown that the integrity of roads can be undermined by the existence of
geological features as well as the engineering characteristics of the underlying geologic
sequences . However, there is need to carryout pre-construction integrated geophysical
investigation prior to road construction. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the significance
of geological factors in terms of the nature of the subsoil, near-surface structures and the bedrock
structural disposition as possible causes of road failures in Ethiopia using Integrated geophysical
investigations.

OBJECTIVES OF STUDY
General objective
The aim is to investigate the cause of road failure using Integrated geophysical methods in
Ethiopa.

Specific objectives
1. To determine the presence of clay deposits within the study area.
2. To determine the thickness of clay deposit using seismic refraction method.
3. To identify zones of weakness.
 Methodology
Inorder to solve this problem the conducted Geophysical investigation involving the integration
of very low-frequency electromagnetic (VLF-EM) , electrical resistivity (ER) and seismic
refraction methods was carried out along traverses in the area. survey for traverse was carried
out for these, and detailed correlation between these methods is presented.
The ER method used dipole–dipole array using Ohmega resistivity meter. Basically, the ER
method involves the passage of electric current using DC or low-frequency AC into the
subsurface through two electrodes, that is, the current electrodes. The potential difference is
measured between another pair of electrode, which may or not be within the current electrodes
depending on the electrode array in use. The inter-electrode spacing used was 10 m, and the
inter-dipole expansion factor (n) ranged from 1 to 5. ABEM Wadi was used for the VLF-EM
acquisition. The VLF-EM method is an inductive exploration technique that is used in mapping
shallow subsurface structural features in which the primary EM wave induces current flow .
Although both the real and quadrature components of the VLF-EM were measured, the real
component data, which are usually diagnostic of linear features, were processed for qualitative
interpretation.
Seismic refraction method is a commonly used geophysical technique to determine depth-to-
bedrock, competence of bedrock, depth to the water table, or depth to other seismic velocity
boundaries, seismic refraction method has been increasingly used in shallow environmental and
engineering site characterisation works. The seismic refraction method is base on the generation
of direct compression wave (P-wave) generated using a near-surface impulsive energy which
propagates through the soil media and is refracted along stratigraphic boundaries. . The seismic
refraction method is based on the measurement of the travel time of seismic waves refracted at
the interfaces between subsurface layers of different velocity .
The seismic signal is introduced into the subsurface via a shot point using explosives, hammer
blow, dropped weight or an elastic wave generator (Igboekwe and Ohaegbuchu, 2011). The
energy generated either travels directly through the upper layer (direct arrivals), or travel down
through the various layers before returning to the surface (refracted arrivals). The energy is then
detected on surface at a series of receivers called geophones spaced at regular intervals The
method relies on the tendency of acoustic velocities to increase with depth, which sometimes
makes it insensitive to low velocity layers in the subsurface. Based on the analysis of the field
data, the seismic surveyor draws a profile showing the thickness of the subsurface and a good
idea of what materials they consist of.
 Conclusions
Integrated geophysical methods have been used to investigate the subsoil competency.The results
show that there is a pattern of resistivity variations . The low resistivity anomalies observed
along the traverses could be due to changes in moisture contents or the point being a water
collection centre, which could cause the topsoil to be incompetent. The results also indicate the
clayey nature of the topsoil/subgrade soil on which the road pavement could be established.
Clay, although highly porous but less permeable owing to poor connectivity of its pores, retains
water without releasing it, thus making it swell and this subsequently will lead to road failure.
The Seismic Refraction Method is fast and reliable in establishing profiles of different strata. The
deeper layers have greater density and thus it has higher velocities and greater thickness.
Different kinds of materials such as gravel, clay or, rock have characteristic seismic velocities
and hence can be identified by distance-time graph. The presence of near-surface linear features
such as faults, fractured zones, fissures and joints in the subsoil beneath the road pavement could
cause pavement failure. Therefore;Detailed Integrated geophysical investigation should be
carried out on any proposed site for road construction and/or rehabilitation before embarking on
the project in order to ensure long term stability and integrity of the road in our country.
 References

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Ethiopian Roads Authority, “Site Investigation Manual 2002”, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Pavel Bláha, RNDr. D.Sc. and Roman Duras, “Methods of a Geophysical Survey for Road
Design”, Czech Republic
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