Research Projects

India faces numerous natural hazards such as floods, cloudbursts, and landslide earthquakes. The frequency of landslides increases during the rainy season and winter due to the thaw-freezing effect in the higher Himalayas. The Nation Highway -3 connecting to Manali (NH-3) has faced numerous landslides in the last winter season, attracting tourists during winter and summer. Thaw-freezing caused landslides and blocked the road for several hours, causing a reduction in strength along the joint surface. Research on landslide problems has focused on large-scale landslide hazards zonation mapping, which is based on geology, land use, land cover, slope aspect, and landslide incidences. However, it does not consider stress, strain, and strength of geo-materials, as well as discontinuity within the rock mass. Numerical and empirical methodologies deal with strength, stress, strain, and discontinuity in the rock mass, but do not consider rock mass properties like distribution of joints, water percolation, and strength. The proposed project aims to integrate structural discontinuity with the strength of materials to improve slope stability assessment accuracy. To address the problem of retaining walls failing to protect the road from falling rock blocks, the project proposes identifying key blocks, determining the coefficient of restitution, calculating the path of falling blocks using a rockfall simulator, and suggesting remedial measures based on the simulator.