Remote Sensing of Induced Liquefaction: TLS and SfM for a Full-Scale Blast Test
Publication: Journal of Surveying Engineering
Volume 148, Issue 1
Abstract
Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and drone-based structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry allowed the study of soil deformations due to blast-induced liquefaction during an experiment carried out on 4 June 2018. The research aimed at both evaluating the measurement quality and estimating the rammed aggregate piers (RAPs) effectiveness in mitigating the effects of soil liquefaction. These effects mainly consist of subsidence and deposits of ejected and extruded materials. The comparison between multitemporal 3D models provided surface variation maps and volume changes. In addition, classical topographical leveling allowed the measurement of subsurface vertical displacement along a specific cross section. The results pointed out a significant reduction, higher than 50% of soil deformation in areas improved by RAPs installation; moreover, the corresponding volume variations were no more than about 37% of those occurred in the not improved area. Finally, a critical comparison between remote sensing and leveling suggested that surface variation maps could underestimate the area lowering up to 15% in this kind of terrain.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. The available data are: all images, all point clouds, all PhotoScan and PolyWorks projects.
Acknowledgments
The study was primarily funded by Geopier Foundation Company (Davidson, North Carolina). Financial contributions to this research activity were also provided by the INGV-FIRB Abruzzo project (“Indagini ad alta risoluzione per la stima della pericolosità e del rischio sismico nelle aree colpite dal terremoto del 6 aprile 2009,” http://progettoabruzzo.rm.ingv.it/it) and by the INGV-Abruzzo Region project (“Indagini di geologia,sismologia e geodesia per la mitigazione del rischio sismico,” L.R. n. 37/2016). Special thanks to: Releo s.r.l. (Ferrara, Italy), who provided the installation of the rammed aggregate piers free of charge; Brigham Young University, which contributed to the realization of the blast test experiment in terms of personnel and technical equipment; to the blaster, Andrea Carpena, for the services and the aerial images; Teledyne (Dario Conforti), Scan&Go srl (Massimo Secchia), and iMages SpA (Donato Marcantonio) for their invaluable help in laser scanning monitoring; Fawzi Doumaz (INGV) for flight organization and UAV images; Michele Perboni, who kindly hosted the experimental activities, Bondeno Municipality (in particular Stefano Ansaloni, Olga Mantovani, and Elena Bonora) and the Emilia-Romagna Region (Luca Martelli), who provided all the necessary support to realize the research in collaboration with the other local authorities (Ferrara Prefecture, Ferrara Province, Local Civil Protection, Police).
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Journal of Surveying Engineering
Volume 148 • Issue 1 • February 2022
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© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 20, 2021
Accepted: Aug 13, 2021
Published online: Sep 27, 2021
Published in print: Feb 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Feb 27, 2022
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