New York State Department of Transportation Rock Slope Rating Procedure and Rockfall Assessment

The New York State Department of Transportation’s (DOT’s) Geotechnical Engineering Bureau has significant responsibilities in the field of rock and soil mechanics. Not the least of these is minimizing rockfalls and landslides and quickly responding when they occur. The Geotechnical Engineering Bureau has a long history of gathering and managing information about rock and soil slopes to anticipate needs and allocate resources. In 1988, the New York State DOT began to maintain rock slope, earth slope, and rockfall databases. Potential rockfall sites were identified and evaluated according to procedures presented by FHWA. In 1992, the New York State DOT devised its own rock slope rating system. To date, more than 2,800 rock slopes have been evaluated using the New York State DOT rating procedures. In addition, more than 475 rockfall incidents have been cataloged and incorporated into the New York State DOT databases. These databases have been integrated into a geographic information system environment.