Geomechanical modeling to study the effects of slope instability on buildings: a case study in northern Italy

The study of natural phenomena such as landslides requires reducing the problem to a simple scheme that is possible to solve with the available numerical methods. This is called a geo-mechanical model. The difficulty to obtain a realistic model of a landslide due to the variability of the main parameters and the frequent lack of experimental data is well known. The geo-mechanical modelling of a landslide comprises three main steps: the geological model, the geotechnical model and the stability analysis. The aim of this paper is to point out the objects and the critical points of every step with reference to a real case study. The problem described in the paper is a case of heavy damage induced in the structures of a broadcasting facility by slope instability. The facility is located on the top of a hill in Northern Italy, adjacent to an active quarry. The case was studied with the aim to ascertain the causes that induced the damages and to put in safety the facility due to the reason that even little movements of the broadcasting antenna could induce a variation of the broadcasting signal with important financial losses.