Surveying and modeling of rock discontinuities by terrestrial laser scanning and photogrammetry: Semi-automatic approaches for linear outcrop inspection

Rock face diagnosis is a monitoring operation that is used to optimize rock-risk treatment works in terms of ensuring that safety requirements are met at the lowest cost. Diagnoses require measuring the location and orientation of rock discontinuities at the surface of the rock mass. These measurements are then entered into a structural model that extrapolates the data collected at the surface to the inner part of the rock mass. Currently, most surveys are empirical and are carried out manually using a compass-clinometer. In addition, they tend to examine only the most highly fractured area of a rock face, even though safety considerations demand an exhaustive study of the whole face. These deficiencies can be overcome by using dense 3D measurement techniques such as terrestrial laser scanning and optical imaging to obtain a more complete 3D model and structural statement. Hence, we have developed a semi-automatic process that allows 3D models to be combined with the results of field surveys in order to provide more precise analyses of rock faces, for example, by classifying rock discontinuities into subsets according to their orientation. Further research is being carried out in order to combine 3D data and 2D digital images as a support for structural survey. Trials carried out in a limestone quarry in the French Alps allowed us to compare data sets obtained using manual surveying methods, the well-known laser scanning method and the lower-cost photogrammetric survey method.