The Risk Of Rolling Boulders

Yes, you read that correctly. Today’s show is a deep dive into a due diligence item that we often don’t think about. 

I’m going to read a few extracts from an engineering letter we received as part of an information package on a property. 

The project in question is a residential subdivision with a large rock outcropping in the middle of the property. The top of the hill consists of large boulders and the residential area below is surrounding the rock outcropping. The residential homes would be situated on more level ground. 

The possibility of a rock fall can only be mitigated in a few ways.

1. Move the dwellings far enough away that the risk is minimized 
2. Actively stabilize the structure 
3. Introduce barriers to create a layer of protection in case something does fall

All of these solutions come at a cost. Retaining walls can cost more than $1,000 per linear foot depending on the height. You can end up spending hundreds of thousands, or perhaps even millions if you have a large scale site with vast unstable structures. 

This type of situation can be further amplified by destabilizing events. In this particular instance, there is a known seismic surface fault within 150 feet of the subject property. There is a second engineering report governing the potential for seismic activity with the fault. An earthquake in the immediate area may not be enough to damage the buildings in the planned subdivision. But they could easily be enough to destabilize the large boulders that sit on top of granular and silty material that could easily liquify when subject to seismic activity. This could increase the probability of rolling boulders. 

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