Investigación geotécnica para la estabilización de las laderas del barrio San Fermín, municipio de Ocaña, departamento de Norte de Santander (Colombia)

Abstract

This paper presents the geotechnical research for the stabilization of the main slopes at San Fermin neighborhood in Ocaña city (Norte de Santander, Colombia), which is a settlement largely composed of displaced families who made a series of cuts on the slopes of this part of the city without any technical advice and without implementing any stabilization systems. This has led to continuous landslides during rainfall periods, hence, putting lives and assets at risk. The study was conducted under the three fundamental premises of geotechnics: a) field work including previous visit, surveying, subsurface exploration and geological analysis, b) laboratory work for a physico-mechanical characterization of soil profiles, and c) mathematical modeling and stability analysis implementing valuation factor methodology and specialized software. The results allowed establishing the conditions for geotechnical stability of the slopes and alternative solutions to the problems encountered.