Classification, Hazard Assessment, and Optimization Strategy for Some Critical Rockfall Locations in the Duhok Area, North of Iraq

Duhok City is characterized by being built in a mountainous area, mostly limited between the Zawa and Bekhir mountains. The city and surroundings have been exposed to many rockslide accidents, especially during the rainy seasons. Some rock slides and falls occurred as a result of earthquakes occurring nearby in Iraq and Turkey. The current study aims to classify and evaluate the risks of landslides, to deal with them, and strategies for improving hazardous sites that may be subject to sliding. Many road cuts have been noticed at different locations in the Duhok vicinity and they were in critical equilibrium. The locations of the road cuts are detected within four major anticlines which are from south to north, Bekhair, Brifka, Chia Gara, and Kham Teer anticlines and they are arranged in echelon patterns extending from east to west, following the Taurus Mountain chains from Turkey. The main rock units seen in these locations consist of limestone, marly limestone, chalky limestone, and dolomitic limestone. Different types of structurally and non-structurally controlled failures have been identified, however, since the study is restricted to carbonate rocks, the structurally controlled failures are most important in this research due to their competence. Three types of slopes have been classified from the field observations, planar, wedge, and toppling failures. During the year 2024, and because of the heavy rain season and earthquake activities, many of these slopes were triggered. Many rockfall accidents have been registered alongside some narrow roads and highways in the city and surroundings.