Factors Affecting Earthwork Volume in Forest Road Construction on Steep Terrain

Ivica Papa, Rodolfo Picchio (), Mihael Lovrinčević, David Janeš, Tibor Pentek, Dino Validžić, Rachele Venanzi and Andreja Đuka ()
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Ivica Papa: Department of Forest Engineering, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, University of Zagreb, Svetošimunska Cesta 23, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
Rodolfo Picchio: Department of Agriculture and Forest Sciences (DAFNE), Tuscia University, Via S. Camillo de Lellis, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
Mihael Lovrinčević: Department of Forest Engineering, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, University of Zagreb, Svetošimunska Cesta 23, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
David Janeš: Department of Forest Engineering, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, University of Zagreb, Svetošimunska Cesta 23, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
Tibor Pentek: Department of Forest Engineering, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, University of Zagreb, Svetošimunska Cesta 23, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
Dino Validžić: Vukovarska Ulica 68, 33 410 Suhopolje, Croatia
Rachele Venanzi: Department of Agriculture and Forest Sciences (DAFNE), Tuscia University, Via S. Camillo de Lellis, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
Andreja Đuka: Department of Forest Engineering, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, University of Zagreb, Svetošimunska Cesta 23, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 2, 1-18

Abstract: Forest roads, as a prerequisite for high-quality forest management, should be optimally distributed in order to avoid negative environmental impacts and to best fulfill their task. In the design phase of forest roads, it is necessary to know which factors influence most the volume of earthworks to enable the designer to best adapt to the terrain requirements. In this paper the impact of an average cross terrain slope and carriageway value of a forest road on cut and fill volume is analyzed. The research was carried out in the area of the management unit Trovrh–Kik, characterized by irregular terrain with slopes ranging between 27 and 58%, and on some micro locations even up to 84%. On eight forest roads, based on standard cross-section profiles, the influence of the average cross terrain slope and carriageway value (difference between ground level and grade level) of the forest road on the cut and fill volume per 1 m of the forest road route was analyzed. The obtained coefficients of determination indicate a strong correlation between the cut volume and carriageway value (R 2 = 0.6841), and a moderate correlation between the fill volume and carriageway value (R 2 = 0.5619). Unlike the influence of carriageway value on the cut and fill volume, the correlation between the cross terrain slope and fill volume is weak (R 2 = 0.2076) or moderate in the case of the cut volume (R 2 = 0.3167). On the basis of the analyzed standard cross-section profiles, it was determined that the carriageway value was 0.051 m, where the difference between the cut and fill volume was minimum and the average actual carriageway value was determined to be −0.09 m. It can be concluded that, on terrains with large and varying slopes, there is no unique model or terrain factor that could describe the earthworks required in the construction of a forest road. However, it is beyond doubt that the increase in the carriageway value and cross terrain slope caused the increase in the aforementioned volumes.

Keywords: forest road; construction; cross terrain slope; carriageway value; cut volume; fill volume; steep terrain (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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