Geohazards induced by anthropic activities of geoconstruction: a review of recent failure cases

Many hazards occurring due to underground construction works can be attributed to anthropic activities. It is important to know what new knowledge on both geology and construction operation are needed to prevent these hazards from leading to catastrophic failures. In this paper, nine anthropic hazards due to the underground construction in recent years at Asian countries are discussed. Each case study discussed the project description, geological conditions, the collapse and its consequence, and analysis of failure mechanism according to field investigations. Furthermore, to explore the cause of the collapse and to prevent similar hazards from leading to failures, the collapsed excavations of the selected case studies were studied extensively. Based on the field investigations undertaken in this study, underground construction collapse which can be attributed to human-induced activities are overexcavation, water leakage, soil deterioration, faults in design and implementations, erosion, and inadequate ground improvement. The understanding of the effect of these human-induced activities can be used as a guideline for avoiding hazards in future projects.