Prof. phD. Eng. Simonetta Cola

University of Padua | UNIPD · Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering ICEA

This paper investigates the persistence of Rayleigh signatures in optical sensing fibers installed in harsh environments. We show that the measurements taken from some fibers installed in rough conditions still retain the Rayleigh signature after more than six years, even though those measurements have been collected with different Optical Frequenc...

Monitoring surface displacements of landslides is essential for evaluating their evolution and the effectiveness of mitigation works. Traditional methods like robotic total stations (RTSs) and GNSS provide high-accuracy measurements but are limited to discrete points, potentially missing the broader landslide’s behavior. On the contrary, laser scan...

Landslide-prone areas, predominantly located in mountainous regions with abundant rainfall, present unique challenges when subject to significant snowfall at high altitudes. Understanding the role of snow accumulation and melting, alongside rainfall and other environmental variables like temperature and humidity, is crucial for assessing landslide...

Baishuihe Landslide is a large active landslide that threatens shipping transportation in the Three Gorges Reservoir (China). A manual monitoring system has been implemented since 2003. However, after some intervention works in 2018–2019, new automatic instruments providing continuous data on displacements, rainfall, reservoir water level, and grou...

Improving knowledge of existing levees through investigation and monitoring is an important step in evaluating their safety and that of the surrounding area. Nevertheless, these activities are complex due to the considerable levee length and the high spatial variability of soil composing the body and foundation, especially when paleo-rivers are pre...

In the last ten years, the ‘Gel-Push’ sampling technique has been establishing itself as an alternative to the expensive freeze sampling method to obtain high quality samples in granular materials. The use of a polymeric gel reduces the friction between the tube wall and soil sample, so minor shear stresses and less disturbance of the in-situ physi...

The paper analyzes the groundwater regime in the embankment foundation of the artificial Gorzone channel located in the Po Plain near Venice, North Italy, under the conditions imposed by the hydraulic regime of the Gorzone itself and the nearby Adige river. Sand boils and blow-outs phenomena occur both at and beyond the levee toe, as the dam locate...

Over the last few decades, both natural and man-made territories in Italy have shown great vulnerability due to the impact of climate change and the lack of maintenance of the territory itself. This makes it necessary to adopt surveillance and alert systems able to detect, in real time, the imminence of critical phenomena. In this context, optical...

Concrete arch dams are large constructions aimed at producing hydro-electricity, providing water for irrigation and controlling flooding. Since concrete dams in Italy are quite old-fashioned structures, it is a challenge to properly evaluate their conditions, manage maintenance interventions and optimize energy production for a more sustainable dev...

Baishuihe Landslide is a large active landslide that threatens shipping transportation in the Three Gorges Reservoir (China). A manual monitoring system has been active since 2003. However, after the realization of some intervention works in 2018-2019, new automatic instruments providing continuous data on displacements, rainfall, reservoir water l...

In this paper, we address the persistence of Rayleigh signature in optical sensing fibres installed in harsh environments. The measurements of some fibres installed in rough conditions and analysed with the Spectral Correlation Analysis show that they still preserve their Rayleigh signature more than five years after installation. © 2023 The Author...

Compacted clay (CC) layers are commonly used as hydraulic barriers in landfills, thanks to their impervious capacity. However, mechanical and hydraulic properties of CC can be significantly affected by temperature variations due to the heat produced by waste degradation as well as to external air temperature and weathering. Previous experimental te...

Nonostante i notevoli miglioramenti apportati negli ultimi anni all'ingegneria geotecnica e idraulica, le infiltrazioni causano ancora periodicamente il collasso dei rilevati arginali. Il monitoraggio di queste strutture è complesso, a causa della loro notevole lunghezza e dell'elevata variabilità spaziale dei terreni che le costituiscono, che infl...

Despite notable improvements in geotechnical and hydraulic engineering in recent years, seepage still periodically causes levees to collapse. It is therefore fundamental to promote greater knowledge on existing embankment structures through investigation and monitoring activities, in order to evaluate their safety. Nevertheless, monitoring is compl...

Distributed optical fiber sensors (DFOSs) as detector of strain and temperature variations are an innovative and very attractive monitoring system because they allow measures distributed along large distances and with medium-high resolution. This paper deals with the monitoring of a new type of self-drilling reinforcements, namely composite anchors...

Nonostante il grande sviluppo dell'ingegneria geotecnica e idraulica avuto negli ultimi 40 anni, ancor oggi, i collassi di argini fluviali indotti da filtrazione sono eventi che si verificano periodicamente. Gli argini esistenti in Italia sono stati costruiti in varie fasi nei secoli con i materiali esistenti in loco e quindi hanno in genere strutt...

A procedure aimed at forecasting the velocity trend of a landslide for a period of some hours to one or two days is proposed here together with its MATLAB implementation. The method is based on continuous wavelet transform (CWT) and convolutional neural network (CNN) applied to rainfall and velocity time series provided by a real-time monitoring sy...

This work presents an innovative soil composite anchor system equipped with Brillouin-based distributed optical fiber sensors and its application to a landslide. The system can provide information about the properness of the anchor’s design and its effectiveness in remediation and, at the same time, about landslide movements and characteristics.

Il buon funzionamento dei rilevati arginali e il loro monitoraggio sono un elemento fondamentale per la gestione e la protezione dei territori di pianura, non solo in occasione di eventi di piena ma anche nelle condizioni di deflusso normale. Essendo strutture longitudinali, caratterizzate da notevole estensione lineare e da una certa variabilità s...

Malgrado il grande sviluppo dell’ingegneria geotecnica e idraulica avuto negli ultimi 40 anni, ancor oggi, i collassi di argini fluviali indotti da filtrazione sono eventi che si verificano periodicamente. Al fine di migliorare la valutazione delle condizioni di sicurezza di una struttura arginale, si rende necessario incrementare la conoscenza sul...

Propagation models can study the runout and deposit of potential flow-like landslides only if a reliable estimate of the shape and size of the volumes involved in the phenomenon is available. This aspect becomes critical when a collapse has not yet occurred and the estimation of the unstable volume is not uniquely predictable. This work proposes a...

The development of innovative monitoring systems to mitigate the risk associated to river levee failure is a recent challenge involving synergic effort of public institutions, specialized companies and academics. The present study examines a 350 m stretch of Adige river levees, located in the Province of Bolzano (Italy) close to the village of Salo...

A large number of landslides occur in NorthEastern Italy during every rainy period due to the particular hydrogeological conditions of this area. Even if there are no casualties, the economic losses are often significant, and municipalities frequently do not have sufficient financial resources to repair the damage and stabilize all the unstable slo...

In a Spring day of 2006, early afternoon, the Cianross ski slope, located in the Dolomitic skiing area in the village of San Vigilio di Marebbe (Italy) collapsed and moved slowly downwards. Due to this phenomenon, the uphill station and upper pier of a new cableway crossing the ski slope tilted and moved tens of meters down the slope scaring the pe...

The annual frequency of landslide in the North-Eastern Italy is very high due to the hydro-geological conditions of this area. The occurrence of similar phenomena often leads to severe damages or even destruction of residential and transport infrastructures with effect on economic development of mountain areas. The search for cost-effective solutio...

In closed-loop Ground Source Heat Pump system, the thermal exchange between the building and the subsoil is provided by ground heat exchangers inserted into the ground with a circulating heat-carrier fluid. A heat pump manages the system by regulating the fluid working temperature. When a greater heat extraction rate from the subsoil is needed, the...

By looking at nature, modern and sustainable engineering solutions can be developed. For instance, fibrous root systems, have inspired new prototypes of foundations, tiebacks or anchorages. A possible configuration of these innovative shapes is a central shaft branched out with multiple arms. Small-scale experiments have shown how root inspired anc...

Landslides are a critical process in landscape evolution and may pose a serious threat to people and infrastructure. In the last decades, a growing interest in such phenomena has developed in the Alps, where narrow valleys are increasingly inhabited, and landslides have caused several casualties. Understanding the driving factors, triggers, evoluti...

Underground food storage represents an interesting solution to the increasing demand for new food storage space, combining this demand with sustainable land exploitation. It also reduces the energy demand for food conservation, therefore limiting storage costs and greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, atmospheric conditions can be easily controlled i...

The fate of coastal marshlands in the near future will strongly depend on their capability to maintain their elevation above a rising mean sea level. Together with the deposition of inorganic sediments during high tides, organic soil production by halophytic vegetation, and organic matter decomposition, land subsidence due to natural soil compressi...

The collapse test with granular or cohesive materials known as ‘slump test’ is a simple, small-scale experiment. It can be used to study the rheology of soil masses involved in flow slides and to calibrate the numerical models used for analyzing the propagation of soil flows. This study presents the results of an extensive, experimental program car...

In landfills, due to their low hydraulic conductivity, compacted clays (CC) are commonly used in multilayered structures as base liners and cover systems. Nevertheless, the hydraulic performances of the CC layer can be affected by temperature alterations. The CC barrier of cover systems is exposed to heating caused by waste degradation processes as...

Monitoring landslides and potentially unstable areas is of primary importance for the landslide risk assessment and for the identification of the proper mitigation measures. The advanced topographic techniques, such as aerial drone and laser scanner survey, are very good alternatives to the classical survey with total topographic station, because t...

In closed-loop Ground Source Heat Pump system (GSHP), the thermal exchange with the underground is provided by a heat-carrier fluid circulating into the probes. In order to improve the heat extraction rate during winter, the heat-carrier fluid temperature is often lowered down to −5 °C; this way, the induced thermal anomaly is more intense and can...

Fibre Optic Sensors (FOSs) offer unprecedented possibilities for the monitoring of engineering structures, such as foundation systems. Notably, the type of FOSs known as Distributed Fibre Optic Sensors (DFOSs) has the capability of monitoring variations in the observed physical field, such as strain and temperature, with spatial continuity along th...

The paper presents a multidisciplinary analysis carried out for the characterization and monitoring of a levee in Bozen Province, North Italy. The study treats a small section of the Adige river embankments, interested in the recent past by moderate piping phenomena and subjected to some subsequent interventions for the risk mitigation. The data ac...

Soil heterogeneity plays an important role in incrementing the uncertainty about the reliability of geotechnical engineering works, especially levees. The presence of thin layers of soils more permeable than the surrounding matrix significantly changes the seepage flow net below and within the dike. However, the detection of these layers is extreme...

The study examines a 350 m long section of the Adige river levee, located in the Province of Bolzano (Italy) close to the village of Salorno, that has been affected in the recent past by moderate piping phenomena and subjected to subsequent interventions for the risk mitigation. Extensive geophysical and geotechnical investigations were performed t...

The study examines a 350 m long section of the Adige river levee, located in the Province of Bolzano (Italy) close to the village of Salorno, that has been affected in the recent past by moderate piping phenomena and subjected to subsequent interventions for the risk mitigation. Extensive geophysical and geotechnical investigations were performed t...

Composite anchors are a new type of self-drilling reinforcements recently developed for the slope stabilization. They consist in hollow bars equipped with some tendons, inserted and cemented in their inner hole after installation. Compared to traditional self-drilling anchors, they offer a higher tensile strength with small increments of cost. This...

Composite anchors are special passive sub-horizontal reinforcements recently developed for remediation of unstable slopes. They are composed of a hollow steel bar, installed by a self-drilling technique in the soil, coupled with tendons cemented in the inner hole to increase the global anchor tensile strength. The anchors are primarily intended to...

Il rischio derivante da fenomeni di debris flow deve essere tenuto sotto controllo per evitare perdite di vite umane e limitare i danni alle infrastrutture e agli edifici. Non essendo semplice impedire l'innesco di tali fenomeni, risulta essenziale prevedere contromisure per limitare le velocità di propagazione e le distanze percorribili dalle mass...

The freeze–thaw cycles artificially induced in the ground by ground source heat pump systems working at sub-zero temperatures, or during underwater soil excavation, could cause unwanted permanent effects on the hydro-mechanical behaviour of the surrounding deposits. Cohesive deposits present a specific sensitivity to these processes connected to ph...

The investigation of the collapse of a well-known soil volume is a simple experiment that permits to make several interesting considerations. This paper, at first, presents a brief overview of some physical experiments led to understand how the composition of a three-phase mixture influences the mass collapse. In particular, the run-out and the max...

This paper presents a numerical study carried out in the context of the development of a new application of plate anchors for landslide stabilisation. The plates are positioned on the slope’s ground surface and linked to a deeper stable layer with a steel grouted bar, thus acting as discontinuous elements contrasting the slope movement. This techni...

A distributed optical fibre sensing system is used to measure landslide-induced strains on an optical fibre buried in a large scale physical model of a slope. The fibre sensing cable is deployed at the predefined failure surface and interrogated by means of optical frequency domain reflectometry. The strain evolution is measured with centimetre spa...

In Ground Source Heat Pump systems (GSHP) a continuous circulation of a fluid inside the exchangers installed in the ground transfers heat between the ground and the building’s conditioning system. The heat exchange connected to a GSHP has been shown to alter the natural thermal status of the surrounding subsoil. Often the carrier fluids are brines...

The collapse and consequent spreading of a column of granular or cohesive material is a simple experiment used by many research groups to study the rheology of the soils and for calibrating numerical propagation models. This paper deals with the results of a comprehensive experimental program carried out with mixtures of sand, kaolin and water: the...

In Ground Source Heat Pump systems (GSHP), a continuous circulation of a fluid inside the Borehole Heat Exchangers (BHE) transfers heat between the ground and the building's conditioning system. Therefore, the natural thermal status of the subsoil in the boreholes' surrounding is altered. The international community has already pointed out the impo...

The North-Eastern Italy and the Polish part of the Carpathians are subject to high hydro-geological hazard due to its climatic, geological and geomorphological conformation, often inducing damages or destruction of resi-dential development, economic and transport infrastructures. Thus, the search for cost-effective solutions for risk mitigation and...

Due to its weather-climatic, geological and geomorphological setting, Italy is particularly subject to geo-hydrological hazard. New alarms intensify during exceptional rainfalls. Therefore, the research for innovative and cost-effective solutions for risk mitigation and landslide stabilization has great scientific and socio-economic relevance. The...

The flow-slides could often cause large economic and social damages. The comprehension of their propagation represents an important aspect to be addressed, because it affects the reliability of different risk scenarios and the evaluation of mitigation strategies. The flow-slide kinematic is mainly related to the rheology of the involved materials t...

Gli ancoraggi con barre autoperforanti sono una buona alternativa alle tradizionali tecniche di ancoraggio passivo. Per ampliare il loro campo di applicazione e migliorarne le caratteristiche meccaniche, è in fase di sviluppo una nuova tipologia di ancoraggi detti compositi, che nascono dall'accoppiamento di una barra autoperforante tradizionale co...

Nowadays, numerical simulations are indispensable allies for the researchers to reproduce phenomena such as earth-flows, debris-flows and mudflows. One of the most difficult and problematic phases is about the choice and the calibration of the parameters to be included in the model at the real scale. Surely, it can be useful to start from laborator...

This paper reports on an experimental investigation on the behaviour of small-diameter piles, commonly referred to as micropiles. This particular type of deep foundation is frequently used in many barely accessible Italian mountainous areas, often characterised by complex ground profiles composed of mixtures of coarse soils with some fine matrix el...

In closed-loop geothermal systems, the operation of a Borehole Heat Exchanger (BHE) affects the thermal equilibrium of the surrounding subsoil. This study was part of a large laboratory program undertaken to understand how the cyclic thermal stress induced by a BHE in the subsoil can change sediments’ mechanical properties, if the BHE works in extr...

In Ground Source Heat Pump systems (GSHP) a continuous circulation of a fluid inside the exchangers installed in the ground transfers heat between the ground and the building's conditioning system. Often the carrier fluids are brines consisting of a mixture of water and anti-freezing solutions, which lower their working temperature in order to impr...

The Tessina Landslide, a complex movement which has been active for over the past 50 years in the Alpago area of Belluno (Italy), was triggered in October 1960. As it is typical of Tertiary Flysch formations, its evolution has been characterized by periodical medium-large roto-translational slides in the source area evolving into earthflows, often...

Parameter calibration is one of the most problematic phases of numerical modeling since the choice of parameters affects the model’s reliability as far as the physical problems being studied are concerned. In some cases, laboratory tests or physical models evaluating model parameters cannot be completed and other strategies must be adopted; numeric...