A wireless crackmeters network for the analysis of rock falls at the Pietra di Bismantova natural heritage site (Northern Apennines, Italy)

The Pietra di Bismantova (Northern Apennines, Italy) is a large calcareous sandstone rock slab which is distinctively bordered by sub-vertical cliffs that are affected by rock falls, a risk for people visiting the area and for key assets located at the foot of this natural heritage site. A wireless sensor network based on wireless nodes, crack meters and thermometers has been made operative in January 2015 in order to study the response of fractures to changing environmental conditions and support the spatial and temporal zonation of rock fall hazard in this natural heritage site. Results from the first eight months of monitoring show that intense snowfall and low temperatures can determine short-term pulses of fracture opening while the increase of temperature throughout summer determines long-term fracture closing trends. Moreover, as soon as February 2015 one of the crack meters monitored the rapid trend of crack opening that occurred prior to the failure of a large rock slab of about 200 cubic meters.