Geological Context and Fracturing State of the Rock Massifs of the Jijelian Ledge (Northeast Algeria)

Abstract

The national road n°43 connecting the cities of Jijel and Bejaia (North-East of Algeria) runs along the Mediterranean and crosses over more than 50 km a volcano-sedimentary rock mass. The road development of this ledge is constantly apprehended for the needs of road traffic. Several topographic and geotechnical constraints permanently threaten the rocky cliffs overlooking the sea. In this article, we studied the fracturing of the rock by estimating its occurrence on the massif by statistical methods. The large number of discontinuities observed in the study area by the azimuthal orientation measurements of the dip of the rupture plane of the various joints recorded, the spacing and the distribution of the discontinuities served as a basis for our work.