Factors that condition physical vulnerability to ground fracturing in Mexico City

Abstract

In spite of subsidence being a well-studied geological phenomenon in Mexico City, its effects and risks for urban infrastructure and inhabitants have been neglected. Damage in the short, medium and long term implies maintenance and important mitigation costs. There are not systematic studies that address methodologies for the estimation of physical vulnerability of the geological media to fracture. In this work, factors conditioning the deformation and susceptibility to fracturing are analyzed using a deterministic approach. The identified physical variables were mapped, measured and integrated into a database that allowed for an adequate correlation of the parameters that condition fractures spatial distribution. A methodology for estimating a vulnerability index to fracturing (VIF) useful for decision making is proposed in this work.