ANALYSIS OF LASER SCANNER DATA COLLECTED DURING A SURVEY OF FACES IN A ROCK QUARRY

A terrestrial laser scanner survey was carried out in a marble quarry on differently oriented faces, either excavated or along the intact slope. A quantitative analysis devoted to the estimation of the discontinuities orientation, which is one of the peculiar parameters relevant to the stability of rock masses, was performed. Laser data belonging to each recognized discontinuity were extracted and processed by applying a Total Least Squares adjustment method for estimating representative plane. The results of this approach allowed to describe how the variance model is conditioned by the constraints of the problem. The laser survey, which revealed the presence of four sets of discontinuities, was compared to a traditional compass survey demonstrating the usefulness of the laser data and the good reliability of the applied numerical method.