Geological and Geomorphological Problems Caused by Transportation and Industry

Cent. Eur. J. Geosci. • 3(3) • 2011 • 271-286 DOI: 10.2478/s13533-011-0026-2 Central European Journal of Geosciences Geological and Geomorphological Problems Caused by Transportation and Industry Review article Lorant David1∗, Zoltan Ilyes2, Zoltan Baros3 1 Department of Tourism and Regional Development, Károly Róbert College, 3200 Gyöngyös, Hungary 2 Department of Cultural and Visual Anthropology, University of Miskolc, 3515 Miskolc-Egyetemvaros, Hungary 3 Institute of Agroinformatics and Rural Development, Károly Róbert College, 3200 Gyöngyös, Hungary Received 1 July 2011; accepted 7 August 2011 Abstract: Alterations in topography due to the construction of transport infrastructure and industrial development are the results of rather complex processes. The impact of transport constructions upsetting (topographic) equilibrium is manifested in a relatively narrow strip, and, mostly, through producing abnormally steep slopes, in reducing relief stability. The earthworks for transport routes are themselves also landscape-forming factors whereas in the case of industrial developments, planation is usually mentioned. Topographic changes related to the construction of transport infrastructure and industrial development are discussed historically in this chapter. Among the direct impacts of the first are those related to the construction of Roman and Medieval roads, hollow roads in loess, public roads, motorways, railways, canals, tunnels and airports; while of the second are those of early mining and metallurgy, cellars, sludge reservoirs, slag cones and fly-ash reservoirs, cooling ponds, industrial parks, shopping centres and waste disposal sites. Of the indirect ones, an introduction is given to impacts of surface sealing, changes in runoff, the ‘waterfall effect,’ as well as to environmental impacts under permafrost conditions. Keywords: transportation • industry • geology • geomorphology © Versita Sp. z o.o. 1. Transport infrastructure con- pographic) equilibrium is manifested in a relatively narrow struction and industrial development strip, and, mostly, through producing abnormally steep slopes, in reducing relief stability. The earthworks for transport routes are themselves landscape-forming factors and, in addition, indirectly influence geomorphic and Alterations in topography due to the construction of trans- microclimate-forming processes [1]. In the case of in- port infrastructure and industrial development are the re- dustrial developments, planation is usually mentioned. sults of rather complex processes, and consequently they Changes in the anthropogenic relief related to the con- might be linked to or overlapped with other chapters of struction of transport infrastructure and industrial devel- this book (with water management, urban processes, min- opment are discussed below in a historical order. ing). The impact of transport constructions upsetting (to- ∗E-mail: [email protected] 271 Geological and Geomorphological Problems Caused by Transportation and Industry 2. Transport and industrial infrastructure until the Modern Age 2.1. Transport routes Among the early transport routes, from the point of view of geomorphology, Roman roads are the most enduring structures. They entailed, before large-scale motorway constructions of the 20th century, the removal of the most significant amount of material. The technique applied for old gravel roads widely used during the 4-5th centuries B.C. was rather simple: the foundation was first tamped then spread over by gravel. Paved roads with concrete surfaces were first built around 400 B.C. The longest and best-known is the Via Appia built from 312. B.C.; it has Figure 1. The structure of Roman roads [3] been the finest example of Roman road construction for (1 – gravel sand or stone pavement, 2 – walnut-sized centuries. In Western Hungary, sections of the Amber stones, 3 – fist-sized boulders, 4 – quarry-stones and binder, 5 – tamped clay, the roadway is ca. 1 m thick) Road have been preserved and are still well-observable. The construction technology of paved roads was complex: first, forests were cleared 60 m wide along the roads, fol- lacking the volcanic rocks required for paving. Road-cuts lowed by drainage ditches dug from a distance of 12-15 were yet applied, minor tributary valleys were bridged by m designating its route. Earth excavated from such fossae embankments, viaducts, depressions were filled and tun- were piled in dykes (aggers) ca. 1 m in height securing nels, even several hundred kilometres in length, were dug. the road. Roman roads of straight alignment formed a network in Roman roads had a layered construction. (The terms the empire just after Christ. Strasse and street are also originated from the Latin via Many morphological relics of transportation have survived strata (layered road).) Onto the tamped clay (5), first from the Middle Ages. The majority of medieval roads, un- 25-60 cm high quarry-stones laid flatwise were placed like Roman roads, lack a concrete surface; at some places, (statumen – 4), followed by a cemented layer of smaller, however, traces of gravel spreading and debris fill can big-clump-sized rocks (rudus, ruderatio – 3). Rudus was still be found. Medieval roads, usually 4-9 m in width, followed by the nucleus (2) that might have contained often followed watersheds on hill and mountain ridges, walnut-sized crushed rocks, gravel, coarse sand and car- averted watercourses and waterlogged areas, marshlands bonate debris. The final layer was the road surface or and those gallery forests of valley floors. In mountain- cover (summa crusta – 1, pavimentum, summum dorsum) ous regions, road-cuts into the bedrock can be identified. consisting of ca. 60×60 cm, 25 cm thick, mostly volcanic Traces of the formation of sunken or hollow roads are also flagstones (Figure 1). Road cover was sloped in order to common along medieval roads. Sunken roads were classi- ensure the runoff of to its edges. From tamped clay or fied in Germany by Dietrich Denecke, and he also devel- sand, sidewalks were also constructed. Along the roads, oped a methodology to study the morphology, formation by Roman miles (ca. 1.48 km) milestones were placed and dating of road tracks [4]. The most important physi- on which the distance of the nearest town was indicated. cal factors of sunken road formation include the angle of When completed, the roads rose as high as 2 m above slope, soil, bedrock and vegetation. Sunken road forma- the surface. In the summa crusta, wheel-tracks are often tion is a type of gully erosion determined by the angle of seen. Freeze-thaw alteration and scuffing of the gravel slope. The mechanics of rocks and soils greatly influence necessitated maintenance: Roman roads were completely the development and preservation of sunken roads. The restored after ca. 100 years of use [2]. incision of wheel tracks can be extremely rapid on loess, In the 1st century A.D., there was a drop in the mili- loamy soils and banked rocks. In the sandy and clayey tary significance of roads, whereas comfort aspects be- floor, sunken roads are less capable of preserving their came more important; thus that time witnessed a recur- shape, and take on a bowl shape. The lack of vegetation, sion to the construction of gravel roads on which coaches on the one hand, contributes to an accelerated deepening could run smoothly. The other reason for this change in of roads as well as to the further rill or gully erosion fol- technology was the fact that most Roman provinces were lowing abandonment. The damage caused by the recent 272 Lorant David, Zoltan Ilyes, Zoltan Baros Figure 2. Ideal profiles of sunken road types [4] (1 – Recent landform types: 1a – wheel-track, 1b – trapeze-shaped sunken road, 2 – Fossil landform types: 2a – trough-shaped sunken road, 2b –sunken ravine, 2c – wide floored sunken road, 3 – Relict landform types: 3a – sunken road terrace, 3b – sunken road dell, 3c – paved sunken road, A – present-day profile, B – earlier profile, I – removed material, II – eroded loose material, i – stone or gravel cover) Figure 3. A hollow road in loess in China [6, 11] use of roads, wheels and tramping − depending on inten- sity − hinders the formation of grass or tree cover and promotes deepening. Grass and forest vegetation, on the other hand, helps preserve sunken road profiles and the identification of fossil sunken roads [4] Two types of active sunken roads are distinguished by De- necke: wheel-tracks and trapeze-shaped sunken roads. According to him, the fossil type includes sunken roads of rounded profile without sharp edges, V-shaped sunken road traces cut deep into the less resistant material bor- dered by steep slopes and accumulated, planated, wide- floored sunken roads. Relict landforms as terraces and dells evidence abandoned sunken roads. Some of the sunken roads of the Modern age have been paved [4] (Fig- ure 2). Hollow roads in loess deep-cuts are typical erosional Figure 4. A hollow road in loess near the village of Szalánkeme along the River Danube landforms with a U-shaped cross-section [5]. They are dirt-roads, the primary loess structure of which is crushed by vehicles to dust. Their development is closely related to carbonate content, the capillary structure of loess or sandy loess as well as to gully erosion. In wheel-tracks ravines [5]. Thus, further dirt-roads have to be made on rainwater runoff, especially during heavy rainstorms, such cultivated land [6]. It is a typical situation in Hungary entrains a large amount of material and gradually deep- (Figure 4), especially in the counties of Fejér and Tolna ens the roads. After decades, the former roads are gradu- and along the eastern rim of the Mezõföld Plain [7], in ally transformed into hollow roads with (sub)vertical walls. the Solymár, Pilisborosjenõ and Üröm basins and in the Their depth may range from 2 to 10-15 m, in China even southern foregrounds of the Hosszú Hill [8]. The widest to 40 m (Figure 3, [6]). range of loess denudation landforms (among them, hollow Hollow roads in loess, as a consequence of piping and roads) in the country are found in the Szekszárd Hills gully erosion are transformed into steep-walled, V-shaped [9, 10].

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