Abstract
Tree fall events are acknowledged as important causes of damage in urbanized areas and tree risk assessment is now part of general risk management analyses. Preserving arboreal heritage also implies biomass and biodiversity conservation, reduction of superficial soil erosion, improving the stability of potentially unstable slopes. In this context, tree risk assessment techniques used by professional agronomists may benefit of a deeper mechanical understanding of the soil-root interaction mechanisms controlling tree stability. From a Geotechnical point of view, the tree root plate is conceptually assimilated to the foundation of a slender structure subject to eccentric loads. In the paper results of static pulling tests and wind dynamic monitoring on two liquidambar trees are described; estimations of their uprooting safety factor are then derived according to the currently available techniques used in the agronomic field. The pull tests were performed using an advanced loading-unloading scheme, along two orthogonal directions. The preliminary interpretation shows that the system is characterized by a marked non-linear and irreversible behaviour, even at low loading levels as usually tested in agronomic practice. The results suggest that dynamic tree stability testing could be a valuable tool for stability assessment, albeit the interpretation of the results requires expertise in the dynamic behaviour of trees.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Satterthwaite, D.: Adapting to climate change in urban areas: the possibilities and constraints in low-and middle-income nations, vol. 1. IIED (2007)
Martinez, A., Dejong, J., Akin, I., et al.: Bio-inspired geotechnical engineering: principles, current work, opportunities and challenges. Géotechnique 72(8), 687–705 (2022)
Mattheck, C., Breloer, H.: Field guide for Visual Tree Assessment (VTA). Arboric. J. 18, 1–23 (1994)
Wessolly, L., Erb, M.: Handbuch der Baumstatik und Baumkontrolle. Patzer, Berlin (1998)
Nicoll, B.C., Gardiner, B.A., Rayner, B., Peace, A.J.: Anchorage of coniferous trees in relation to species, soil type and rooting depth. Can. J. For. Res. 36(7), 1871–1883 (2006)
Tsen-Tieng, D.L., Rahardjo, H., Choon, L.E., King, F.Y.: Anchorage and stability of tree root–soil plates. Environ. Geotech. 7(5), 330–337 (2018)
Galli, A., Sala, C., Castellanza, R., Marsiglia, A., Ciantia: Lesson learnt from static pulling tests on trees: an experimental study on toppling behaviour of complex foundations. Acta Geotecnica (2023)
Mickovski, S.B., Bransby, M.F., Bengough, A.G., Davies, M.C.R., Hallett, P.D.: Resistance of simple plant root systems to uplift loads. Can. Geotech. J. 47(1), 78–95 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1139/T09-076
Kamchoom, V., Leung, A.K., Ng, C.W.W.: Effects of root geometry and transpiration on pull-out resistance. Geotech. Lett. 4, 330–336 (2014)
Zhang, X., Knappett, J.A., Leung, A.K., Ciantia, M.O., Liang, T., Nicoll, B.C.: Centrifuge modelling of root–soil interaction of laterally loaded trees under different loading conditions. Géotechnique 1–15 (2022)
Marsiglia, A., Ciantia, M.O., Galli, A., Canepa, D.: Vertical loading tests on a simplified tree root prototype. In: Physical Modelling in Geotechnics, pp. 832–835 (2022)
Dupuy, L., Fourcaud, T., Stokes, A.: A numerical investigation into the influence of soil type and root architecture on tree anchorage. Plant Soil 278, 119–134 (2005)
Yang, M., Défossez, P., Danjon, F., Fourcaud, T.: Tree stability under wind: simulating uprooting with root breakage using a finite element method. Ann. Bot. 114, 695–709 (2014)
Dattola, G., et al.: A macroelement approach for the stability assessment of trees. In: Calvetti, F., Cotecchia, F., Galli, A., Jommi, C. (eds.) CNRIG 2019. LNCE, vol. 40, pp. 417–426. Springer, Cham (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21359-6_44
Jackson, T.D., Sethi, S., Dellwik, E., et al.: The motion of trees in the wind: a data synthesis. Biogeosciences 18, 4059–4072 (2021)
Bejo, L., Sumegi, I., Divos, F.: Dynamic tree stability: improved testing methodology and indications of reliability. In: Proceedings of the 22nd NDTE Symposium. Quebec City, Canada, pp. 175–183 (2022)
Bejo, L., Divos, F., Fathi, S.: Dynamic root stability assessment – basics and practical examples. In: Proceedings of the 20th NDTE Symposium. Madison, Wisconsin, USA, pp. 262–269 (2017)
Acknowledgments
The support by Agro Services s.r.l. and the Scottish Research Partnership in Engineering (SRPe), through the SRPe-IDP/011 research grant, is acknowledged.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Marsiglia, A., Galli, A., Marrazzo, G., Castellanza, R., Ciantia, M.O. (2023). Uprooting Safety Factor of Trees from Static Pulling Tests and Dynamic Monitoring. In: Ferrari, A., Rosone, M., Ziccarelli, M., Gottardi, G. (eds) Geotechnical Engineering in the Digital and Technological Innovation Era. CNRIG 2023. Springer Series in Geomechanics and Geoengineering. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-34761-0_27
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-34761-0_27
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-34760-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-34761-0
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)