Assessment of excavatability in sedimentary rocks using shallow seismic refraction method

The seismic wave velocities are significant factors in the evaluation of excavation characteristics of different rock materials. Nine shallow seismic profiles are used to delineate the shallow subsurface structure of an area in Marsa Matrouh in the northerly portion of Egypt. From the tomographic inversion, two refractors were detected in the surveyed site indicating the presence of three distinct velocity layers; starting from the topmost low velocity layer (≈ 450-1250 m/s) to the high velocity layer of the hard massive bedrock (≈ 3500-4150 m/s). Estimated velocity values are utilized in the assessment of rippability by tractor mounted rippers. Qualitatively, more than 60 % of the study area can be classified as rippable, 14 % as marginal, and 26 % as non-rippable. © 2015 ejge.