Introductory editorial to the Topical Collection on “Engineering Problems in Karst”

Excerpt

Outcrops of karst rocks cover approximately 20% of the Earth’s continental surface and provide about 25% of the world’s drinking water. Karst systems can be extremely complex and, due to their unparalleled geological and hydrological intrinsic features, are among the most vulnerable settings in the world. These are commonly difficult environments from the engineering perspective that suffer from severe impacts and are the arena of a variety of natural and anthropogenic hazards (Parise and Gunn 2007; Gutierrez 2010). Such peculiar and sensitive environments require the application of specific approaches to foresee and reduce the negative effects of engineering projects, including human-induced hazards and impacts, allowing for sustainable development. Karst hydrology is particularly vulnerable to pollution events, groundwater withdrawal, construction of reservoirs, underground excavations, and land-use changes (Gutierrez et al. 2014; Stevanovic 2015). In addition, subsurface dissolution creates voids in carbonate and evaporite rocks that may propagate upwards leading to ground subsidence. These instability phenomena, including the occurrence of catastrophic collapse sinkholes, may severely damage any human structure and create serious difficulties to the design and development of engineering works. Management of karst environments is definitively a very delicate matter, which requires the participation of multidisciplinary teams with a proper understanding of their specific functioning and associated problems. …