The Sea Cliff Mass Rating geomechanical classification for the rocky coastal management plan

Coastal rocky cliffs are landforms affected by abrupt and quick morphological changing. Their analysis is essential to evaluate the susceptibility to coastal instability. In this study we analyze the aspects and factors that contribute to the stability of rocky coasts and we propose a method to develop coastal hazard and risk maps. The existing geomechanical classifications are not complete to represent the dynamics of a sea cliff, as they do not take into account the action of the sea waves. So we propose a new classification Sea Cliff Mass Rating (SCMR), which partly takes the index Slope Mass Rating (SMR) by Romana. The new classification considers the conditions of the rock, the condition of discontinuities and introduces the sea wave action. The SCMR index has been applied to the coastal stretch between Genova and Camogli (Eastern Liguria), providing significant results.