The Ravenska Kočna – Kranjska koča na Ledinah mountain trail (via Žrelo) is located in the Ravenska Kočna valley in the southeastern part of the Municipality of Jezersko. Due to a rockfall, the trail has been closed since September 2020. The studied area lies in the fault zone of the Skuta fault and several smaller faults, making it highly tectonically fractured. Steep slope gradients, together with brittle and strongly fractured limestones that are highly susceptible to physical weathering, further contribute to the overall instability of the terrain. The aim of this thesis was to describe the extent of the rockfall and to define its main structural, sedimentological, and geomorphological characteristics. To facilitate the analysis of this hazardous and largely inaccessible area, a 3D model of the study area was created.
The trail is endangered at several critical locations where rock material, due to rockfalls and actively disintegrating fault zones, falls directly onto the trail. In the Žrelo area, three major rockfall sites, along with several smaller ones, were identified. Beneath the rockfall in the western wall, an approximately 10-meter-long section of the trail has become completely impassable because the safety installations have been entirely destroyed. The damaged section below the two rockfall areas in the southern wall is significantly longer, as rock material continuously falls onto the slope below the wall and into the gully beneath Žrelo. On the scree slope at the entrance to the wall, the transport of material by debris flow is clearly visible, further confirming the activity of slope processes and their direct impact on the hiking trail. In the eastern rock face, numerous faults, fractures, and smaller rockfalls are present, causing continuous rockfall onto the lower section of the trail. Safety installations have frequently been damaged or destroyed in the past, requiring regular maintenance. The results suggest that further rehabilitation of the damaged trail is not recommended. Instead, rerouting the trail to a safer area outside the main fault zones is proposed as a more sustainable long-term solution.
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