Landslide risk management during rehabilitation of transportation infrastructure

Abstract

The extensive rehabilitation works of transportation infrastructure are required by the increase of the traffic intensity in respect to speed and safety issues. Moreover, important damages are developed as consequences of local instability or a landslide activity in the zone of interest.
Landslide risk is defined by the vulnerability of the zone of interest multiplied with the landslide probability. The risk elements are continuously modified by the economic development of that zone.
Previous landslide activity recorded in the area of interest can be useful in terms of assessing the movement level and the activity of the rock mass. Although landslide
probability is not assessed by accurate mapping of Romanian territory, more important should be the assessment of the vulnerability in the zones of high landslide potential that currently exists to large extent in most parts of the country.
Maps of the landslide potential can enter larger details when projects of road rehabilitation are developed in areas where the risk elements have increased significantly over the last decade.
When developing projects of road rehabilitation involving the increase of the traffic lanes, the landslide risk is increased and thus mitigation measures are necessary to consider. There are active measures and passive measures, and strongly orientated to protect the risk elements against life threat and property loss.
Monitoring systems can be organized as part of the risk management in order to set up alarm levels when recording displacements or water levels that generate the idea of increased landslide potential.
The paper presents management issues for risk assessment and mitigation solutions to reduce the landslide risk during road rehabilitation works.