Interaction of transport infrastructure with natural hazards (landslides, rock falls, floods)

Abstract

The significance of the transport infrastructure is going strongly up during last period. It is connected with two aspects. Firstly the interest is connected with energy consumption as about 40% of overall consumption is consumed for transport infrastructure. Secondly the interest is focused on securing the serviceability of transport infrastructure also during nonstandard conditions. Between these conditions belong not only cases elicited by human factor, as transport for example the blockade caused by transport accident, but also by cases elicited by external factors, mostly by natural hazards. The paper is focused on securing serviceability during natural impacts ‐ hazards. Floods, landslides, rock falls are natural hazards typical for middle Europe. Therefore natural hazards like tsunami, typhoons, hurricanes typical for coastal zones, or avalanches typical for alpine zones, respective earthquakes for seismic prone zones are not included in. The paper is therefore focussed in more details on the interaction of transport infrastructure with floods, landslides and rock falls with the main aim to guarantee at least limited serviceability during such events. In doing so the view of geotechnical engineering is playing primordial task.

Flood Risk Assessment in an Underground Railway System under the Impact of Climate Change—A Case Study of the Barcelona Metro

“…These events have gradually increased in recent years due to cities' growth and climate change [14][15][16]. Flood events in major global Metro systems: (a) New York [17]; (b) Tokyo [18]; (c) Madrid [19]; (d) Prague [20]; (e) Washington [21]; (f) Brussels [22].…”

“…Hence, in this study, the Metro Line 3 is integrated into the 1D/2D hydrodynamic model developed for the entire drainage system of the city of Barcelona within the European project RESCCUE (RESilience to cope with Climate Change in Urban arEas-a multi-sectorial approach focusing on water) [27]. Flood events in major global Metro systems: (a) New York [17]; (b) Tokyo [18]; (c) Madrid [19]; (d) Prague [20]; (e) Washington [21]; (f) Brussels [22].…”

Influences of Natural and Man – Made Hazards on Road Network and Elements of Risk Management Strategy

“…The following projects are important on internationaland national level [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7] and [8]: Particularly noteworthy is the SafeLand international research project (FP7) supported by the European Commission that was implemented in the period 2009-2012. The project involved 27 institutions from 13 European countries and was coordinated by the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI).…”

“…It is worth to mention a few significant conferences specifically devoted to the problem of the influence of natural and manmade hazards. Here are just a few examples: 16th European Danube Geotechnical Conference: "Geotechnical Hazard and Risks, Experiences and Practices" held in the Republic of Macedonia in June 2018 [1], "Seventh International Conference on Debris-Flow Hazards Mitigation" in Golden, Colorado 2019, ResyLab 4 -Sarajevo 2019 and many more.…”

“…It is well known that the conditions for rational and successful design of infrastructure facilities, as well as their exploitation and maintenance, are highly dependent on the impacts of different geohazards. Among them, the most significant are the impacts of landslides and floods, as they annually cause damages in the amount of over $ 40 billion or an equivalent of over 40,000 human lives [1].…”