Performance of slope stabilization trials on the road network of Laos

Abstract

Landslides pose significant hazards on the road network of Laos. These landslides frequently block access and occasionally result in the subsidence or loss of the carriageway. Several slope stabilization trials focusing on the use of bioengineering techniques and low-cost engineering measures were implemented in 2007 and 2008. Heavy rains in 2018 caused numerous landslides on the road network and a review was undertaken of the performance of the slope stabilization trial sites implemented ten years earlier. The outcome has proved very positive overall and vindicates the efforts made to understand the causes and mechanisms of the observed slope failures and the ground conditions that pertained. The outcomes of this research have been used to strengthen practice in Laos, and further afield, and to provide a valuable basis for future practice.

Factors associated with hepatitis B vaccination in Laos: findings from the multiple indicator cluster surveys in 2011/12 and 2017

“… 22 , 23 , 24 In the past three decades, the road network in Laos has been undergoing major changes and now comprises more than 50,000 km. 25 , 26 These investments in infrastructure, alongside improvements in the healthcare system Laos 22 may have resulted in an overall improvement of access to healthcare in rural and remote areas. Our findings suggest that cultural barriers between ethno-linguistic groups have a greater impact on vaccination coverage rates as compared to geographic areas.…”

Role of transportation infrastructures on the alteration of hillslope and fluvial geomorphology

“…For sustainable slope management in the road corridors, the Department for International Development (DFID) of the UK has been experimented with low-cost engineering plans on several sites (Hunt et al, 2008). The combination of bioengineering techniques such as linear grass-planting, direct seeding, brush layering, fascines, palisades, truncheon cuttings, live-check dams, tree-planting, wattle fences and small-scale low-cost engineering structures like slope-trimming, masonry walls, surface drains, trench drains, dry stone wall, revetment are performed effectively in stabilising the hillslope as illustrated by different case studies in Hearn et al (2021). The effect of stormwater events on roadside soil erosion and slope failure can also resist by applying effective rainwater harvesting methods on road surfaces like 'low-impact development' (LID) (Prince George's County, 1999) and 'Green Road' (Lin et al, 2018).…”

“…Landslides are frequently reported from different hilly regions of the world (Mondini et al, 2021). The major factors behind the instability of mountain slopes are steepness, cut slope geometry, alignments, strength and permeability of underlying rocks, composition and depth of soil, and major triggering factors are like the intensity of rainfall, groundwater condition, land use practice, toe erosion, seismic acceleration and faulty engineering practices (Hearn et al, 2021). Anthropogenic imprints such as urbanisation, deforestation, dam, and expansion of transport networks are the primary extrinsic causes of slope instability and corresponding landslides (Kellerer-Pirklbauer, 2002; Skilodimou et al, 2018).…”

Low-Cost Road Construction and Rehabilitation in Unstable Mountain Areas

“…The slope failures should be assessed properly, and the reinstatement works after the landslides should be undertaken by private-public partnerships. The bioengineering and safety tests are critical 18 . Keller et al (2011), the rehabilitation of the forest roads depends on the stabilization and vice versa.…”