Monitoring and Numerical Modeling of a Road in Landslide Terrain

Abstract Due to the significant role and noticeable development of transportation routes running from the north to the south of central Europe, several problems related to the construction and functioning of roads in the Carpathian foothills have been revealed. Recent climate change causes areas, where transport routes are particularly exposed to hazards, to succumb to technical exploitation and degradation. The elimination of the threats related to the activation of landslide phenomena becomes particularly expensive. Old roads, which were once designed for significantly lower axle loads and less heavy traffic conditions, are predominantly exposed. At the present, these roads are heavily exploited and have become overloaded. As a result, both the roadway and the subgrade undergo damage, which causes an increase in dynamic loads, and in potentially endangered areas, the activation of landslides. Landslides in the Carpathian flysch have a peculiar susceptibility to activation due to its geological structure. This paper addresses the problem of monitoring and analysing the effects of a landslide associated with the operation of a transportation route running through the slope of the Carpathian flysch. The studies include both field work and laboratory testing of basic geotechnical parameters. The parameters obtained during the geotechnical investigations, conducted for the purpose of building a numerical model, have been completed. The field work includes surveys made by a terrestrial laser scanner. The study also includes a number of 2D and 3D numerical models. These models, along with the substrate parameters, have been introduced into the FEA package and then calibrated. Subsequently, an analysis of the effects of landslide susceptibility and the behaviour of the road and terrain surface, due to the different variants of the loads, is shown along with the results of surveys.