A new approach to assessing the potential for rockfall and landslide hazards

Rockfalls and landslides are a common hazard throughout Canada and have a significant impact on transport corridors, infrastructure associated with natural resources, and in public areas. The ability to determine the potential for slope failures is often limited either by the lack of a detailed assessment of the slope, or by the understanding of the processes driving failure. The latter is particularly limiting when considering small-scale movements, which potentially indicate subsequent, larger failures. Recent advances in monitoring capabilities via remote sensing techniques, such as laser scanners, have revealed evidence of patterns in rockfall and landslide events. The observations suggest that understanding small-scale processes and previous events are important for determining the timing and location of future failures. Analysis of these patterns has the potential to help in forecasting slope failure events. Here we propose to develop a new method to assess the potential for failure that considers the history of events and the way in which they evolve over time.

Faculty Supervisor:

Scott McDougall

Student:

Siobhan Whadcoat

Partner:

BGC Engineering

Discipline:

Geography / Geology / Earth science

Sector:

Environmental industry

University:

Program: