Assessing the stability conditions of a slope movement in Northern Italy interacting with the provincial road network

Abstract

Landslides can have devastating consequences on communities and the environment, including loss of life, destruction of homes and infrastructure, and loss of valuable natural resources. In particular, slope movements involving transport infrastructures such as roads and railways can have a significant impact both in terms of network efficiency and safety for vehicles to use. Therefore, it is extremely important to be aware of the potential risks and take the necessary precautions to mitigate the effect of these phenomena. The case study described in this paper deals with a landslide interacting with a provincial road, which represents the main connection between the city of Berceto (Italy) and the Cisa Motorway. Due to the importance of this road, and after the occurrence of several instability events over the years, a series of investigations were carried out in order to gather information regarding the geological features of the site and to provide a preliminary assessment of the stability of the area. The geological and geomorphological evidences collected during the survey point to a condition of general slope instability, characterized by different states of activity. This is confirmed by the results obtained from the execution of a series of stability analyses based on the Limit Equilibrium Method (LEM), which also underlined the influence of the water level variation on the general stability of the area.