Landslide blockage length estimation for the man-made linear structures

Abstract

The landslide blockage length along a man-made linear structure, the Alishan railway, is analyzed herein. The Alishan railway runs from Chiayi City to the Alishan scenic area. Numerous landslide and debris flow disasters have blocked the railway since it began operations in 1911. In this study, features of landslides are interpreted from Spot 5 images along the Alishan railway. The results show that larger landslides along the railway exhibit a power-law distribution in frequency-area analysis. The railway blockage length by landslide and its frequency can be linearized by plotting it in a log scale for a blockage length over 0.02 km. The characteristics may be attributed to the fact that the landslide magnitude for its area and volume versus frequency exhibits a power-law distribution. It may thus be possible to estimate the blockage length of linear structures (e.g., railway and expressway) by landslides using the power-law distribution.