Geohazard vulnerability and condition assessment of the Asian highway AH-48 in Bhutan

Geomatics, Natural Hazards and Risk

Karma Tempa¹  Nimesh Chettri¹  Komal Raj Aryal²  Dipendra Gautam³ 

[1] Civil Engineering Department, College of Science and Technology, Royal University of Bhutan, Phuentsholing, Bhuta;Faculty of Resilience, Rabdan Academy, The United Arab Emirate;Structure and Infrastructure Dynamics Laboratory, Interdisciplinary Research Institute for Sustainability, Kathmandu, Nepa;Department of Civil Engineering, Cosmos College of Management and Technology, Lalitpur, Nepa;Department of Civil Engineering, Institute of Engineering, Thapathali Campus, Kathmandu, Nepa;Nepal Academy of Science and Technology, Lalitpur, Nepa;

关键词: Road asset;    condition assessment;    geohazard;    landslide vulnerability;   

DOI  :  10.1080/19475705.2021.1980440

来源: Taylor & Francis

【 摘 要 】

Transport networks are frequently exposed to geohazards, and losses can be observed frequently by notable disaster incidents such as landslides, earthquakes, and floods. Although losses due to natural disasters are frequently reported, limited attention is paid to assess the condition of strategic road networks in the Himalayas. Thus, to fulfill this gap, this study performs condition assessment of Asian Highway AH-48 in Bhutan and develops a system to rate the performance level of road assets. The assessment is conducted along a 157.6 km stretch of AH-48. The sum of findings highlights that about 55% of the road assets along the AH-48 are highly vulnerable to geohazards. Drains are observed to be the most vulnerable, with 52% drains lying below the standard rating among the considered assets followed by retaining walls and pavement. Landslide vulnerability function for highways that are situated in mountain regions is developed using the newly proposed landslide intensity scale. The sum of findings highlights that the Himalayan roads will be affected mostly by landslides and the drainage system is the most affected road asset showing the least serviceability among the common road assets.

【 授权许可】

CC BY