pacific nw transportation consortium region 10 Pactrans

The Long-Term Effect of Earthquakes: Using Geospatial Solutions to Evaluate Heightened Rockfall Activity on Critical Lifelines

PI: Margaret Darrow (UAF), margaret.darrow@alaska.edu, ORCID: 0000-0003-4078-4746

Co PIs: Ben Leshchinsky (OSU), Michael Olsen (OSU), and Joseph Wartman (UW)

AMOUNT & MATCH: $180,000 from PacTrans; $180,000 Match

PERFORMANCE PERIOD: 8/16/2020 – 8/15/2022

STATUS: Completed

CATEGORIES: Rockfall, Earthquake, Natural Disaster, Lifelines

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DESCRIPTION: Understanding increases in rockfall activity is critical for transportation agencies to plan for and allocate resources optimally to address maintenance needs for rock debris removal and slope mitigation. In cases where rockfall occurs in mountainous terrain along highways, road closure means delay as motorists must take longer alternate routes given the limited options. The project team will analyze a unique time series of ground-based LiDAR datasets collected for several years before and at several intervals after the 2018 Anchorage Earthquake to develop practice-oriented seismic rockfall stability guidelines and predictive tools for transportation agencies. A better understanding of rock slope response enables an improved mobility approach, safety, and commerce. In particular, we will continue to provide data-driven solutions in transportation, given that we are using advanced sensing technologies and developing robust tools to analyze these data to support cost-effective transportation decision making.