pacific nw transportation consortium region 10 Pactrans

A recent PacTrans funded research project that sought to develop a new method for collecting and analyzing data pertaining to critical slope roadside rockfall hazards is back in the media. Earth Magazine’s August issues features, among others, this safety focused project titled A Platform for Proactive Risk-based Slope Asset Management, lead by Michael Olsen (OSU), Joe Wartman (UW), and Keith Cunningham (UAF). PacTrans funded the original research as well as some subsequent technology transfer activities. Since then, both the Oregon Department of Transportation and the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities have begun utilizing portions of this method in their high risk slope assessments and Alaska have even begun doing control work to bring down high risk debris in a control way.