Requirements for longevity of landslide dams in the Alpine region from a geotechnical and hydraulic perspective - Case study-based data survey, modelling and hazard assessment

Roshanak Shafieiganjeh
Supervising board members: Bernhard Gems, Marc Ostermann, Barbara Schneider-Muntau, Michael Strasser, Markus Aufleger

Project Overview

Landslide dams are recognized as the natural phenomena occurred when a landslide blocks a watercourse in narrow valleys causing the formation of a lake upstream of the landslide deposit. Detailed field studies on single cases and inventories are accounted as two approaches dealing with this phenomenon. In the PhD project of Roshanak Shafieiganjeh a GIS-based inventory of Eastern-Alps landslide dams including 73 cases is created. In the rest of this project, the main focus will be on numerical modelling of the Obernbergersee landslide dam. The leading aim will be to reconstruct the internal structure of the dam based on the geotechnical properties and hydraulic field measurements. At the end, the flood hazard due to the possible failure of the dam will be assessed.

Fig.: Geographical distribution of landslide dams involved in the Eastern-Alps database.