Investigating the reactivation potential of an old huge dormant landslide adjacent to the Miyaneh-Ardabil railway, Iran

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

School of Geology, College of Science, University of Tehran, Iran

Abstract

In this study, the possibility of reactivation of a dormant landslide whose reactivation can be very risky for a railway bridge is investigated. Landslide #370 is a huge dormant landslide that occurred in the chainage of 370 km of the Miyaneh-Ardabil railway. The big Bridge #12 of this railway is located in the vicinity of the landslide’s toe. Besides, this landslide is adjacent to Shahriar Dam Lake. Therefore, there are concerns about the effects of possible landslide activities on two adjacent projects. Due to factors such as ground perturbation performed during the construction, the rising water level of the dam lake to a level close to the landslide toe, high seismicity of the region, and high seasonal precipitations, it is essential to investigate the possibility of reactivation of this landslide. The above factors can all work to reduce the safety factor of this landslide. Therefore, in this study, an attempt was made to investigate the effect of the temporal changes of influencing factors on landslide stability and provide solutions to reduce the risk of landslide reactivation. Both limit equilibrium and numerical methods were employed to evaluate the stability of this landslide in the future. The results of the performed studies indicate that due to the occurrence of a long/heavy rainfall and/or a large earthquake, the safety factor along the identified failure surface will decrease and this reduction will be enough to bring the landslide to a critical situation. So, risk reduction methods must be designed to prevent a tragic event.

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Article Title [Persian]

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