Lessons from international case studies on bridge-slide interaction problems

Bridges and viaducts are facing progressive and natural degradation of materials, structural elements, and the of territory in which the works are located. The deterioration is exacerbated by increasingly frequent and abrupt “accelerations”, caused by natural hazard events such as landslides and floods, which are intensified by climate change. In particular, landslide events exhibit a range of interaction phenomena, from simple quasi-static forces for slow landslides, to dynamic forces generated by impact events. This research work presents a collection of international case studies of bridge-landslide interactions that have resulted in structure damage or collapse. Relevant variables from these cases were rationalized to allow statistical analysis in aggregate form considering different interaction mechanisms. The results show that the type of landslide, its velocity, volume, elements involved, and direction of movement with respect to the direction of the bridge are some of the main parameters. This approach provides valuable guidance for implementing more refined landslide risk characterization models for bridges.