PacTrans Researchers Develop New Techniques to Assess Rock Slopes Endangering Highways

Over the past six years, the Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium (PacTrans) has funded a group of four researchers from three partner universities to explore innovative methods for rockfall and landslide risk assessment. The four phases of this work resulted in numerous real-world implementations. 

Assessing rockfall and landslide risk poses significant challenges to transportation departments (DOTs). Classical slope assessment methods are laborious, unsafe, and costly. Two key factors limiting slope assessment are inadequate data, and modern observation systems. Without baseline data and monitoring systems, analysis of changing factors affecting transportation infrastructure is not feasible.