The Effect of Landslide in Road Transport and How to Minimize it

Many people and businesses prefer road transport because it offers many advantages. However, this mode of transport is not without drawbacks.  The transportation method is vulnerable to natural hazards, such as landslides. The effect of landslide in road transport can be fatal.

Considering the fatality of the landslide effects, governments must mitigate this natural calamity to minimize the impact. Therefore, they can reduce financial losses and the number of victims from this disaster. 

The Effects of Landslides on Road Transport and Environment

Sloping or mountainous areas are typically vulnerable to landslides. These hazards commonly occur after heavy rains or earthquakes. However, landslides triggered by earthquakes occur less frequently than those triggered by heavy rains.

A mass of earth materials from a landslide moves fast. Therefore, people around the site of hazards cannot save themselves and their belongings from this natural calamity. Below are several effects of landslides on the environment and road transport.

1. Damaged Roads and Infrastructures

During a landslide, a mass of earth materials may slide down a slope bringing along houses, roads, railways, and other infrastructures. Those damaged infrastructures will lead to other problems.

Examples of those problems are disrupted businesses, financial loss, cut transportation networks, and displacement of communities. This situation also makes particular regions inaccessible due to damaged roads, railways, or bridges.

2. Blocked Road 

The effect of landslide in road transport is blocked traffic. Sometimes, the mass of earth materials falls onto roads due to a landslide. Consequently, it blocks traffic on one lane or all lanes of one or several roads.

The blocked roads will cause traffic congestion for several hours because it takes a long time to remove the rocks, debris, and soil from the highways. Sometimes, authorities do not allow vehicles to pass these roads for safety reasons.

As a result, vehicles must make detours to reach their destination. This condition can lead to various economic and societal impacts if it occurs for months.

3. Loss of Lives

Another effect of a landslide is the loss of lives. The earth materials from a landslide may bury homes and buildings full of people. Moreover, they may topple over roads and bury vehicles along with their passengers. Landslides can also injure people, kill animals, and damage crops.

4. Altered Natural Landscapes

An enormous movement of earth materials will lead to altered natural landscapes. This is a serious condition because it has massive impacts on the ecosystem. Due to this hazard, wild animals and vegetation may lose their habitats.

In addition, the altered landscapes will affect water courses. Consequently, the regions near the site of this disaster will be more vulnerable to floods and erosion than before. These conditions may result in another landslide in the future.

Minimizing the Effect of Landslide in Road Transport and the Environment.

Considering the fatal effects of landslides on road networks, governments can take the following measures to reduce the risk of this disaster.

1. Assessing and Mapping Landslide-Prone Areas

One of the ways to reduce the landslide risk is assessing mountainous and sloping areas, particularly those near highways and main roads. In this assessment, authorities must evaluate their conditions, such as soil/rock compositions and risk factors that can trigger this hazard.

After identifying the landslide-prone areas, authorities must create a map of those regions. Therefore, they can plan evacuation routes, alternative road transport networks, and other strategies to mitigate the potential disaster.

2. Plant Trees

Some sloping areas have a high landslide risk because of illegal logging, the development of the tourism industry, and the increased population. Therefore, local authorities must conduct reforestation or plant more native vegetation in the sloping areas.

Moreover, they must implement particular regulations about land use planning and construction in those areas. Consequently, authorities can minimize the loss of lives, damage costs, and effect of landslide in road transport when landslides occur.

3. Improve Drainage

Improving drainage in sloping and mountainous areas can reduce the landslide risk due to floods. Better drainage will help rainwater flow smoothly without disturbing the stability of the slope. Therefore, landslides are less likely to occur after heavy rains.

4. Build Retaining Walls

Retaining walls, terracing, and other landslide prevention techniques can lower landslide risks. These walls offer structural support to hills and other sloping areas. They are also ideal for sloping areas near highways because they prevent damaged and blocked roads due to landslides.

5. Landslide Early Warning System

A landslide early warning system, consisting of monitoring and communication tools, can minimize the impact of landslides on the environment and road transport. This system will disseminate alerts via cell phones, TV stations, sirens, and radio stations after sensing land movements.

These alerts help road users avoid highways and roads that are blocked by a mass of earth materials or that have a high landslide risk. Therefore, they can travel more comfortably.

The effect of landslide in road transport can be costly and fatal. Landslides may kill road users, damage or block roads, and cause traffic congestion. However, with the help of EWS and cell broadcast alerts, these effects can be avoided. Government agencies can disseminate these alerts if they purchase cell broadcasters at smsbroadcaster.com.