Geohazard evaluations on clay-rich submarine landslides using combined experimental and numerical analyses

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This paper highlights the research on submarine landslides conducted in conjunction with the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA) mega-project Ferry Free E39 from Kristiansand to Trondheim, where the long-term goal is to replace the ferry crossings with bridges and tunnels along the costal highway in the western part of Norway. The research presented herein combines physical model testing and numerical simulations and have been tailored to the Bjørnafjorden crossing. The experimental studies have focused on different aspects of submarine landslides, including possible impact with offshore foundations and seabed entrainment. These experiments have further been used for validation of numerical simulations. The numerical simulations were performed with the recently developed material point method coupled with computational fluid dynamics (MPM-CFD method). This method has also been successfully adopted to simulate a previous identified submarine landslide at Bjørnafjorden. In both conditions, the simulations were determined from detailed geotechnical soil tests. Finally, this paper shows how the combined experimental and numerical analyses can be used to quantify the impact forces and the integrity on seabed foundations. This integrated study outlines a general methodology that can be used to quantify the geohazard related risk for similar future projects.

5th International Symposium on Frontiers in Offshore Geotechnics (ISFOG2025)

1 - Site investigation strategies, geohazards and integrated studies