Spatial vulnerability of levees to cascading hazards

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Publication Title
Spatial vulnerability of levees to cascading hazards

Abstract
Levees are vulnerable to a multitude of hazards which may cause their partial or complete failure, thus leading to loss of their main purpose of protection against floods. As earthen structures, levees are also highly susceptible to earthquakes. A major concern arises in the unlikely case that these two events occur at the same time with extreme magnitudes. A similar situation occurs when an earthquake damages upstream components of the same flood protection network, such as dams, causing water waves to propagate downstream. The loads are not simultaneous, but within the short delay the damage to the levees would not have yet been identified/repaired to prevent flooding of the surrounding area. This paper analyses cascading scenarios of strong earthquakes followed by water waves resulting from damaged dams, acting upon the downstream levees. The levees in the cross-border area of Croatia and Slovenia, sharing the seismic and flooding hazards, are selected for validation of the vulnerability assessment methodology. The vulnerability of levees was modelled considering the influence of earthquakes on both the levee network and the upstream hydropower plant. Probabilities of failure are derived, enabling the categorization of the levee network, and giving valuable information to infrastructure managers and first responders on the criticality of the network whose overall efficiency is controlled by the weakest link.
Authors
M. Bacic; N. Rossi; Lovorka Libric; Meho Sasa Kovacevic

Published In

18th European Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ECSMGE2024)

Theme

C - Risk analysis and safety evaluation

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