Road geohazard risk management handbook

Geohazards may result in the loss of human life, extensively damaged infrastructure, and suspended or disturbed traffic and services such as water and energy supply. Most geohazards are linked to climate activity such as rainfall and thawing of ice and snow or associated with earthquakes that cause large-scale ground movement independent of any underlying climatic conditions. For many locations around the world, climatic changes have increased the intensity of rainfall and raised the mean temperature, in turn increasing flowtype geohazard events such as debris or earth flows and floods. This has resulted in a long-term increasing rate of geohazard impacts and associated road damage. 

This handbook outlines an approach to proactively manage the risks of geohazards on roads, road users, and the people living near and affected by roads through:

1. Improving understanding of the risks of geohazards throughout the road infrastructure cycle;
2. Promoting risk avoidance on the alignment of new roads or the realignment of existing roads to manage construction costs, maintenance costs, and losses from geohazard-induced traffic disruptions;
3. Protecting road users through preparedness, including measures for early warning, precautionary road closures, and access to emergency services and evacuation routes; and
4. Contributing to the speedy recovery and reconstruction of roads after geohazard events and to the mitigation of future geohazard events.