Geohazard Risk Management Program Development

As part of an asset integrity management program for energy transportation infrastructure, WSB was contracted to complete a comprehensive geohazard risk assessment to identify risk in designated areas of New York, Pennsylvania, and North Dakota. The following hazards were modeled and analyzed: slope instability, water crossings (washouts), karst topography, regional seismicity, subsidence, freeze-thaw, groundwater seepage, and active mining hazards.

Phase One of the project involved a remote desktop analysis of these hazards, in which WSB utilized their suite of geohazard vulnerability tools. Phase Two involved field verification of slopes and water crossings, as identified through remote modeling analyses performed in Phase One.

WSB implemented a high-resolution Geographic Information System (GIS) model to objectively identify risk and prioritize sites for field confirmation. Field assessments validated the models’ predictive capabilities. Repair solutions were outlined for sites with the highest risk ranking regarding preliminary slope and water crossings.