IPL Project 202: Landslide Monitoring Best Practices for Climate-Resilient Railway Transportation Corridors in Southwestern British Columbia, Canada

Abstract

The paper outlines landslide mapping and change-detection monitoring protocols based on the successes of ICL-IPL Project 202 in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. In this region, ice sheets, glaciers, permafrost, rivers and oceans, high relief, and biogeoclimatic characteristics contribute to produce distinctive landslide assemblages. Bedrock and drift-covered slopes along the transportation corridors are prone to mass-wasting when favourable conditions exist. In high-relief mountainous areas, rapidly moving landslides include rock and debris avalanches, rock and debris falls, debris flows and torrents, and lahars. In areas with moderate to low relief, rapid to slow mass movements include rockslides and slumps, debris or earth slides and slumps, and earth flows. Slow-moving landslides include rock glaciers, rock and soil creep, solifluction, and lateral spreads in bedrock and surficial deposits. Research in the Thompson River Valley aims to gain a better understanding of how geological conditions, extreme weather events and climate change influence landslide activity along the national railway corridor. Remote sensing datasets, consolidated in a geographic information system, capture the spatial relationships between landslide distribution and specific terrain features, at-risk infrastructure, and the environmental conditions expected to correlate with landslide incidence and magnitude. Reliable real-time monitoring solutions for critical railway infrastructure (e.g., ballast, tracks, retaining walls, tunnels and bridges) able to withstand the harsh environmental conditions of Canada are highlighted. The provision of fundamental geoscience and baseline geospatial monitoring allows stakeholders to develop robust risk tolerance, remediation, and mitigation strategies to maintain the resilience and accessibility of critical transportation infrastructure, while also protecting the natural environment, community stakeholders, and the Canadian economy. We conclude by proposing a best-practice solution involving three levels of investigation to describe the form and function of the wide range of rapid and slow-moving landslides occurring across Canada, which is also applicable elsewhere.