Development of a landslide susceptibility assessment for a rail network

• The landslide susceptibility of engineered slopes was analysed using logistic regression.
• The Irish Rail asset database and landslide failure register were utilised.
• Input factors and their influence differ substantially from slopes on natural terrain.
• The methodology can be used to identify critical earthwork assets on the rail network.

This paper examines the applicability of a landslide susceptibility assessment approach to engineered slopes using data from the Irish Rail network. A logistical regression model was used to determine the susceptibility of landslide occurrence on an asset by asset basis using input factors derived specifically for man-made earthworks. Records of past failures were used to train the model to predict the probability of future failures occurring. The model was used to analyse a substantial section of the Irish Rail network comprising of 1184 slopes. The database of assets was split into training and validation datasets and similar levels of predictive performance were achieved with both datasets indicating the applicability and robustness of the approach. The results of the study show that simple asset databases, partially populated by visual survey data, can be used effectively to carry out a landslide susceptibility analysis. This enables proactive identification of critical assets as opposed to the current reactive industry standard, which represents an important step forward in creating objective risk rating systems for transport network earthworks.