Assessment of Landslide susceptibility and risk to road network in Mt Elgon, Uganda
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Date
2019
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Natural Hazards
Abstract
Globally landslides occurrence is reportedly frequent particularly in the mountainous regions causing
both direct and indirect effects to various sectors including the road transport. Landslides directly cause
physical impact on the road network such as deposition of debris and impartial or total erosion of road
segments. This leads to increased damage costs. Indirectly landslides cause disruption of the trade and
movement whenever roads are blocked and alternative routes are resorted to. Existing literature reveals
limited assessment of road vulnerability to landslides in the mountain regions in Africa. This study aimed
at closing this information gap by investigating the risk to different segments of the road network in the
Mt Elgon region. A fuzzy logic model was used to assess and map the landslide susceptibility into low,
moderate, high and very high categories. The results reveal that mid to high altitude steep and rugged
areas are more susceptible to landslides. The model performance was good as revealed by high AUC of
83%. Hotspot segments, which are high risk sections of the road network need to be prioritized for
monitoring and risk mitigation.
Description
Keywords
Landslide susceptibility, Road network, Mt Elgon, Uganda
Citation
Nseka, D., Kakembo, V., Bamutaze, Y., & Mugagga, F. (2019). Analysis of topographic parameters underpinning landslide occurrence in Kigezi highlands of southwestern Uganda. Natural Hazards, 99(2), 973-989. ttps://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1673620/v1