Risk Assessment of Infrastructure Destabilization in Context of Permafrost in the French Alps

• Main Authors: Duvillard, P.A, Ravanel, Ludovic, Deline, Philip
• Other Authors: Environnements, Dynamiques et Territoires de Montagne (EDYTEM), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), G. Lollino, A. Manconi, J. Clague, W. Shan, M. Chiarle
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2014
• Subjects: Risk; Permafrost; French alps; Destabilization of infrastructure; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; permafrost
• Online Access: https://sde.hal.science/hal-01745385

International audience Due to global warming, high alpine environments are affected by significant changes such as glacial retreat and permafrost degradation. This degradation is thought to be one of the main factors for rock slope instabilities in high mountain areas. Warming permafrost could lead to various risks, including the risk of destabilization of infrastructure (e.g. huts, cable cars, ski-lifts) built on permafrost. In order to assess these risks, an inventory of infrastructure located in permafrost areas in the French Alps has been implemented through a GIS using different layers including a map of potential permafrost distribution. Meanwhile, an index of the risk of infrastructure destabilization has been built to identify and categorize the exposed infrastructure. This risk index allowed 752 infrastructure potentially at risk to be identified among the 1,641 infrastructure located in permafrost areas. Five percent are characterized by a very high risk of destabilization.