Effects of rainfall,geomorphological and geometrical variables on vulnerability of the lower Mississippi River levee system to slump slides |
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| Authors: | Farshid Vahedifard Sona Sehat James V Aanstoos |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS, USAfarshid@cee.msstate.edu;3. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS, USA;4. Geosystems Research Institute, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS, USA |
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| Abstract: | This study investigated the importance of rainfall and various geomorphological and geometrical factors to the vulnerability of earthen levees to slump slides. The study was performed using a database including 34 slump slides that occurred in the lower Mississippi River levee system from 2008 to 2009. The impact of rainfall within the six months prior to slide occurrence was studied for 23 slides for which an accurate occurrence date was available. Several variables were used to develop a logistic regression model to predict the probability of slump slide occurrence. The proposed model was verified for both slide and non-slide cases. The regression analysis depicts the impact of channel width, river sinuosity index, riverbank erosion, channel shape condition and distance to river. Excluding the sinuosity index, the impact of the other independent variables examined was found to be significant. Occurrence of riverbank erosion around the slide locations was the most significant predictor factor. A channel width of less than 1000?m was ranked as the second most significant variable. The proposed model can aid in locating high-risk areas on levees in order to take prompt protective measures, increase monitoring efforts and enable early response under emergency conditions. |
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| Keywords: | Levee Mississippi River slide health monitoring logistic regression |
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