Vulnerability of Railway Earthworks to Future Extreme Weather Events

Extreme weather events are predicted to increase in frequency according to many future climate scenarios. Such events can have a devastating impact on railway earthworks, for instance flooding leading to scour and wash out of embankments, extreme rainfall leading to ultimate slope stability failure and extended hot dry summers causing embankment swelling and consequential rail deformations. Changes in climate patterns also mean that currently known problematic earthwork sites may not be those most at risk in the future.

Detailed research at specific sites can lead to an improved understanding of earthwork vulnerability at a local level, but the challenge remains in upscaling this knowledge to be able to apply quantitative risk assessment of earthwork vulnerability over a network scale. This project will investigate the use of readily available earthwork asset management information and how this may be linked to the vulnerability of individual assets in the rail network. This can then be applied to 1) the identification of those sites most at risk and therefore in need of targeted renewals and 2) assessment of the vulnerability of the network as a whole.

Our railway network is an essential piece of infrastructure for UK PLC, enabling commuting, business and tourism. Its future sustainability is dependent on identifying which parts of the network may be vulnerable to a changing climate and acting to improve its resilience in those areas.