Analysis of the interaction between buried pipelines for the transport of fluids and landslides

Elena Giovannini (a), Margherita Cecilia Spreafico (a) & Lisa Borgatti (a)
(a) Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental and Materials Engineering DICAM, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Italy

The aim of this work is the study of the factors that influence the interaction between buried pipelines for the transport of fluids, e.g. gas and water, and Permanent Ground Deformation (PGD), in particular landslides. Pipelines have a fundamental role both in normal operating conditions and in emergency situations. Eventual leakage of the fluids caused by structural damage could cause environmental disasters, financial costs and abuses of resources. In the present work, the methodology proposed by Suresh et al. (2007) was adopted for the calculation of the structural deformation due to the landslide. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis permitted to highlight the influence of different factors, e.g. the pipelines diameter, on the value of the deformation due to their interaction with landslide. The study was applied in different areas of the northern Apennines, selected as representative of the landslide phenomena occurring in Emilia-Romagna region.

Landslide, buried pipelines, Permanent Ground Deformation (PGD), sensitivity analysis.