ABSTRACT
One of the most dangerous effects of climate change is heavy rainfall, often responsible for the triggering of natural phenomena, such as floods or landslides. In recent years, landslides and alluvial events had a strong impact on the road networks, creating the need to define criteria for management and mitigation of hydrogeological risk related with transport infrastructure systems. The reliability of transport infrastructures plays a key role since, in many cases, their inefficiency has caused serious damage to the anthropic system. In the paper the modelling of a debris flow occurred in the Enna area in the south of Italy is described. The area is prone to landslides, often consisting in shallow movements induced by rainfall. Starting from the study of the geological framework and the historical background for landslides of the Enna district, the research has focused on the causes triggering the landslides. In particular, the real case of 1st-2nd February 2014 which affected Enna city has been modelled. The event caused damage to private buildings and the interruption of the main infrastructure connecting Enna city to the motorway, due to the material on the road. The characterization of soil properties along the slope is based on a detailed geotechnical investigation in addition to a collection of topographical and hydrogeological data. The second part reports the results of the numerical analysis simulating the landslide event to assess the appropriate mitigation works, to reduce the damages to structures and infrastructures located in the area.
