The complex system of road infrastructures of a country plays a fundamental role both on the economy and on the development of the territory and on the management of accident scenarios that occur as a result of natural disasters. It is therefore essential to assess the vulnerability of the infrastructural network to natural and man-made risk factors in order to identify any critical issues and plan improvements...

The rapid erosion of alpine valleys can be prevented by torrential barriers. For their design is crucial the thrust acting upon them due to earth and water pressures. From the evaluation of damage events and field investigations it can be inferred that often no water saturation and thus not the full hydrostatic pressure acts upon such barriers. The uncertainty associated herewith is reflected in various guidelines. The field observations can be explained by the structure of the
backfill but also by the distribution of the water pressure. An...