Analysis of Railway Embankment Breach Due to Typhoon-induced Flooding

R. Tsubaki1, Y. Kawahara1, I. Fujita2 and T. Sayama3

1 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hiroshima University, 1-4-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, 739-8527 JAPAN

2 Department of Civil Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Kobe University 1-1 Rokkodai, Nada, Kobe, 657-8501 JAPAN

3 International Center for Water Hazard and Risk Management, Public Works Research Institute, 1-6-1 Minamihara, Tsukuba, 301-8516 JAPAN

E-mail: rtsubaki@hiroshima-u.ac.jp

IAHR 2011, Brisbane, Australia

Abstract: Embankments on a floodplain, usually treated as solid walls in inundation simulation, retain

the potential to be damaged during severe flood events. The breakage of the road or railway

embankment system not only changes the propagation of inundation flow but also destroys the

transportation function. In this study, the failure in the embankment system of the Kishin Railway

during the flood event in August 2009 is analyzed. The topographic and hydraulic conditions leading to

the embankment failure are discussed. The framework to estimate the embankment failure is

presented.

Keywords: Railway embankment, heavy rainfall, typhoon, inundation simulation.