Landslide Risk Management

Development of Practice Note Guidelines, AGS 2007c

Bruce Walker

The AGS (2000) “Landslide Risk Management Concepts and Guidelines” provided a significant change from AGS Sydney Group “Geotechnical Risk Associated with Hillside development” (Walker et al. 1985). AGS (2000) established a uniform terminology and a general framework for landslide risk management (LRM). Guidance was given on methods which should be used for landslide risk analysis and a preferred terminology for reporting qualitative risk assessment. Coroner, Derek Hand, in his Coronial Report on the 1997 Thredbo Landslide, recommended that AGS (2000) be adopted and this lead to widespread recognition and use.

However, Practice showed that the Guidelines needed to be revised and expanded. A Landslide Taskforce was set up under the National Disaster Mitigation Program to assist with development of guidelines for landslide zoning, for slope management and maintenance, and to develop a practice note for LRM. The work was completed by three Working Groups and after an extensive review process was published as a suite of papers in Australian Geomechanics in 2007.

This presentation will primarily discuss the Practice Note Guidelines (AGS 2007c) and accompanying Commentary (AGS 2007d). A review of the concepts of risk and risk terminology will be presented. Changes from AGS 2000 will be discussed including considerations relevant to the revised qualitative terminology. LRM report content will be outlined as well as suggested Tolerability criteria. The accompanying planning Guidelines and GeoGuides will be briefly outlined. An example will be presented using AGS (2007c) for a landslide risk assessment based on a Pittwater site.

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