Development of a Road Geohazard Risk Management Framework for Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction in Developing Countries

Abstract

The authors proposed an institutional and technical framework for preparation, planning, design, construction, and maintenance for road geohazard risk management in developing countries. As technical assistance in this area is an urgent issue, a universal framework for managing risks in road geohazards, such as sediment flows and flash floods, needs to be proposed. To this end, the best practices of road geohazard risk management in the world have been examined and analyzed from technical and institutional perspectives. This paper aims to discuss the universal applicability of the proposed institutional and technical framework to different countries that are at different stages of development. The proposed framework comprises the stages of (1) institutional capacity and coordination, (2) systems planning, (3) engineering and design, (4) operations and maintenance, and (5) contingency planning. The framework can be put in place in a step-by-step manner depending on the capacity and financial constraints of the project-implementing countries. The technical validity of the framework was confirmed with the cooperation of The World Bank’s Task Team Leaders and other experts in the field of transport and disaster risk management. Finally, case studies in Brazil and Serbia were conducted to verify the applicability of the framework.