Author(s)

S. Berdos & A. Efremidis

Abstract

Last year’s major climatic changes are observed as much in the Greek area as in the wider global one, with severe effects to peoples’ activities, their work and their welfare. The extremely heavy rainfalls after long dry periods and the unusual temperature variation in short periods of time are phenomena that appear more and more frequently. At the same time, a large number of landslides are recorded as much in the national as in the provincial road networks of the country, especially after the activity of the aforesaid phenomena. That is because the water, as the main factor, is occupying the empty spaces affecting the stabilization of a mass. In this paper we manage to determine firstly the existence of the unusual level and frequency of precipitation and temperature variation during November and December of 2002 and 2003 using climatic data for the area from previous years. Then, from a number of landslides which occurred in a provincial road in Drama, in Northern Greece, we examine under which circumstances this activity took place, also taking into account the technical standards of the road, the geomorphology and the vegetation of the area. Finally, we aim to define the potential correlation between the climatic phenomena and the landslides and the level of importance of each analyzed variable. Keywords: landslides, climatic changes, road slopes.

Keywords

landslides, climatic changes, road slopes.