Helping engineers better predict clay landslides

In Kattmarka, buildings and a stretch of highway were washed away by the clay sludge. NGI - Norway experiences dangerous landslides due to its clay-rich soil. For her Master's thesis in civil engineering at EPFL, Mathilde Metral outlined steps that the country's geotechnical engineers can take to improve the predictive computer model they're currently developing. The heavy rains that sweep across Europe with growing frequency can be particularly damaging in Norway, where the clay-rich soil is susceptible to landslides. As part of her Master's thesis in civil engineering, Mathilde Metral worked with the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) to test the computer model that engineers there are developing to predict clay landslides. "I wanted to apply geotechnical concepts to help prevent natural disasters," she says. "My interest in this topic stems from the challenge of investigating these complex phenomena as well as from the mountaineering activities I enjoy doing." Metral teamed up with EPFL's Laboratory of Soil Mechanics (LMS), headed by Prof. Lyesse Laloui, for her research.