Landslide Prevention Costs in Road Construction Projects: A Case Study of Diezma Landslide (Granada, Spain)

During the construction of many roads, slope stability problems can occur, resulting in a delayed completion of the construction as well as an increased final budget. However, there is still limited data collected that reveals the actual costs of geotechnical issues. The Diezma landslide, affecting the A-92 highway (Granada, SE Spain), is a great example of this situation. The construction project, which was started in 1988, did not identify the geotechnical instabilities of this zone, thus no preventive measures were recommended. The landslide-induced disruption of the highway involved economic losses related to the implementation of corrective measures and to indirect costs. In this paper, an evaluation of direct and indirect costs induced by the landslide is developed, and as a result, the potential cost savings of an adequate geotechnical survey are obtained.