Solution Analysis for Structural Intervention: Slopes Retaining Cases Studies in Brazilian Cities

Abstract

1.1 Vulnerability of Brazilian settlements and federal government actions The vulnerability of major Brazilian cities and its urban enterprises to landslides has a relationship with the country’s historic inability to provide decent and adequate housing for the population, and to support a land planning policy which enforces public interest over land owners’ private interests [Carvalho and Galvão , 2013]. Still, as stated by Carvalho and Galvão [2003], the disasters observed in Brazil are associated with natural and anthropogenic causes. Annually dozens of people are killed and thousands are affected due to disasters [Dourado et al ., 2012]. The growth of natural disasters occurrence and the population increase are directly related and the number of disasters has risen in recent decades [Marcelino et al ., 2006]. According to Macedo and Martins [2015], the frequency of landslides and victims (deaths) by gravitational mass movements varies widely through the country. To face these situations, in 2007, the Brazilian Federal Government created the “Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento” (Growth Acceleration Program, better known as “PAC ”) to mitigate and reduce structural problems in the country. Since 2003, with the foundation of Ministry of Cities, it has been carried out structural and non-structural interventions (measures) for risk and disaster prevention, with the main focus on risk reduction in urban slum areas. However, the support actions for build up plans, engineering projects and the execution of slopes retaining walls works effectively started in 2010 with PAC . The first actions were the construction of a methodology for the preparation of the Municipal Plan for Risk Reduction (PMRR ), which covers the social Technical Note