Landmines and explosive remnants of war are still present in the Western Balkans and remain a deadly legacy of the hostilities at the end of the 20th century. Over the years, several incidents have occurred in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Serbia, and in Croatia where intact ordnance has caused injuries and fatalities. Floods, torrential flows, and gravitational mass movements pose a particular threat. Landmines and explosive remnants of war are mobilized and displaced into previously uncontaminated areas. We first discuss the historical and technical background of this hazardous situation. We then show which hydro-morphological processes are responsible for the mobilization and displacement. We then illustrate how a prediction of the likely contaminated areas can be obtained. We show that the problem can only be tackled using a stochastic-deterministic model. However, for the eventual development of risk-hazard maps, preliminary work using laboratory experiments and field surveys is required. The article, therefore, proposes a novel approach to the problem in an international research project. The aim would be to produce risk-hazard maps that can be used by elected decision-makers, administrative authorities, and emergency personnel in affected municipalities.

The interaction between geogrid/wire fabric reinforcement and fill material in reinforced earth walls, as well as its quantification, is a complex problem that depends on a number of factors. This paper presents and discusses state of the art related to numerical simulations of pull-out tests used for investigation of interaction between cohesionless fill and reinforcement. In addition, the results of a specially designed group of numerical simulations are presented and compared with recommendations of American and European standards related to such experiments.

Abstract This paper presents the details of experimental and numerical analysis performed on three 0.8 m-high reinforced earth model walls with strip footing surcharge near the wall facing. The study investigates how wire mesh strength and geometry affect the failure mechanism. All three walls were nominally identical, except for reinforcement strength and geometry. The displacement field of the entire cross section was captured by high-resolution digital camera through transparent sidewall. The resulting images were analyzed using digital image correlation software. The results indicate that both reinforcement strength and aperture size influence the type of failure mechanism. Numerical modelling was also applied to assess the influence of sidewall friction (3D model) and reinforcement stiffness and strength (2D model) on the failure mechanism of the walls. The parameters for the numerical models were derived from independent tests and results, which were compared with the experimental observations. A good level of agreement with measurements was confirmed, even for the 2D model that excluded sidewall friction.