Assessing the Potential Threat of Road Transport Networks with Passive Defense Approach in Khuzestan Province

The growing importance and simultaneously, the emergence of passive defense and the dispersion and lack of information in this area on the one hand and the vital importance of the transportation network in times of humanitarian crises such as war and natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes are highly vulnerable. On the other hand, the need to provide a comprehensive model and method for identifying the threat potential in this network with a passive defense approach is obvious. This study aims to present a model using GIS and decision-making techniques with a passive defense approach to identify and evaluate the potential threat in the road transport network. For this purpose, 13 criteria were identified in three categories: natural, human, and transportation, and their causal relationships were evaluated by the DEMATEL method. Then, to generate potential threat maps, they were weighed by the network analysis process method and evaluated in GIS using fuzzy logic, weighted linear combination method, kernel density estimation, and hot spot function. The results showed that the most important criteria were the density of road network with 0.141, stairs with 0.133, the presence of rails with 0.124 and location relative to cities with 0.104. Also, the results of fuzzy methods and weighted linear composition identified the threat potential range in the range of 0.21 to 0.87. The hot spot function also showed that urban areas and areas where the network has a high density are among the threatening hot spots. Based on the research results, it was suggested that in the new planning for the development of the transportation network, the principles of passive defense be used in the design of the network, especially bridges.