Ground Hazard Risk Management
NANCY GHRM Assessment
Upload a site boundary, and NANCY reads the public record for that ground, checks it against what you see in the field, and scores the hazard.
It answers the two questions every slope, washout or settlement site raises: how bad is it, and what will it take to fix? Then it writes the assessment report.
Runs in any browser. Public data, no sign-in. You accept the Use and Disclaimers on your first visit.
Named for my daughter, Nancy.
Why it matters
The ground's history is on file. Putting it together takes days.
Soil surveys, LiDAR, flood maps, old topographic maps, landslide inventories, boring logs and accident records all sit with different agencies, in different formats. Before an engineer can score a site, someone has to gather all of it, then walk the ground to see if it is still true. NANCY pulls the records for the boundary in one click, sets them beside the field checklist, and scores the site the same way every time.
Desktop: what the record shows
Federal, state and local data, queried for the site and cited in the report.
- Topography from USGS 3DEP 1 m LiDAR (slope, relief, cross-sections)
- Soils from SSURGO, with USDA texture, USCS and AASHTO classes
- FEMA flood zones, wetlands and streams
- Terrain history: historic topo maps, aerial imagery, land cover change, mapped landslides
- Nearby bridges, crossings, public borings and wells, rail accidents and disaster declarations
- Property owners from county and statewide parcel layers
Field: what the ground shows today
The score stays provisional until someone walks the site. What you see in the field overrides the public data.
- Scarps, tension cracks and bulging
- Seepage, saturation, toe erosion and scour
- Ditch and culvert condition
- Track, roadbed or pavement settlement
- A check of every desktop item: confirmed or corrected
- Rockfall rating, beaver activity, karst and debris flow where they apply
How it works
Seven steps, from site boundary to finished report.
No GIS software needed. Each step hands what it finds to the next, and the steps run in order down a single page.
- Define the projectPick a railroad or a state DOT, then name the project, client, site and purpose. Those details carry onto the report cover and letter.
- Set the boundaryDrop in a Google Earth KMZ, a GeoJSON or shapefile, draw the site on the map, or give a latitude and longitude.
- Pull the dataOne click queries topography, soils, flood, wetlands, terrain history, parcels and a hazard screening of everything nearby.
- Verify in the fieldRecord the visit, score what you see today, and confirm or correct each desktop finding.
- Score the riskSeven weighted elements roll up to Rc. Each automatic score shows its basis and can be overridden.
- Screen the fixesStabilization options are matched to what is driving the hazard, priced from the cost database, and ranked by residual risk and benefit–cost.
- Issue the reportTransmittal letter, site sheet, characterization, cited sources, scoring and next steps. Print or save as PDF.
- Nothing to install. Save the assessment as a file and pick it up later.Begin at step 1
What you get
A defensible score, and a plan to bring it down.
Everything follows the composite method in the GHRM Manual, so every site is scored on the same terms.
Stability, slope instability, drainage, settlement, scour, defect frequency and priority are weighted into one Rc from 1 to 5, with the basis for every number shown.
Each risk class sets the monitoring frequency, number of borings, lab testing and design deliverable the site needs next.
63 techniques in eight families, from drainage and earthwork to walls, ground improvement, rock slopes and scour protection, each with its residual risk Rr.
Construction prices from the NANCY cost database, adjusted to the site's state in 2026 or 2027 dollars, with benefit–cost ratio and equivalent annual cost.
A complete draft report with transmittal letter, site sheet, hazard screening with sources, permits, and an action plan of who is responsible for what.
Rank many sites by risk, check scores against observed failures, and export to GeoJSON, Google Earth or a parcel list.
Coverage
Railroads and highways, anywhere in the U.S.
- Geotechnical engineers: a desktop study and score in an afternoon, not a week.
- Roadmasters, track and maintenance staff: a field checklist that feeds straight into the score.
- Engineering managers: sites ranked on the same terms, with the next step for each.
- Capital planners: fix options with cost, residual risk and benefit–cost side by side.
Public sources include state GIS LiDAR elevation services (12 states, sampled along the track or roadway centerline), USGS (3DEP elevation, National Hydrography Dataset, Landslide Inventory, historical topographic maps, water and well data), USDA NRCS soil surveys (SSURGO), FEMA (National Flood Hazard Layer, disaster declarations), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wetlands, NAIP imagery and National Land Cover Database, FRA and BTS (rail network, grade crossings, accident reports), FHWA (National Highway System, National Bridge Inventory), NOAA storm tracks, Macrostrat geology, statewide and county parcel layers, and state DOT bid prices. Stabilization methods are drawn from the GHRM Manual and FHWA, TRB, SHRP2 and USACE guidance.
Score your first site.
Choose a network, drop in a boundary and press Pull data. The desktop score is ready in minutes, and you can finish it after the field visit.
NANCY is a screening and planning tool built on public data. Mapped inventories are incomplete, scores stay provisional until the site is field verified, and stabilization factors and costs must be confirmed by analysis. Use is subject to the Use and Disclaimers.