Landslides

Crews wrap up yearslong landslide project on Columbia Parkway in Cincinnati, Ohio

Source: Columbia Parkway Hillside Stabilization - Transportation & Engineering Source: Crews wrap up yearslong landslide project on Columbia Parkway Crews have wrapped up construction on a years long project to stabilize a large swath of hillside along Columbia Parkway in Cincinnati, Ohio — a stretch that has long been a landslide risk. Contractor crews officially wrapped up the $17.6 million project this week, city officials announced. The project’s footprint extends over two miles on the uphill side of the parkway from Bains Street near downtown to just east of the William Howard Taft Road-Torrence Parkway intersection in East Walnut Hills. Cincinnati’s Department of Transportation & Engineering began developing a long-term stabilization plan for the parkway in the spring of 2019 following a series of landslides in multiple locations along the uphill side. Landslides in the area began increasing in frequency and significance in recent years, peaking in the winter and early spring of 2019. The threat to public safety also was increasing with mud and debris frequently spilling over existing retaining walls onto the roadway, prompting emergency closures along the five-lane thoroughfare that carries approximately 30,000 vehicles a day from the city’s east side into downtown. The parkway was built in the late 1930s as a Depression-era public works project situated along a bluff overlooking the Ohio River. The Ohio River traces a path along Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Mitigation efforts in the 1990s helped reduce the impact of landslides on the downhill side of the parkway but didn’t address the uphill side. City council approved funding for an emergency mitigation project in late spring 2019 and it started to take shape that summer once Canton-based Beaver Excavating was selected as the prime contractor. The proposed dual solution including soil nailing for the steepest sections, and [...]

Monsoon Claims 432 Lives In HP Landslides

Source: Monsoon Claims 432 Lives In HP; Landslides, Accidents Increasing Due To Widespread Rain & Snowfall Monsoon death toll in Himachal Pradesh climbs to  432 which is considered as the highest in last five years while twelve people have died in last 24 hours, according to the Disaster Management Authority. Widespread rains and snowfall at high altitude passes resulting in a series of landslides, disruption of major roads and National Highways threw life completely  out of gear in Himachal Pradesh, even as temperature dropped significantly in Shimla—the capital city, and Lahaul-Spiti district. Wintry conditions prevailed all over the state on Thursday as result of the rains and snowfall in Lahaul-Spiti valleys. Thick fog engulfing the hills for the past 24 hours created havoc trouble for the travelers which also resulted in several road accidents. Few of these were fatal, others left many people injured due to skidding of the vehicles and mid-way collusions . (Photo Credit- Sanjay Sood) Superintendent of Police Lahaul Spiti Manav Verma told Outlook that it has been raining incessantly. A travel advisory has been issued for the people asking them to avoid journey during next 24 hours . There has been a road disruption near Nehru Kund on Manali Leh road (National Highway no 3) due to landslides. It has been continuously raining at Baralacha La Pass ( 15,922 feet) affecting the mobility of the vehicles on Manali Leh road . Only those vehicles used for essential supplies to Leh are allowed to move as the pass has been very slippery for normal mobility of the vehicles. Tourists are not allowed to take-up their journeys . “There is two to three cms of snow at the Pass” said SP Manav Verma, adding that Lahaul may experience snow much before the normal timing. The biggest advantage, however, remains Rohtang Tunnel [...]

Earthquake in Haiti Triggers Landslides

Source: Hundreds of landslides followed Haiti earthquake, Tropical Depression Grace - The Washington Post Source: Earthquake in Haiti Triggers Landslides After a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit southwestern Haiti on the Saturday morning of August 14th, hundreds of landslides threatened the area. Landslides are one of the biggest causes of earthquake-related deaths. In 2010, the earthquake near Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, killed roughly 200,000 people and led to tens of thousands of landslides. The earthquake was centered about eight miles southeast of Petit-Trou-de-Nippes at a depth of six miles. USGS reported at least 150 landslides south of the epicenter, to the west of the town L'Asile. The mountains and south of Beaumont experienced hundreds more. “Even though a lot of the central and western parts of the epicentral area have been obscured by cloud cover, we haven’t seen too many landslides in the gaps in the clouds,” wrote Robert Emberson, a landslide researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “We anticipate that the bulk of the landsliding (at least from the earthquake) is in the [Pic Macaya] National Park.” The National Hurricane Center predicted 5 to 10 inches of rain in Haiti with a possibility of up to 15 inches. Flash flooding, mudslides, and landslides were all expected following the rain. “With the ongoing tropical storm rainfall, further landslides are likely,” wrote Emberson. “In particular, landslide material mobilized by the earthquake may be washed downstream as debris flows. We will continue to monitor changes over the coming days to assess the exacerbated impact of the rainfall and provide situational awareness.” Landslides and earthquakes have recently in multiple parts of the world. Denali Park, Sichuan China, Battle Creek Michigan, and a recent Monsoon in India are just four of the most recently affected areas.

A Climate Change-Induced Disaster in Denali National Park

Source: A Climate Change-Induced Disaster in Denali National Park | Time The Times has recently showcased an article on the current rockslide situation in Denali National Park. The effects of climate change have been dramatic with the current melting of the permafrost. The National Parks Service has recently upped through gravel removal of the Pretty Rocks Landslide in an effort to keep up as the rapidly thawing permafrost picks up pace. Alaska is right now recognized as the country’s fastest-warming state. The landslide hit unprecedented speed 4 weeks ago causing the team to close the back half of the park weeks earlier than anticipated. This only signals bad news as reservations are canceled in the short term and the long term implications are yet unknown. “This is the canary in the coal mine for infrastructure disruption in Alaska,” says the Camp Denali lodge owner Simon Hamm. “If things continue on the path they’re on, it’s not going to just be Pretty Rock—it’s going to be half of the Alaskan highway system.” Rapid deterioration Denali National Park is one of the U.S.’s largest national parks at 6 million acres, and sits about four hours north of Anchorage. While the entrance to the park is certainly beautiful, many people prefer to hop on buses to access the park’s marquee attractions deep down its single 92-mile road: views of Mt. Denali (formerly Mt. McKinley), the highest peak in North America at 20,000 feet; the gleaming Wonder Lake; rolling mountainsides that contain an abundance of wildlife, including grizzly bears, moose, caribou and bighorn sheep. About halfway along the road lies the Pretty Rocks Landslide, a slowly sliding section of earth that acts more like a glacier than a rockfall. Since the 1960s, permafrost deep below the earth’s surface has thawed, causing the soil and [...]

California highway landslide leaves vehicles buried – video

Aerial footage shows work crews clearing mud and debris following flash floods that left nearly 200 vehicles stuck in up to 5ft (1.5 metres) of mud. The Leona Valley, about 20 miles north of Los Angeles, saw extensive downpours on Thursday, with 3.58 inches (9 cm) of rainfall during a 30 minute period. Elsewhere in southern California, several roads were washed out and there were reports of motorists having to be rescued from torrential flooding  

Major Slope Failure at Yeager Airport in West Virginia

 Thursday, March 12, 2015 TOM HINDMAN/DAILY MAIL The ground continues to slip away under the runway overrun area — known formally as the Engineered Material Arresting System, or EMAS area. The landslide currently affects only the back portion of the EMAS area. Airport officials say the damage currently is not enough to interfere with flights.

New FHWA Soil Nail Manual Addresses LRFD, Hollow Bars

Since March of 2003, the FHWA’s Geotechnical Engineering Circular Number 7 (GEC No. 7) has been the standard reference document for design and construction of soil nail retaining walls in roadway applications, and really in all applications. The FHWA has released an updated version of this manual as of February of 2015.  This new version is still called GEC No. 7, but now titled “Soil Nail Walls Reference Manual.”  You can download the document from the FHWA’s Geotechnical Engineering website. I am still in the process of working through the manual, but one of the major changes is the addition of the implementation of the Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) platform. This will have an implication on all future soil nail walls for roadway projects. The manual also appears to have removed example problems solved using SNAILZ software (by CalTrans) in favor of the FHWA’s own Soil Nail Analysis Program (SNAP) 2 software. I guess we’re going to have to get familiar with that software as well.  I’m strongly considering looking into SNAIL Plus by DeepExcav, a commercial product.  I’ve seen demos before, and have been very impressed. Finally, I was very curious to see what they would say about hollow bar soil nails.  They review some of the work done in the last 5 years or so done by the FHWA and ADSC.  If I understood correctly, it appears that they are saying that because of the uncertainties regarding damage to corrosion protection during installation, they are still not recommending hollow bar nails for roadway applications, except if the ground conditions are non-aggressive and if you use sacrificial steel.  I suppose that at least opens the door to this technology for collapsing ground situations. Written by Randy

Landslide in Washington State

Landslide in Washington State USGS is working with partners to provide up-to-date information. Photograph from an aerial survey showing the extent and impacts from the landslide in northwest Washington that occurred on March 22, 2014. The survey was conducted by the Washington State Department of Transportation, Washington State Department of Natural Resources, USGS, and King County Sheriff’s Office. A large landslide occurred in northwest Washington at about 10:37 am PDT on Saturday, March 22, 2014.  Multiple casualties are confirmed as a direct result of the landslide and many people remain missing. Landslide debris covered about 30 houses and 0.8 miles of State Route 530. What Happened The landslide occurred in an area of known landslide activity, but this time the slide was much larger, traveled much further, and had greater destructive force than previously experienced. Precipitation in the area in February and March was 150 to 200% of the long-term average, and likely contributed to landslide initiation. The slide took place along the edge of a plateau about 600 feet high composed of glacial sediments. The volume of the slide is estimated to be about 10 million cubic yards, and it traveled about 0.7 miles from the toe of the slope. This travel distance is about three times longer than expected based on published information regarding previous slides of this height and volume worldwide. If the landslide had behaved in the expected range, it would have likely blocked the river and possibly destroyed a few houses. Instead it led to tragic loss of life and destruction of property. Flow also dammed and temporarily blocked the upper part of the North Fork Stillaguamish River. A pool of water formed behind the debris dam, which flooded houses and other structures. There were initial fears that the debris dam would create a flood hazard downstream if the dam were breached, but a catastrophic dam breach is now considered unlikely. Currently, [...]

Utah copper mine suspends operations after large landslide

Utah copper mine suspends The Kennecott Copper Bingham Canyon Mine sits quiet after a landslide on April 11, 2013, in Bingham Canyon, Utah. Kennecott has suspended mining inside one of the world's deepest open pits as geologists assess a landslide the company says it anticipated for months. The Salt Lake Tribune reports: "We started noticing movement in that part of the mine in February," Rio Tinto-Kennecott spokesman Kyle Bennett said, indicating at that time the mine’s wall was slipping a fraction of an inch each day. As the slipping continued and began to accelerate in the following weeks, Kennecott moved workers out of the area, utility lines were rerouted and the modular building that housed the mine monitoring equipment was relocated to safer ground. Kennecott also closed its visitors center for the rest of the year. Bennett said the company has not yet determined the exact size of the slide. He said mining experts would be evaluating the slide area and its impact on future operations.  

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