There is a terrific image gallery of the works here:
Well done to all involved.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Highway 97 reopens
Highway 97 in Canada reopens today having been closed for 19 days. The construction teams have blasted 34,000 cubic metres from the crown of the landslide and have moved it to the toe. In consequence the slope has effectively stopped moving. The contractor will continue to monitor it to check that it remains stable, but the prognosis is probably good.
There is a terrific image gallery of the works here:
Well done to all involved.
There is a terrific image gallery of the works here:
Well done to all involved.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Recent landslide updates
A few updates on landslide events over the last few days:
1. Highway 97: various newspapers now report that the teams trying to stop the movement of the slope are making headway. The rate of movement has now slowed to about 8 mm per day (half of the rates measured early in the crisis). The drilling and blasting crews have now moved 5,000 cubic metres per day from the crown to the toe of the slope. There are hopes that the road might be reopened within a week.
2. Pitrap, Poot District, Kenya: Two landslides struck this small village on 7th November, killing a total of eleven people, most of whom were women and girls who had gathered to celebrate the birth of a child. Heavy rain was the trigger.
3. Landslides in Yunnan Province, China. Xinhua has now published some images of the landslides in China last week that left at least 83 killed or missing:
Xinhua image of Dasongshu Village of Xishelu Township in Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture
Xinhua image of landslides in Yunnan Province. Note that a number of the landslides, which are all shallow, have started on or by the road
Xinhua image landslides in Yunnan Province.
4. Landslide in Hunan Province, China: Xinhua reports that six people were killed by a landslide in a landslide on 7th November in Huanxin Village, Pingjiang County. The landslide was triggered by heavy rainfall.
5. Landslide in Burma (Myanmar): This is a location in which I suspect that I do not manage to record all of the landslide events that occur, given the news black-out imposed by the Burmese authorities for much of the time. However, reports have emerged that a landslide on 28th October in Mongton Township, Southern Shan state killed 13 workers on a tea farm. The cause was heavy rainfall.
1. Highway 97: various newspapers now report that the teams trying to stop the movement of the slope are making headway. The rate of movement has now slowed to about 8 mm per day (half of the rates measured early in the crisis). The drilling and blasting crews have now moved 5,000 cubic metres per day from the crown to the toe of the slope. There are hopes that the road might be reopened within a week.
2. Pitrap, Poot District, Kenya: Two landslides struck this small village on 7th November, killing a total of eleven people, most of whom were women and girls who had gathered to celebrate the birth of a child. Heavy rain was the trigger.
3. Landslides in Yunnan Province, China. Xinhua has now published some images of the landslides in China last week that left at least 83 killed or missing:
Xinhua image of Dasongshu Village of Xishelu Township in Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture
Xinhua image of landslides in Yunnan Province. Note that a number of the landslides, which are all shallow, have started on or by the road
Xinhua image landslides in Yunnan Province.4. Landslide in Hunan Province, China: Xinhua reports that six people were killed by a landslide in a landslide on 7th November in Huanxin Village, Pingjiang County. The landslide was triggered by heavy rainfall.
5. Landslide in Burma (Myanmar): This is a location in which I suspect that I do not manage to record all of the landslide events that occur, given the news black-out imposed by the Burmese authorities for much of the time. However, reports have emerged that a landslide on 28th October in Mongton Township, Southern Shan state killed 13 workers on a tea farm. The cause was heavy rainfall.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Floods in France
France is currently suffering some terrible flooding that is also resulting in a serious threat of mudslides to the extent that some motorways (freeways) have had to be closed.
Although not really landslides, I felt I just had to show the following pictures of the Grangent reservoir on the Loire valley, which has trapped an extraordinary amount of debris washed down the river as a result of the rainfall:
There are also some fantastic pictures and videos, such as the image below, on this blog site (in French).
Although not really landslides, I felt I just had to show the following pictures of the Grangent reservoir on the Loire valley, which has trapped an extraordinary amount of debris washed down the river as a result of the rainfall:
There are also some fantastic pictures and videos, such as the image below, on this blog site (in French).
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Highway 97 update
Attempts to deal with the slope problem on Highway 97 in Canada continue in a quietly controlled manner, and there are now some signs of success. The focus continues to be upon small blasts at the head of the slope to remove material, which is then transferred to the toe to support the mass and to protect the highway. The size of each blast is now reportedly 2000 cubic metres. The result of this work is that the rate of movement has slowed from over 10 mm per day to 8 mm per day now. However, care is needed in interpreting these movement data as the reduction could be caused natural variation or response to another stimulus (the slope could be draining for example).
Meanwhile the road is still closed indefinitely, and Houdini the goat appears to be in good health!
The cost of the Yunnan landslides
On a day when a different type of landslide is dominating the news (a happy end to the possibility of four more years of an anti-science administration in the White House), reports continue to come in about the disastrous landslides in Yunnan Province in China on Sunday. Usually it is very difficult to get an estimate of the real costs of landslides, but Xinhua has provided an unusual level of detail:
Number of fatalities: 40
Number of missing people: 43
Number injured: 10
Number of people affected: 1.27 million
Number of people moved from their homes: 60,800
Number of houses destroyed: >1,500
Number of houses damaged: 15,000
Surface area of crops destroyed: 9,000 hectares
Economic costs: $86.6 million
Costs of relief work: $1.9 million from central government and $1.46 million from local government.
To put those economic costs in perspective, this report suggests that the average per capita income for rural households in China in 2008 is $580.
Reuters image showing residents clearing the ruins of their destroyed houses after a rain-triggered mudslide hit a village of Xudian County
Number of fatalities: 40
Number of missing people: 43
Number injured: 10
Number of people affected: 1.27 million
Number of people moved from their homes: 60,800
Number of houses destroyed: >1,500
Number of houses damaged: 15,000
Surface area of crops destroyed: 9,000 hectares
Economic costs: $86.6 million
Costs of relief work: $1.9 million from central government and $1.46 million from local government.
To put those economic costs in perspective, this report suggests that the average per capita income for rural households in China in 2008 is $580.
Reuters image showing residents clearing the ruins of their destroyed houses after a rain-triggered mudslide hit a village of Xudian County
Monday, November 3, 2008
Malaysia talk
The following is my presentation at the International Symposium on Slopes in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is an invited paper on the topic of landslides in Asia in relation to climate change and other environmental pressures. I hope you find it of interest.
The file should appear below:
Uploaded on authorSTREAM by Dr_Dave
If you cannot see the file then click on the highlighted Dr_Dave link above. The full Powerpoint file can be downloaded from that location too. I will post a report on the most interesting parts of Day One tomorrow.
The file should appear below:
Uploaded on authorSTREAM by Dr_Dave
If you cannot see the file then click on the highlighted Dr_Dave link above. The full Powerpoint file can be downloaded from that location too. I will post a report on the most interesting parts of Day One tomorrow.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Landslide disaster in Yunnan, China
Xinhua, the Chinese Official news agency, is reporting a series of landslide disasters in Yunnan Province, China this weekend:
"Twenty people died and 42 were missing after landslides and mud-rock flows hit southwest China's Yunnan Province over the weekend, said local authorities. The disasters hit Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, and four counties and a district of the provincial capital Kunming, the provincial civil affairs department said. More than 1,000 houses collapsed or were damaged in the disasters. Tents, quilts and clothes were being transported to the areas. The casualties and damages were also being assessed."
Mud-rock flows are debris flows.
The worst landslide appears to have occurred close to Chuxiong City, where Reuters (and others) are reporting 15 deaths and 34 people missing. It is unclear at the moment whether this is a single location or whether there have been multiple flows.
Interestingly, the TRMM have identified this as an area in danger of landslides today, as this image shows:
"Twenty people died and 42 were missing after landslides and mud-rock flows hit southwest China's Yunnan Province over the weekend, said local authorities. The disasters hit Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, and four counties and a district of the provincial capital Kunming, the provincial civil affairs department said. More than 1,000 houses collapsed or were damaged in the disasters. Tents, quilts and clothes were being transported to the areas. The casualties and damages were also being assessed."
Mud-rock flows are debris flows.
The worst landslide appears to have occurred close to Chuxiong City, where Reuters (and others) are reporting 15 deaths and 34 people missing. It is unclear at the moment whether this is a single location or whether there have been multiple flows.
Interestingly, the TRMM have identified this as an area in danger of landslides today, as this image shows:
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