Allegations: Oregon Not Forthcoming With Landslide Hazard Information
Available Resources
Geologic Hazard Photos
The National Geodetic Data Center (NGDC) of NOAA has an online collection of photos of various geologic hazards. Many of the photos are from older sets of 35mm slides that have been digitized. They are free to use provided you credit the photographer and the NGDC as the source. The would be really useful for educators and for powerpoint presentations. The only drawback is that they are in TIF format and some of them could use some retouching. (Photo by University of Colorado, made available by NOAA/NGDC)
Failures
Nachterstedt Landslide in Eastern Germany, Three People Believed Missing
A massive landslide in the little town of Nachterstedt in Eastern Germany early on Saturday morning local time caused two houses to vanish into a nearby lake. Three people are believed to have been in the buildings at the time of the slide. Rescue efforts are still on going and had to be halted during the night but were resumed the next morning. Helicopters with infrared cameras and dogs were used to find the missing people, but with no success so far. Approximately 60 residents of nearby buildings had to be evacuated and put up in emergency shelters. (Photo by Spiegel Online) [Editor] More after the break. [/Editor]
Weekend CUP
Weekend CUP March 15, 2010
Death toll in NW China landslide rises to 23 – China Daily Italian Team Repairing Collapsed Head-Race Tunnel at Ethiopian Dam – ENR: Engineering News Record OSHA Cites Company Following Trench Fatality – KPVI NEWS […]
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Clatskanie Landslide
Dear geo blogger,
My take on this slide is that the old railroad crossing or road crossing that held up the water for the Clatskanie Event on or about Jan 11, was not “put to bed”. The crossing should have been destroyed and the abutments pulled out of the channel. The slide volume and extent of travel of the subsequent debris flows would have been much smaller and shorter.
I served for a year as an ERFO Hydrologist at the Detroit Ranger Station, up the Santiam Canyon from Salem in 1997 and 1998. An about-to-retire civil engineer, Bill Day, used the “put to bed” term and practice. He also said something else that was useful, “it takes trees to be twenty years old or more before their root systems hold back natural landslides. The trees on the reforested property above the Clatskanie debris flow section were not that old.
I agree with Bill Burns and, to reinforce his statements, I like what he said about the recent spate of landslides.
John Rehm
Registered Geologist G1137
Salem, Oregon
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Note: This is a Opinion based on literature (Dryness, c. 1964), my MS Thesis published on the Rutgers University Geosciences website, and professional experience under registered engineer supervision by Bill Day (1997-1998 (just in case OSBGE is reading this)
Put to bed
Thanks for your insights John. I’ve never heard the term “put to bed” before, but I couldn’t agree with you more. And the factoid about tree root systems seems like a very useful rule of thumb. — Randy Post (aka Rockman)