Suggested Guidelines for Investigating Land Subsidence and Earth Fissure Hazards in Arizona

Suggested Guidelines for Investigating Land Subsidence and Earth Fissure Hazards in Arizona

Suggested Guidelines for Investigating Land Subsidence and Earth Fissure Hazards in Arizona

From the AZGS Document Repository:

These guidelines provide professionals evaluating site-specific conditions in areas known or suspected to be subsiding with a standardized minimum level of investigation for land-subsidence and earth-fissure hazards. The guidelines do not include systematic descriptions of all available investigative techniques or topics, nor is it suggested that all techniques or topics are appropriate for every project. Variations in site conditions, project scope, economics, and level of acceptable risk may require that some topics be addressed in greater detail than is outlined in these guidelines. However, all elements of these guidelines should be considered in comprehensive land-subsidence and earth-fissure hazard investigations, and may be applied to any project site, large or small. These guidelines are largely modified from draft recommendations prepared by Lund and others (2010). That draft, in turn, was developed using existing guidelines for preparing engineering geologic reports in Utah (Utah Section of the Association of Engineering Geologist, 1986), guidelines for evaluating surface-fault-rupture and land-subsidence hazards in Nevada (NESC, 1998), and guidelines for evaluating surface-fault rupture in California and Utah (California Geological Survey, 2002; Christenson and others, 2003), with additions and comments from various professionals involved in land-subsidence and earth-fissure investigations.

 

The Arizona Land Subsidence Interest Group contributed this report to the AZGS. I am a member of the group, albeit an inactive one. This document was commented on extensively by experts in consulting engineering geology, geotechnical engineering as well as agency representatives from the AZGS, APS, ADWR and others. Kudos to the group and those individuals who spearheaded the creation of this valuable resource. [Source: AZGS Document Repository. Image: AZGS]