I saw this video on the ADOT Facebook Page. The failure seems larger than what I though based on the photos from the ground.
[Source: ADOT Facebook Page]
Geologic Hazards
US 89 Bitter Springs Landslide Video Updates
Since I last posted about this landslide, ADOT has added several videos to their YouTube channel. It’s clear that this highway is going to be closed for the long term. ADOT and their on-call geotechnical consultant tasked with this project, Kleinfelder, are currently drilling boreholes to attempt to characterize the failure surface and determine what the geometry of the failure surface is. They are installing at least 10 inclinometers to try to determine the location of the slip plane or planes at depth and they have two extensometers to measure if any additional movement occurs. They are also performing LIDAR surveys as well. Check out the videos below.
Initial ADOT Video Describing the Failure
Click through for the videos!
Geologic Hazards
Teenage Girl Buried Alive in Beach Bluff Landslide
A teenage girl strolling on the beach in Pacifica, California was buried alive by a landslide. She was buried up to her chest, and a passer-by dug her out with his bare hands while more soil and rock fell around them. Story at KTVU San Francisco. See a nice oblique aerial photo of the beach prior to the landslide here. Those slopes don’t look particularly stable to me but what do I know?
Available Resources
Video: Fascinating Geotechnical News in 2016
Our colleagues over at Geoengineer.org put together a great video compiling some of the more interesting stories of 2016 for all of us geotechnical nerds. Check it out! [Source: Geoengineer.org YouTube Channel. Image: YouTube]