The magnitude 7.8 earthquake in Kaikoura New Zealand in 2016 caused over 50 landslides along State Highway 1, north and south of the Town. The team of engineers tasked with reopening the corridor to road and rail traffic needed a rockfall barrier system with a small footprint and wanted to incorporate precast blocks being used elsewhere on the corridor for other purposes. They contacted Holmes Solutions to do a full-scale impact test of the system. The precast concrete blocks are what you would see on the roadway side of the barrier. The back side of the barrier system consists of gabion baskets with some kind of sand layer in between the baskets and the blocks. Click on the video to see the outcome of the test!
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[Updated May 30, 2008] I forgot to publish this post to the front page, whoops! The two links still have excellent information. In particular, Dave’s Landslide Blog has coverage of the many landslide lakes and the efforts to breach some of them. [/Update]
The latest numbers according to AFP, Worldwide News Agency, is 71,000 dead, missing or buried and over 5 million homeless. There were many victims that were buried by landslides and rockfall. In the past few days 200 rescue workers have been buried by mudslides.
For more coverage on landslides related to the earthquake, I recommend Dave’s Landslide Blog. Geology.com also has very comprehensive coverage as well. (AFP Photo)