Hawk Rock Subsidence Feature 2004 - 2008 Interferogram
Geologic Hazards

Arizona Land Subsidence Monitoring Report

The Arizona Department of Water Resources has an excellent program to monitor a somewhat unique geologic hazard – land subsidence. Caused by compaction of valley sediments in areas of declining groundwater table, it can create […]

Crux Subsurface employees drilling geotechnical holes for the US 89 landslide investigation
Geologic Hazards

U.S. 89 Landslide Exploration

Specialty drilling contractor Crux Subsurface recently completed geotechnical drilling for Kleinfelder at the site of a large landslide near Page, Arizona. Crux completed 17 holes to depths up to 250 feet using a combination of […]

Water rushes into the Carey Tunnel (previously the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel)
Geologic Hazards

GEER Report for Hurricane Sandy

The Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance or GEER group funded by the NSF puts experts on the ground in the aftermath of natural disasters to collect geotechnical data that can used in case studies and ultimately […]

A landslide severed an oil pipeline in Ecuador on May 31, 2013.
Geologic Hazards

Landslide Severs Oil Pipeline in Ecuador

This is definitely a sad story, and one that highlights the importance of an adequate geological investigation when designing pipelines. A landslide cause a rupture in the Trans-Equador oil pipeline on May 31st. The volume […]

2005 La Conchita Landslide
Geologic Hazards

Landslide Insurance Very Rare

There were just a few sentences in this article/blog post about landslide insurance. Most geoprofessionals realize that home-owners insurance does not cover landslides, floods or most other geologic hazards. But what I found interesting in […]

US89DrillingYouTubeThumb
Geologic Hazards

US 89 Bitter Springs Landslide Video Updates

US89DrillingYouTubeThumbSince 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!

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Pyrite from Ampliación a Victoria Mine, Navajún, La Rioja, Spain
Geologic Hazards

Irish homeowners hopeful of pyritic heave solution

The National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) has released a new standard regarding testing, categorization and remediation of pyritic backfill materials. These materials have finely disseminated reactive pyrite within the material, typically from quarry waste. […]