Landslides 2005-2006

SYNOPSIS

This report is intended to give an overview of Landslides and its relevance

to Civil Engineering. An earnest attempt is made to help in getting started
with Landslides.The classification of Landslides,Impaxt

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CONTENTS

1. Synopsis 1

2. Contents 2

3. Introduction 3

4. Causes of mass movement 7

5. Common landslide types 8

6. Causes for landslides 10

7. Various reasons for landslides 12

8. Effects of landslides 14

9. Landslides in India 16

10. Preventive Measures 19

11. Major Landslides 25

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Introduction

LANDSLIDES

Landslides refers to the downward sliding of huge quantities of land mass

which occur along steep slopes of hills, or mountains and may be sudden
or slow.

EARTH MOVEMENTS

All movement of land losses are referred as landslides, but differ in many
respects, therefore all types of landslides is categorized as earth
movements.

CLASSIFICATION OF EARTH MOVMENTS

Earth movements are classified in to

1) EARTH FLOW

 SOLIFLUCTION: Downward movement of wet soil along the slopes

under the influence of gravity.

 SOIL CREEP: Creep is extremely slow downward movement of dry

surfacial matter. Movement of the soil occurs in
regions which are subjected to freeze-thaw
conditions. The freeze lifts the particles of soil and
rocks , and when there is a thaw , the particles are
set back down, but not in the same place as before

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2) LANDSLIDES

 Large block know as a slump block moves during the landslide.

 The scar above a landslide is easily visible.

 They can occur along a slope where the internal resistances of the
rocks are reduced or they loose their holding capacity.

 Common after earthquakes or after removal of part of the slope due to

construction, particularly for construction of roads.

 If a mass of earth moves along a definite plane or surface the failure is

termed as landslide.

 During the movement of landslide can result in to

 Debris slides: are failures of unconsolidated material on a surface.

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 Rock slide or rock fall: Where movements of large rock block rolls.

 They are common along the steep banks of rivers, lakes etc….

 Pore water pressure is the key to monitoring landslides, shear strength

(a resisting force) decreases and the weight (a driving force) increases.

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3) SUBSIDENCE

 It represents the downward movement of the surface.

 It may occur due to plastic out flow of the underlying strata or due the
compaction of the underlying material.

 Subsidence due to plastic outflow: It may occur when a plastic

layer like clay bed is squeezed outward due to overlying heavy load.

 Subsidence due to collapse: It occurs due to extensive pull out of

large volume of underground water or due to subsurface solution
activity in lime stone terrain.

The leaning tower of Pisa, Italy, the tilting of which accelerated as ground
water was withdrawn from aquifers to supply the growing city.

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CAUSES OF MASS MOVEMENT

 Caused either by seismic forces or by atmospheric events.

 Rain- water saturated material is heavier and cohesion with in

material is lower when wet.

 Movement of water table.

 Weathering – reduces strength of material.

 Under cutting of toe by erosion.

 Shaking of ground by earthquakes.

 Can also be caused by human intervention.

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COMMON LANDSLIDE TYPES:

 Slide - Movement parallel to planes of weakness and occasionally

parallel to slope.

 Creep – Gradual movement of slope materials.

 Slump – complex movement of materials on a slope, includes

rotational slump.

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 Topple – The end-over-end motion of rock down a slope.

 Torrent – A sporadic and sudden canalized discharge of water and

debris.

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CAUSES OF LAND SLIDES:

Landslides can be causes by poor ground conditions, geomorphic

phenomena, and natural physical forces and quite often due to heavy spells
of rainfall coupled with impended drainages.

LIST OF CAUSES OF LANDSLIDES:

 Ground Causes

 Weak, sensitivity, or weathered materials.

 Adverse ground structure (joints, fissures, etc).

 Physical property variation (permeability,

plasticity etc…).

 Morphological causes:

 Ground uplift (volcanic, tectonic etc…).

 Erosion (wind, water).

 Scour, deposition loading in the slope crest. Vegetation removal (by

forest fire, drought etc...)

 Physical causes:

 Prolonged precipitation

 Rapid draw-down.

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 Earth quake.

 Thawing

 Shrink and swell.

 Artesian pressure.

 Man-made causes:

 Excavation (particularly at the toe of slope).

 Loading of slope crest.

 Draw-down (of reservoir).

 Deforestation.

 Irrigation.

 Mining.

 Artificial vibrations.

 Water impoundment and leakage from utilities.

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LANDSLIDES OCCUR DUE TO VARIOUS REASONS:

 Internal Causes:

 Influence Of Slope – Provides favorable condition for landslides;

steeper slope are prone to slippage of land. It is known that most of
the materials are stable up to certain angle. “Or angle of response”, It
varies from30^o for unconsolidated sediments to 90^o for massive
rocks and 60^o – 90^o for partially jointed rocks.

 Ground Water or Associated Water – Main factor responsible for

slippage. Suppose the hard or massive rocks are underlined by softer
rocks (shale or clay bed).

When rain water percolates through some fractures or joints the

clayey beds becomes very plastic and acts as slippery base, which
enhance the chances of loose overburden to slip downward.

Water is the most powerful solvent, which not only causes

decomposition of minerals but also leaches out the soluble matter of
the rock and reduces the strength

 Lithology – Rock which are rich in clay (montmorillonite, bentonite).

Mica, calcite, gypsum etc, are prone to landslide because these
minerals are prone to weathering.

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 Geological Structures – Occurrence of inclined bedding planes,
joints, fault or shear zone are the planes of weakness, which create
conditions of instability.

 Human Influence – Undercutting along the hill slopes for laying

roads or rail tracks can result into stability. Deforestration in the
uplands, result into more erosion during the rainy season.

Landslides may result directly or indirectly from the activities of

people. Slope failures can be triggered by construction activity that
undercuts or overloads dangerous slopes, or that redirects the flow of
surface or ground water.

The Thuya Creek landslide near little Fort occurred in 1972 and removed much of the
roadway (photo courtesy of the Ministry of Transportation and Highways).

 External Factor:

Most common is the vibration resulted due to earthquakes, blasting to

explosives, volcanic eruption etc.

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Earth quakes often initiate mass failures on large scale. E.g. 1897
Asian quake produced gigantic landslide ever recorded in the region.

EFFECTS OF LANDSLIDES:

Landslide cause property damage, injury and death and adversely affect a
variety of resources, For example, water supplies, fisheries, sewage
disposal system, forests, dams, and roadways can be affected for years
after a slide event.

In 1991, a rock slide near Loggers Creek closed the Sea-to-Sky Highway for 12

The negative economic effects of landslides include the cost to repair

structures, loss of property value, disruption of transportation routes,
medical costs in the event of injury, and indirect costs such as lost timber
and lost fish stocks, Water availability, quantity and quality can be affected

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by landslides, Geotechnical studies and engineering projects to assess and
stabilize potentially dangerous sites can be costly.

A debris torrent at Britannia Creek in August of 1991 caused extensive damage to

property (photo courtesy of K. Fletcher).

LANDSLIDE LOSSES:

Large infrequent landslides contribute less to personal and property losses

than do the smaller, more frequent slides and debris torrents in populated
areas.

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LANDSLIDES IN INDIA:

In the hilly terrain of India including the Himalayas, landslides have been a
major and widely spread natural disaster. The often strike life and property
and occupy a position of major concern.

One of the worst tragedies took place at malpa, uttarkhand (U.P) on 11 th

and 17th august 1988. Where nearly 380 people were killed when massive
landslides washed away the entire village. This includes 60 piligrims going
to lake mansarovar in Tibet. Consequently various lands reform measures
have been initiated as mitigation measures.

The two regions most vulnerable to landslides are the Himalayas and the
Western Ghats. The Himalaya Mountain built, comprise of tectonically
unstable. Younger geological formation subjected several seismic and
nilgiries are geologically stable but have uplifted plateau margins
influenced by neo-tectonics activity compared to Western Ghats regions,
the slides in Himalaya region huge and massive and in most case the
overburden along with the underlying lithology is displaced during sliding
particulary due to the seismic factor.

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Incidences of landslides in India:

Incidences of
Region
landslides

Himalayas High to very high

North-eastern Hills High

Western Ghats and the Nilgiris Modern to high

Cattle lost Low

Vindhayachal Low

Landslides zonation mapping is a modern method to identify landslides

prone, Areas and has been in use in India since 1980s.

The major parameters that call for evaluation are as follows:

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 Slope-magnitude, length, and direction.

 Soil Thickness.

 Relative relief.

 Land use.

 Drainage- pattern and density.

 Landslides affected population.

An overall evaluation of the pattern and nature of landslide occurrences in

the Kerala part of Western Ghats and its corresponding eastern flank falling
with in Tamil Nadu reveals the following main features.

• Almost all mass movements occur during monsoons (SW and NE monsoon)
in the western flank of western Ghats and during occasional cyclonic events
in the eastern flank indicating that main triggering mechanism is the over-
saturation of overburden caused by heavy rains
• There seems to be a relation between intensity of rainfall and slope failures.
• Majority of the catastrophic mass movements is confined to the overburden
without affecting the underlying bedrock.
• Improper land use practices such as heavy tilling, agricultural practices and
settlement patterns have contributed to creep and withdrawal of toe support in
many cases
• A common factor noticed in most of these vulnerable slopes deforestation in
the recent past, cultivation of seasonal crops and increase in settlements.
• In all the vulnerable slopes terracing/ contour bounding is adopted mainly to
prevent soil erosion and to enhance percolation during dry season for
cultivation of cash crops as well as seasonal crops. Invariably, in all these
cases, natural drainage lines on slopes are blocked or modified without
adequate provision for surface drainage of excess storm water during high
intensity rains prevalent in the area.
• In some areas developmental activities like construction of buildings, road

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cutting, embankments, cut and fill structures causes modification of natural

slopes, blocking of surface drainage, loading of critical slopes and withdrawal
to toe support promoting vulnerability of critical slopes.

PREVETATIVE MEASURES:

It is very difficult to prevent landslides, and, in fact, it is not healthy for the
environment to do so, but with good techniques, it is possible to reduce the
hazards.Some slopes, however, cannot be stabilized, and development of
these areas should be avoided if at all possible.It has been estimated that
the benefit-to-cost ratio of preventing landslides ranges from 10-2000,
meaning that every dollar spent in preventing landslides will save $10 to
$2000 if no landslide-prevention measures are taken. There are three
primary considerations involved if we are to minimize environmental and
societal damage: geological, structural, and policy.

GEOLOGICAL:

One of the most important and first steps to take in order to minimize
landslide hazards is to identify where potential landslides can occur.This
can be done by examining the geological conditions that contribute to mass
wasting as well as taking aerial photographs to identify previous slides.

 Land Assessment: to determine what areas are prone to landslides.

1. Take aerial photographs- To look for areas of little vegetation,This

is indicative of mass wasting because after being destroyed by a
landslide, the growth of vegetation is slow to resume.The growth of

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blackberry bushes is, in fact, indicative of disturbed soil, so it is likely
that a landslide, even a small one, occurred in that area in the past.

2. Investigate in the field: is it a steep slope? Does the slope consist

of loose sediment, such as sand or gravels development in the area
making the slope more vulnerable to erosions it a wet climate?

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 Maps: produce slope stability maps showing how prone various areas
are to landslides.

 Inventory: make a landslide inventory, recording where past

landslides have occurred.

STRUCTURAL:

After a landslide prone area is identified, the next step is to minimize the
damage; this can be done using setbacks and common engineering
techniques regarding drainage control, unstable slope material, vegetation,
and shoreline armoring.

 Setbacks: Expect natural slope processes to continue, so set houses

and buildings back to from the edges of bluffs to safeguard against
landslides.

 Drainage: Drainage control is fairly effective in reducing landslide

risks, Since slides can often be triggered by intense amounts of
rainfall, a drainage system can prevent too much storm-water from
infiltrating and saturating the ground, This can be achieved above the
surface, by installing drains that perform the same function as gutters
that remove water from the roofs of houses, or by covering the slope
with an impermeable layer such as soil-cement or plastic, Drains can
also be below ground as a series of pipes that divert water away from
unstable slopes. Drain control improvements can be one of the most
cost efficient means of reducing the probability of landslides.

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 Stabilize Slope Material: The first option is to avoid steep slopes

altogether, Grading a slope, however, can increase slope stability if
carefully done, Material from the upper part of a slope can be removed
and emplaced lower on the slope, thereby reducing the steepness of
the slope, Another option is to cut the slope into a series of steps which
incorporate an efficient draining system, lso, applying erosion mats,
plastic sheeting, or other erosion-control material where vegetation will
not take hold may help.

 Vegetation: Vegetation reduces soil erosion and increases slope

stability by providing different types of root systems which can help
strengthen and binding the soil together, carefully selected plants can
also intercept precipitation before it hits the ground, thereby reducing
runoff and excessive infiltration.

 Shoreline Armoring: Many property owners around the Puget Sound

decide to use bulkheads and seawalls to reduce the erosion, such as
from wave action, and provide support at the base of the slope. These
walls can be constructed from materials like rock, timber, concrete, or
other materials, and drain holes must be incorporated to reduce the
chance of water building up behind the wall.

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1. Negative effects: Construction of bulkheads and seawalls is not
always the safest choice, According to the Washington Department
of Ecology, bulkheads and seawalls have limited value as retaining
structures and are not designed to resist significant lateral forces, By
using these structures the environment pays a significant cost as
most of the Puget Sound beaches are created from the erosion of
coastal bluffs that armoring prevents.

An example of a failing bulkhead

Policy:

In order to standardize the building allowed on steep slopes and the ways of
stabilization, various policies should be put into place.

 Building codes: These prevent developers from

using unsafe structural practices and/or materials.
 Tax break programs: Shoreline property owners have options for
preserving and protecting their homes and property, there are tax
break programs, which residents can find further information through
their local government agency, land trust, or land conservation.

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 Shoreline Management Act (SMA): The Shoreline Management Act
was enacted in 1971 to manage and protect the shorelines of
Washington state by regulating development in the shoreline area,
One of the primary goals of this Act is "to prevent the inherent harm in
an uncoordinated and piecemeal development of the state's
shorelines" The SMA has jurisdiction over the Pacific Ocean shoreline,
the shorelines of Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuci, rivers, and
lakes above a certain size, This Act also regulates "wetland" areas that
are associated with these shorelines.

 National Landslides Hazards Program (NLHP): This program has

operated since the 1970's by gathering information, doing research,
producing scientific reports, and responding to emergencies and
disasters, These efforts have resulted in a better substantial
improvements in the understanding of the nature of ground failure
across the nation, The main objective of the NLHP is to reduce the
long-term losses caused by landslides by improving our understanding
of the causes behind slope failure and suggesting possible strategies
of mitigation.

 National Landslide Information Center (NLIC): This center was

created by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to collect and
distribute all sorts of information pertaining to mass wasting, It is
designed to assist researchers, scientists, as well as the general
public.

 Landslide Hazard Zonation Project: The Washington State

Department of Natural Resources is part of this project to map
unstable slopes in order to eliminate any errors in identifying
hazardous areas.

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 Growth Management Act:

 Passed in 1990, this act requires the creation of local ordinances to

govern the development of unstable bluffs.

 RCW 36.70A.170: requires that by September 1, 1991, each county,

and each city will designate where critical areas are, which are areas
that “because of their susceptibility to erosion, sliding, earthquake, or
other geological events, are not suited to the sitting of commercial,
residential, or industrial development consistent with public health or
safety concerns” (RCW 36.70A.030).

 The regulations state that: "Cities should classify geologically

hazardous areas as either:
1. Known or suspected risk
2. No risk
3. Risk unknown- data are not available to determine the
presence or absence of a geological hazard"

MAJOR LANDSLIDES (1916-1987):

YEAR LOCATION TYPE FATALITIES

1916 Italy, Austria Landslide 10,000

Earthquake triggered
1920 China 200,000
landslide
1945 Japan Flood triggered landslide 1,200

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Earthquake triggered
1949 U.S.S.R 12000-20,000
landslide
1954 Austria Landslide 200

1962 Peru Landslide 4,000-50,000

1963 Italy Landslide 2000

Earthquake related debris
1970 Peru 70,000
avalanche
Mudflow related to volcanic
1985 Columbia 23,000
eruption
1987 Ecuador Earthquake related landslide 1000

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