Friday, December 28, 2012

City of Astoria explains post-slide plans


Three Astoria residences were evacuated after a landslide last Thursday brought down trees and debris on the south side of Duane Street between 5th and 6th.  Occupants were allowed to return to their homes the following day.

At a  special meeting of the Astoria City Council yesterday (Thurs), Nathan Crater, Assistant City Engineer, presented the findings of the city’s on-call geo-technical firm.

Crater1.wav; (:39)  “Landslide Technology characterized this as a relatively shallow slide.  They’re not finding any signs of deeper seated movement, which is positive.  Unfortunately there is a portion of soil about 30 feet above the top of the slide scar which is relatively unstable, and has a high likelihood of coming down at some point.  So because of this Landslide Technologies gave us two primary recommendations.  One was to remove the trees from the slide area itself, and the adjacent area, to eliminate any hazards coming down the hill, and the second recommendation was to remove the soil from the road and provide a catchment area in the event that more soil does come down.” 

City staff will investigate erosion control measures.  A temporary containment barrier will be installed and city staff will work with Landslide Technologies on long term mitigation measure.  Crater the estimate for the initial emergency clean up effort is about 25 thousand dollars to date. 

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