Alternative Title
Paper No. 2.52 L
Location
St. Louis, Missouri
Date
10 Mar 1998, 2:30 pm - 5:30 pm
Abstract
Why do some residential structures slide downhill? This paper illustrates how a residential developer and home builder did not appreciate the geotechnical aspects of developing on a steep hillside, even when the site is within about ¼ mile of a known slide, and previous problems occurred at the site. Due to this indifference, the house in this study was constructed over an apparent previous slide, and destroyed by renewed slope movement. Our study was performed on behalf of the city who maintains both sanitary and storm sewers adjacent to the house. The purpose of our investigation was to determine the most probable cause of the slide, even if it was the sewers. What our study actually showed was the sewers did not cause the slide, but were victims, enabling the city to settle out of court for a fraction of the original claim.
Department(s)
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Meeting Name
4th Conference of the International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering
Publisher
University of Missouri--Rolla
Document Version
Final Version
Rights
© 1998 University of Missouri--Rolla, All rights reserved.
Creative Commons Licensing
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Document Type
Article - Conference proceedings
File Type
text
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Beck, W. Ken, "The Tale of Two Slides" (1998). International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering. 28.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/icchge/4icchge/4icchge-session02/28
The Tale of Two Slides
St. Louis, Missouri
Why do some residential structures slide downhill? This paper illustrates how a residential developer and home builder did not appreciate the geotechnical aspects of developing on a steep hillside, even when the site is within about ¼ mile of a known slide, and previous problems occurred at the site. Due to this indifference, the house in this study was constructed over an apparent previous slide, and destroyed by renewed slope movement. Our study was performed on behalf of the city who maintains both sanitary and storm sewers adjacent to the house. The purpose of our investigation was to determine the most probable cause of the slide, even if it was the sewers. What our study actually showed was the sewers did not cause the slide, but were victims, enabling the city to settle out of court for a fraction of the original claim.
