Tag Archive for: Springhill Landslide

sltrib.com

Insurance companies have given no help to some North Salt Lake residents whose homes are being destroyed by a slow-moving landslide. Nor has the federal government. But their neighbors did on Saturday — rallying with a community breakfast and fun run to raise money to help.

“I’m glad somebody — somebody — is helping. We need it,” said Stefanie Christiansen, whose home is being torn apart slowly. She, like many of her neighbors on Springhill Circle and Springhill Drive, were among the volunteer cooks and servers Saturday during the breakfast at Foxboro Regional Park.

As she was helping serve hot pancakes to neighbors paying $5 each, she said, “We really appreciate what people are doing for us. It means a lot.”

She said she and her husband bought their house on Springhill Drive in the foothills 15 years ago.

“Then in 1998, we had some movement from the landslide. Then it was fine for a lot of years,” she said. But more recently, it started moving again — about an inch a year — cracking foundations and walls, and tearing apart homes.

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ksl.com

Demolition crews today are preparing to knock down a house damaged by a slow-moving landslide in the Springhill area.

City manager Barry Edwards said a recent report from the Utah Geological Survey indicated there had been “significant movement of the ground” in the past 30 days, creating additional damage to homes in the North Salt Lake neighborhood.

“There’s movement underneath the house,” Edwards said. “It’s pushing the house down the hill.”

Front pillars recently have fallen from the bank-owned home near 150 South and 400 East. In addition, the floor has buckled, and windows have broken.

“It’s getting in a position where the house itself poses somewhat of a safety hazard,” he said.

The bank obtained a demolition permit from the city, and crews were waiting for the gas to be shut off to the home before beginning demolition work.

Edwards said there are other houses in the area that are in similar condition and also should be torn down. However, owners of those homes haven’t yet said that’s what they want to do.

“We haven’t pressed (the issue) because the people who lived in those houses have already been financially stressed,” he said. “We don’t want to add any financial burden on them right now.”

According to the Utah Geological Survey’s website, the state agency has been monitoring conditions in the Springhill neighborhood since 1998. Residents first began noticing cracks related to minor movement in their homes about a year earlier.

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deseretnews.com

This section summarizes landslide conditions from January 20 through December 7, 2010. Precipitation for the water year is also discussed.

Landslide Movement

The landslide was active in 2010 and had been continuously moving at a very slow rate since at least January 2008. Measurements indicate that different parts of the landslide were moving at slightly different rates. In general, the landslide moved to the northwest, toward Valley View Drive. Ground deformation measurements were collected from survey markers using a steel measuring tape and a survey-grade GPS instrument, depending on location.

The UGS monitored ground deformation at several locations on the landslide with wooden stakes to estimate approximate movement. At the head or main scarp of the landslide (uppermost part), stretching (points on the ground get farther apart) occurred due to landslide movement. At the toe of the landslide (lowermost part), shortening (points on the ground get closer together) occurred.

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