THE SPRING OF '73 (AN OVERVIEW OF RECENT LANDSLIDE PROBLEMS IN TENNESSEE)

The term landslide is defined, the causes are examined, and the observation is made that rarely can one single out one factor as the 'cause' of a landslide. The excessive rainfall in Tennessee in '73 is noted. Depending on the priority and permeability of the soil, relief of the area, degree of slope etc., failure may not occur immediately-but usually within 48 hours of the storm. One may determine within 12 to 24 hours time of actual collapse. Details of specific slides are given. In one slide, failure was attributed to cresting of the river which saturated the toe of an already weakened sidehill fill. A slide that has plagued the state for many years has been attributed to the liquefaction of cohesionless to very slightly plastic soil. Major failure of this area in 1973 resulted when the soils along the lower slopes began to flow due to liquefaction. This loss of support resulted in upslope slumping followed by liquefaction of the slumped materials. Slides along Route 68, Interstate 75, I-40 and State Route 61 are discussed. Comments are made on the costs of damage and repair. Although the immediate cause of most of these slides was heavy rain, the "real" causes range from designs or construction methods that were not compatible with the materials and conditions on the site at the time of construction, all the way to the very basic composition and characteristics of the materials and conditions themselves.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This article was taken from the Proceedings of the 56th Annual Tennessee Highway Conference, Knoxville; April 25-26, 1974.
• Corporate Authors:

  University of Tennessee, Knoxville

  Engineering Experiment Station
  Knoxville, TN  United States  37916
• Authors:
  • Royster, D L
• Conference:
  • This article was taken from the Proceedings of the 56th Annual Tennessee Highway Conference, Knoxville; April 25-26, 1974.
• Publication Date: 1975-1-1

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 12-23

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Building materials; Costs; Highway design; Landslides; Liquefaction; Properties of materials; Rainfall; Road construction; Slopes; Soils; Surveying; Surveying
• Uncontrolled Terms: Causes
• Old TRIS Terms: Soil characteristics
• Subject Areas: Finance; Geotechnology; Highways; Materials;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00096248
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: Bulletin No. 41
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 15 1975 12:00AM