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1. ABOUT ILRG
The International Landslide Research Group (ILRG) consists of about 450 people from 55 countries interested in regional landslide research and the application of this research in solving societal problems related to landslides. We communicate with each other mainly through this newsletter and by email and in co-sponsoring (with the Japanese Friends of the ICFL) a field trip to study landslides in various countries every three years. We have a Web site in Italy (http://ilrg.gndci.cnr.it) maintained by our webmasters, Fausto Guzzetti and Massimo Guadagno, and with links to several international landslide organizations. We are affiliated with the Caribbean Landslide Working Group (rahmad@uwimona.edu.jm), Geoengineer (Geoengineer.org), and the Italian National Research Council Institute for Hydrogeological Protection of Central Italy (Fausto.Guzzetti@irpi.cnr.it). We are among the associations listed by the International Encyclopedia of Associations, the International Directory of Geoscience Organizations, and the Yearbook of International Organizations.
Past issues of the Newsletter are on our Web site (http://ilrg.gndci.cnr.it). We welcome news from you and reprints of your publications. Please send reprints to Earl Brabb, 4377 Newland Heights Dr., Rocklin, CA 95765 USA.
2. OFFICERS
Dorian E. Kuper, President, Dorian@kupercon.com
Earl E. Brabb, President Emeritus and Newsletter Editor, ebrabb@earthlink.net
Lynette Key, Treasurer (Cotton, Shires and Associates)
Fausto Guzzetti and Massimo Guadagno (CNR-IRPI, Italy): Webmasters
Cotton, Shires and Associates (Los Gatos, CA) Corporate Sponsor
3. XII INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE AND FIELD TRIP ON LANDSLIDES
Alpine Landslide Problems and Projects, Switzerland, August 23 - September 3, 2008
On the evening of August 23rd, 17 participants representing Canada, Japan, Norway, The Republic of Korea, The United Kingdom, and The United States gathered at Restaurant Rosengarten, overlooking Berne, where we were greeted by Committee Chairman Hans Kienholz, who reviewed the history of the ICFL. The following day, Professor Kienholz opened the Symposium of ALPPS 2008 at the Institute of Geography, University of Berne. Five papers illustrated landslides in Japan, landslide prediction in the Korean Republic, recent debris flows on volcanoes of Oregon and Washington in the United States, and landslides triggered by the May 12 Sichuan, China earthquake. Professor Pfiffner’s summary of the Geology of Switzerland and Daniel Marbacher’s Geography of Switzerland provided a necessary background for our forthcoming eight days of field trips. Professor Pfiffner’s excellent paper “The Alps” is included in the comprehensive ALPPS 2008 Guidebook, which contains well illustrated and detailed descriptions of the nine trip excursions.
Landslides cover approximately 6 percent of Switzerland and as much as 22 percent of the central area. In terms of natural hazard costs, landsliding ranks behind flooding and hail and ahead of snow avalanches and earthquakes.
Field trip highlights included Christophe Bonnard’s excursion to the Falli Holli landslide, where heavy rainfall triggered a flow slide in 1994 that progressively destroyed 41 houses, which losses were covered by mandatory cantonal insurance. As a result of this crisis, landslide susceptibility maps are now being prepared for the Canton of Fribourg.Visits to Maison du Gruyére and the Gruyéres Castle were appropriately followed by a cheese fondue dinner at “La Fleur de Lys.”
The La Frasse slide in the Canton of Vaud dates back to 9,300 ybp with four reactivations in the 1900’s. There, displacements of as much as 1m/week, related to ground water infiltration, caused cracks and tilting of houses and damage to a main cantonal road. For dewatering, a 730 m-long drainage gallery was recently bored and some 50 vertical boreholes are being drilled.
After passing through numerous vineyards of the Rhone River Valley, we were treated at Sion to an excellent wine lecture and tasting by Scott Burns. Professor Simon Low then led our group on invigorating hikes to the rockslope failures of Randa and St. Niklaus. Two successive rockfalls in augen gneiss of the Bernese nappe in the steep cliff above Randa occurred in April and May, 1991. These were not predicted and covered the train tracks and main road and displaced the river. The rockslide scarp extends almost 1,000 m above the valley floor, where a research project is monitoring the current instability in conjunction with an early warning system. A similar monitoring system that included geodetic surveying, crack measurements, tiltmeters, distance measurements, and inclinometers enabled the prediction of the “rock collapse” at St. Nikalus on November 21, 2002. As a result, the area at risk was evacuated and the local railway service stopped 20 hours prior to the failure. There, an 8 to 10 m-high protection dam (berm) has since been constructed in the valley at the foot of the slope.
A free day enabled us to take the train from Tasch to Zermatt and the cog railway to Gornergrat, where we witnessed some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in the world.
Dr. Markus Stoffel reconstructed debris-flow activity of the Ritigraben Torrent in the Alps. By analyzing growth disturbances in century old trees, he was able to document 123 events since 1570, which events increased during the warm and wet months of June, July, and August.
Other trip highlights included a cable car ride and hike above Grindelwald to view mass movements of the Baregg area and the Eiger rockfall of 2006. Following the train ride to Europe’s highest station at Jungfraujoch, the “Top of Europe” at 3,454 m, Dr. Bernard Krummenacher described the construction in permafrost of the guest house, which is secured with rock anchors. There, we had a short walk onto the Aletsch Glacier, at 24 km the longest in the Alps, and later passed through an ice palace gallery of ice sculptures. En route to Interlaken, we visited “Blausee” (Blue Lake) famous for its fresh trout, which we greatly enjoyed at a candlelight dinner. From Interlaken, Dr. Markus Zimmermann guided us to the “Torrents” of Brienz, a small town in the Berner Oberland. There, debris flows have repeatedly caused devastation and damage since the Middle Ages. As a result of reforestation and more recent check dam construction, the danger has been reduced.
The farewell dinner at the “Reberhaus” near Berne featured a sumptuous banquet of regional Swiss cuisine together with continuous musical entertainment. This grand finale provided us with an opportunity to thank Hans Kienholz for a truly outstanding ICFL and for arranging for such knowledgeable local experts. We also extended our appreciation to Bettina Witmer for her flawless handling of the many trip logistics. (summary by Joe Clark, Indiana, PA, jc0159@verizon.net)
Strasbourg, France, February 6-7, 2009, International Conference on Landslide processes: From geomorphological mapping to dynamic modelling; “A tribute to Prof. Theo van ASCH." Co-organized by CERG, Utrecht University and University of Strasbourg. Details on the themes of the Conference can be found at: http://eost.u-strasbg.fr/landslidestrasbg2009/
Andhra Pradesh, India, October 1-3, 2009, Recent advances in geotechnical engineering” Conference Websites: www.gitam.edu & www.cipremier.com.
The Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) actively compiles reports of recent landslide events around the world. These media links are posted on our landslide website. Email notification of new postings to our website http://gsc.nrcan.gc.ca/landslides/in_the_news_e.php) is provided on a weekly basis to interested professionals. For the week of September 1 to 6, a total of 15 news items were found, with landslides occurring in 14 countries (New Zealand, South Africa, Malaysia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Ireland, Jamaica, United Kingdom, Philippines, Egypt, United States of America, Costa Rica, and China). Details are available via the above links to our website. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact : Landslides / Glissements de terrain
Geological Survey of Canada / Commission géologique du Canada
601 Booth Street / 601 rue Booth
Ottawa Ontario K1A 0E8
CANADA
Email / Courriel: landslides@nrcan.gc.ca
This newsletter is the last one, unless someone wants to replace the Editor with a new approach and new ideas about how information about People engaged in regional landslide hazard research should be conveyed. The Editor is essentially out of the landslide business and has focused on Tertiary stratigraphy and paleontology for the last several years. The postcard from the ICFL participants was welcome and a good reminder of many happy and interesting moments, but the time has come to pass on the torch. Good luck and best wishes to you all.