Case Study on 2008

Tai O San Tsuen

Landslide
Brendon Chan

7 Peace
 In the morning of 7th June 2008, a landslide has occurred on the steep slopes
to the east of Tai O San Tsuen and was suspected to be caused by heavy rainfall on
the previous day. The site of which the landslide occurred in is very steep and can
get up to an angle of 75 degrees. While the slope is steep, the height of the slope is
not very high as it is only just 70 degrees with a length of around 300 meters.

This satellite image shows the

geographical location of the area which
the landslide occurred. We can see that
right under the slope, there is already
many residences. If a landslide happens in
this area, there may be serious damage to
properties and may also be human injuries
or deaths.

According to the Hong Kong Observatory, the rainfall on the 7 th of June had
the 5th highest rainfall in June. The rain that triggered this landslide have started
from the night before the landslide happened. From this, we can already determine
that one of the causes of the landslide is due to the extremely high downpour of
heavy rain in the region of which the landslide occurred. From 6am on the day to
11am, there was a Black Rainstorm Warning which was issued by the Hong Kong
Observatory. This means that the hourly rainfall is over 70 mm and the Hong Kong
Observatory recommends people to stay indoors as it is very dangerous outside.
During that period when the Black Rainstorm Warning was issued by the Hong Kong
Observatory, the recorded rainfall in the area was 99.5 mm which is 29.5 mm over
what the minimums of which the Black Rainstorm Warning is issued.

The area where the landslide occurred covers over 1000 meters squared as
there were 5 major slides that were occurred at the same time as if it is a chain
effect . The majority of the surface where the landslide occurred is filled with loose
pebbles and rocks which can be vulnerable to the heavy monsoon rainfall as it will
loosen the surface significantly as theres a lot of gaps in between the rocks and the
pebbles that will allow water to seep in through the gap easily and loosen the base
of the slope causing it to collapse and triggering the landslide.

The image clearly shows the 5 different slides that

are triggered at the same time. From the image,
we can see that the type of landslide in this case is
a debris avalanche because visually, there are not
many cracks on the surface such as crown cracks
and that the surface of rupture cannot be clearly
seen meaning that it is less likely for the landslide
to be a topple landslide.

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 This landslide is not absolutely unexpected as there was Ariel Footage of the
incident slope from the year 1963 with a finding of 10 relict landslides (Landslides
that are not moving for a long time) on the slopes. In this case some of the relict
landslides have been collapsed while there are still 5 more landslides that are in
danger that they are going to collapse and the same thing that happened this time is
going to happen again.

This diagram showing the area of which

the landslide have affected and covered.
We can see that all of the 5 landslides that
have occurred are very close together and
the debris area of the landslide is the
largest towards the south as the area that
was affected was also the largest. The dark
blue dotted lines show the relict landslides
that have been found in 1963 by the Ariel
Footages that was shot. We can see that
the relict landslides are in the middle of
the area that was affected by the
landslide, therefore, it is suspected that
the relict landslide is a cause of the
landslide.

After the incident, some initial information about the site has been found out.
They have found a water pipe running underneath the slope of which the landslide
occurred. But according to inspections on previous days, there are no signs of
leakage have been found, therefore the possibility of the pipe causing the landslide
is largely ruled out. The landslide which occurred was a debris avalanche as the
whole slope just collapsed into a debris pile ate the bottom of the slope because of
the heavy rainfall weakening the surface of the relict landslides that was already
vulnerable and caused the landslide itself.

On the 13th of June the company AECOM (Asia Company Limited) has
conducted an investigation on what are the causes that have triggered this landslide.
After an inspection of the landslide, there were findings of tension cracks at the site
of the landslide which can be up to 5 meters deep. The tension cracks at the site is
also another suspected cause of the landslide as it will weaken the structure by
separating it and allowing large amounts of water to seep into the gaps in the
tension cracks and weaken the structure of the base of the slope causing the whole
thing to collapse towards the bottom of the slope which caused the landslide.

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 According to the CEDD (Civil Engineering and Development Department)
there was a standard procedure that was taken to minimise the effect that the
landslide has had on other people. The emergency response that arrived at the site
includes the police and the fire service to manage the crowd and also help search
and rescue if needed. After a landslide, a group of Geotechnical Engineers will be
sent to the site to conduct an analysis of the current situation. The Geotechnical
Engineers will also advice different emergency precautions to prevent any other
injuries due to the landslides.

The area of which was affected by this landslide consists of many villagers
houses and also the Tin Hau Temple. Luckily, there were no reported injuries or
deaths from the landslide. Everyone who are in the danger zone of the landslide
have been evacuated on the day and have went to either their family and friends
houses or went to stay in an apartment provided by the government temporarily.

After all of the emergency procedures have been carried out, work on
repairing the slope will start. The debris of the landslide has been removed and to
strengthen the slopes of which the landslide occurred, a layer of concrete was
sprayed onto the slopes. The benefits of applying sprayed concrete (Shotcrete) on
slopes includes reinforcing the structural integrity of the slope and it is ideal for
surfaces like slopes where the most efficient way of applying strengthening mixtures
is to spray it on as the surface is vertical and not flat.

This image shows a slope which was

sprayed with concrete (Shotcrete) and it
includes hole with pipes that will allow
water to flow out of the soil that the
shotcrete is protecting inside from
overloading and therefore overpowering
the shotcrete and cause a landslide.

The shotcrete that is applied to the slope should make it less likely for a
landslide to occur and cause the slope to collapse causing damage or even injuries to
people. Although theres advantages of using shotcrete to strengthen and reinforce
the integrity of the slope preventing any future landslides, there are still
disadvantages such as causing large amount of dust and may disrupt the flow of
water that is coming from the base which is soil. To prevent water overflowing and
also causing a landslide just like what happened on the 7th of June 2008, pipes are
added which will pass through the concrete and into the soil part to allow water to

3
pass through the pipe in an event where a large amount of water is in the soil and
preventing similar landslides.

Some other solutions to fixing the problem that the slope is to plant more
plants on the slopes that may be in danger of collapsing as the roots of the plants
will act as claws and holds on to the soil sufficiently and prevent the landslide from
happening again. This can be a good way of preventing landslides as it is natural so
there is no risk of this prevention method ending up hurting the natural environment
that is in the area. But I still think that in some very high risk areas such as places
where theres many people, there should also be concrete reinforced walls as it is
more stable than plants which may change over time.

Lastly, from the evidence and the analysis of the history of the area which
was affected by the landslide on the slopes at Tai O San Tsuen on the 7th of June
2008, we can determine that the landslide is caused by the heavy monsoon rainfalls
before the incident and the large amount of water that weakened the surface of the
already weak relict landslide until a point where it collapse and causes a chain effect
to other weak points in the slope.

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