Piedras Blancas Landslide: Mitigation Works

Abstract

Abstract - The Puerto Rico Highway and Transportation Authority has conducted since the 1980s several geotechnical investigations about the Piedras Blancas Landslide in the Municipality of San Sebastian. This landslide has brought damages during various decades, presenting cracks and sinking of the highway PR-111, and settlements of nearby residences and commerce. The failure area has a creek, a natural depression pond, a springs’ history, and a sensitive geology, San Sebastian Formation. Also, it is bounded uphill by the Lares Escarpment, a high limestone cliff rich in sinkholes. Through this paper it is possible to appreciate a number of contributing factors that could trigger this landslide and then take care of it through a gabion terraces design. This proposal deals with the topographic and hydrologic impacts to the terrain produced by fill and cut construction works. Soil survey information comes from Puerto Rico Highway and Transportation Authority (PRHTA) reports. Key Terms - back analysis, colluvium, gabions, landslide.