Virtual Field Trip
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Brigham Young University *
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110
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Geography
Date
Dec 6, 2023
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docx
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Uploaded by scrimpss
Crew Wakley
Geography 110
11/15/23
Geography 110 – Natural Hazards
Virtual Field Trip
Site H
– Draper, “Springtime Road” landslide (2023)
Coordinates: 40.4859, -111.8257
I checked out the “Springtime Road” landslide in Draper that happened back in April
of this year. The images from Google Earth are from before the landslide happened but
you can clearly see efforts that have been made to mitigate landslide hazards such as a
retaining wall. Based on this people obviously knew they were purchasing land and
building homes in an area at risk of a landslide. It isn’t super clear on Google Earth but
looking at some other images of the scene, the houses that slipped into the ravine look
like they were backed right up to it which doesn’t seem like a good idea especially since
we know that Utah experiences frequent landslides, which is made worse by increasing
snow melt.
The homes are all private property so the city would have minimal control over where
people are placing their homes even though we know developing land, especially on top
of a ravine, increases the risk of landslide. This risk is increased even more with
excessive irrigation. On Google Earth you can see that many of the homes do have green
front lawns suggesting they are using some type of irrigation system to water their grass.
From the photos it’s impossible to tell if the homeowners were following some of the
irrigation recommendations for landslide hazardous areas such as planting grass that
doesn’t require a lot of water. If they weren’t that would have contributed to some of the
ground instability.
A KSL article I found shared that the two homes that were most impacted had already
been condemned by the state and the owners forced to evacuate. Evacuation is a good
Crew Wakley
Geography 110
11/15/23
example of responding well to the hazard to reduce the loss of life, but this doesn’t reduce
the property damage. The article also shares that the city of Draper informed the builder
there were signs of retention wall and slope failure months before the homes were
condemned and that the hazard was more of a man-made one. The homes were built on
“engineered soil” that filled in part of the ravine. Filling in part of the ravine seems like a
disaster waiting to happen. You can see on Google Earth evidence of construction and
additional homes being built in the area despite the risks. An ABC article from August
shared some of the cleanup and additional safety measures the building company is
taking including excavating the area, using soil nails, and shotcrete to increase stability.
However, continuing to fill the ravine and building new homes in this already unstable
area seems like a big risk.
Crew Wakley
Geography 110
11/15/23
Sources:
https://www.ksl.com/article/50628265/draper-mayor-says-3rd-home-is-at-risk-of-
sliding-off-man-made-lots
https://geology.utah.gov/hazards/landslides/
https://www.abc4.com/news/wasatch-front/draper-city-shares-update-on-cleanup-
efforts-on-pair-of-homes-that-slid-off-cliff-in-april/
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