Wednesday 28 November 2012

WHITBY LANDSLIDE, YORKSHIRE


Physical causes?
Human Causes? 
Prediction? 
Consequences - short term/long term?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-20527471


The 150-year-old former jetworkers’ cottages are located in Aelfleda Terrace, and have been condemned after land slipped, leaving the buildings precariously balanced.
It’s lucky that it didn’t happen in the middle of the day and there was nobody in it.
Other homeowners were informed that their properties were set to be demolished.The properties themselves were undamaged, but due to their age the foundations are unknown, and so independent contractors have compiled a report condemning the buildings.
For Mr Tomlinson, this means that he has lost a profitable business. While he will be able to claim insurance on the property, he still expects to make a subtantial loss. On Tuesday afternoon work began to remove irreplaceable personal items ahead of the demolition. However, due to the instability of the properties, it is unlikely that other household items and furniture will be removed as this would be too dangerous.
An architect, Mr Tomlinson believes that the cause of the landslip was flawed drainage works completed by Yorkshire Water a decade ago.
He said: “We discovered about three years ago that they hadn’t connected rain water pipes correctly so we had six or seven years of rain coming off the roof, straight into the ground. But we’ve been fighting with Yorkshire Water and they are denying it.”
They say that when the Abbey car park was constructed, excess soil was dumped above The Ropery. This formed a layer of clay that prevents water from soaking into the ground. Water instead remains at the surface and flows downhill - causing additional flooding to properties.

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