Geology-landslide-ocean trails golf course
...rned in December of 1999 this indeed could be the possible cause of the slide. Ironically, a geotechnical engineer was fired by the city before the slide occurred because he believed that the site was unstable. He refused to sign off on the project because he felt as though the lakes would give away unless proper procedure was taken to ensure no leakage would occur. Damage caused by the landslide was extreme. Though no one was injured in the slide, a local resident with his dog, and an employee of the course had to be retrieved by helicopter after the landslide left them stranded. Tony Baker was walking on the 18’th green with his dog the morning of June 2’nd and recalls hearing loud popping noises. These noises were immediately followed with the ground behind him giving way and collapsing into the Pacific Ocean and onto the beach below. This left the 18th hole to become an island. As for the employee of Ocean Trails Golf Course, he rode the 150-foot slide down to the beach on a grass island and was rescued with no injuries. The slide did however injure several acres of critical coastal habitat which buried tide pools and stripped away crucial bluff vegetation; not to mention stripping away majority of the 18th hole. This also caused beach access to be closed off because of the fragments of rock that had fallen, and because rock fragments above the beach were unstable and are predicted to fall at any time. The landslide caused damage to an area of approximately 600 feet long by 220 feet wide. The impact of the slide caused dust to be created which appeared to others as catastrophic which in turn caused people to believe that there was a fire. The geological investigation began almost immediately after June 2, 1999. This involved allowing geologist to be lowered in the borings into holes to log conditions of the landslide and surrounding area. The investigation also included 13 slope inclinometers, 28 ground water monitoring devices (which were installed in and around the landslide) and 26 large diameter borings which were drilled in the graben area, within the slide mass, and in the upslope of the headscarp. At the present time, Ocean Trails Golf Course remains open with only 15 holes to play at. Majority of golfers accept that the course is 3 holes short, but it was also mentioned that occasionally golfers will reject the course saying that golf just isn’t the same without the full 18 holes. Although only the 18th hole was damaged during the slide, holes 9 and 12 are used as construction staging areas. Reconstruction began with the installation of 115 buried shear pins into the main slide block with the top of the shear pins about nine feet above the bentonite clay layer. These shear pins act to stabilize the main portion of the slide to allow construction to continue safely in the graben area. The shear pins also provide stability for the public...