TUNGOL, JUSTIN ARIES V.

CE161P / B1

7 / 18 /2016
HW # 1

SN. 30

GEOTECHNICAL HAZARDS ( THE PHILIPPINES )

SEISMIC RISK : Earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the earths crust that
creates seismic waves. At the earths surface, earthquakes manifest themselves by shaking and
sometimes displacement of the ground. Earthquake shaking or other rapid loading can reduce
shear resistance of soil and cause the soil to behave like liquid, the event called soil liquefaction.
When a large earthquake epicenter is located offshore, the seabed sometimes suffers sufficient
displacement to cause a tsunami. The shaking in earthquake can also trigger landslides and
occasionally volcanic activity.

The 1990 Luzon Earthquake One of the deadliest and costliest natural disasters
in the Philippines was the Luzon earthquake which occurred on 16 July 1990. The
earthquake caused damage in an area of about 20,000 square kilometers, from
Northwest of Manila through the Central Luzon and into the mountains of the
Cordillera Administrative Region. Baguio City, a popular tourist destination, was
one of the hardest hit with number of deaths estimated at around 1000. One of the
buildings destroyed was a five-star Hyatt Hotel (Fig. 7), its 12 story section
collapsed over the lobby. For the first 48 hours after the earthquake, the city was
isolated from the rest of the country. Electric, water and communication lines were
destroyed. The city was inaccessible by land because of landslides and inaccessible
by air, except helicopters, because of damage at the airport. Another city that
suffered the most was Dagupan City. Most damage was due to the liquefaction of
loose saturated sand deposit. Some buildings sink by as much as one (1) meter

LANDSLIDE AND SLOPE FAILURES : Landslide is a general term used to describe the
down-slope movement of the soil, rock and organic materials under the influence of gravity. It is
a normal landscape process in mountainous areas, but becomes a problem when it results in
serious damage that oftentimes approach disaster proportions. As cities and towns grow, roads
and highways and other amenities progressively encroach onto steeper slopes and mountainsides.
Subsequently, these infrastructures attract further built-up environments. Landslide hazards
become an increasingly serious threat to life and property. Catastrophic landslides have recently
been increasing in the Philippines even surpassing the combined effects of volcanic eruptions
and earthquakes. The triggers usually take the form of an earthquake, heavy rainfall and human
activities like quarrying and logging. Listed below are some landslide occurrences in the
Philippines

The Cherry Hills landslides, Antipolo City, Luzon Island On 3 August 1999,
after several days of continuous heavy rainfall, a landslide occurred in Cherry Hills
Subdivision, San Luis Village in Antipolo City, 32 Km. east of Manila,
Philippines. It destroyed about 379 houses resulting in the death of at least 58
people. The subdivision was developed on the moderately sloping terrain in
Antipolo City (Fig. 9). The landslide occurred very quickly, according to
eyewitness reports. Two loud noises were heard, and the movement was over in
about five seconds. A subsequent field investigation by Maglambayan et al. (1999)
showed that excavation related to the construction of the subdivision led to over
steeping of slopes. Heavy rainfall may have accelerated the creep and triggered the
landslides (Orense, 2003). Hydrostatic pressures developed along fractures may
have made the slope unstable

Human activities can increase the occurrence and severity of geotechnical hazard such as

building on top of unstable slope will increase the possibility of slope collapsing.
steepened slopes due to cutting into a hillside or embankment may initiate
landslides
too much logging operations
Assessment of geotechnical hazard effects

LIQUEFACTION: The key geotechnical issue is liquefaction of the upper soil profile during
an earthquake event causing effects to the bridge structure. An assessment was carried out to
calculate the potential for liquefaction by analysing the soils and elevated pore pressures in
artesian conditions in the Project Area.
Any potential subsidence from liquefaction would cause soil above liquefied layers to drag on
the bridge piles and may cause settlement of the pile head and damage to surrounding
infrastructure and properties. However, these conditions are not untypical and the bridge
foundations have been designed to mitigate the effects of ground subsidence in a design
earthquake. The piles extend below the liquefiable layers and have sufficient capacity to
withstand the effects of liquefaction and consequential down drag.

GROUNDWATER : Another geotechnical issue is any potential subsidence of the ground in

the surrounding area during the bridge construction. It is considered there would be little
interaction with the groundwater regime during construction except for the construction of the
bridge piles. In this regard, the geotechnical state and artesian water pressure of the Project Area
is relevant to ensure that the ground conditions are adequately addressed. The Project assessment
has identified that there are a number of potential effects during construction of the bridge piles
given the variable ground water regime. These are:
leakage of groundwater along the pile stems resulting in a lowered pressure in the ground
water regime in the long term;
drawdown of groundwater levels during construction, either due to the interconnection by the
pile hole, or due to a deliberate draw down of the groundwater to facilitate construction; and,
Volume 2: Assessment of Environmental Effects 300 Basin Bridge Project Wellington Northern
Corridor RoNS
ground water pressure and flow for the pile holes leading to flooding and/or difficulties
during construction. A significant change in ground water pressure, temporarily or permanently
as part of the Project has the potential to cause subsidence and consequently settlement damage
to the surrounding infrastructure and buildings. A number of geotechnical bores have been drilled
as part of site investigations. From these bores groundwater flows have always been small. The
ground water is artesian, with a ground water head or pressure of between 6 and 9m above
ground level. With appropriate groundwater management associated with the pile construction

(see section 14.4 below) it is considered unlikely that groundwater drawdown, and consequent
ground subsidence, would occur. Notwithstanding this conclusion, an assessment has been made
of the sensitivity of key buildings in the vicinity to the unlikely event of groundwater drawdown
and subsidence. Based on the ground conditions, and assuming a 5m reduction in the
groundwater pressures in the middle aquifer and long term groundwater drawdown, then
subsidence is estimated to be in the order of:
25 mm at the Grandstand Apartments, and
less than 10 mm at the RA Vance Stand, Mitsubishi Motors, the St Josephs Church and the
commercial properties on Ellice Street.

FAULT RUPTURE : Geologic site conditions must be defined in sufficient detail to assess the
potential for the trace of an active fault to be present in the building foundation soils. If the trace
of a fault is known or suspected to be present, the following information may be required :
The degree of activitythat is, the age of most recent movement (e.g., historic, Holocene, late
Quaternary)must be determined.
The fault type must be identified, whether strikeslip, normal-slip, reverse-slip, or thrust fault.
The sense of slip with respect to building geometry must be determined, particularly for
normal-slip and reverse-slip faults.
Magnitudes of vertical and/or horizontal displacements with recurrence intervals consistent
with Rehabilitation Objectives must be determined.
The width of the fault-rupture zone (concentrated in a narrow zone or distributed) must be
identified.

The Panaon Island landslides, Southern Leyte From 17 to 20 December 2003,

numerous landslides and flashfloods occurred in Southern Philippines, especially in the
province of Southern Leyte, Surigao and Agusan (Cabria and Catane, 2003). The most
catastrophic of them occurred on 19 December in Panaon Island, Southern Leyte (Fig.
10). Hundreds of people were killed and injured while more were left homeless. The
landslides originated from a moderately steep slope (between 30 to 40 degrees) with thick
soil cover. Most of the landslides involved debris and earth materials rather than rocks.
The mechanism is dominated by rapid soil slide that transformed into debris flow,
signifying the saturated nature of the slope materials.

GUINSAUGON LANDSLIDE