What are landslides
Landslides are the downhill or downslope movement of materials such as rocks, earth, debris or soil. In general, the types of landslides are classified by the movement of the materials. The movement of the materials can be sliding, flowing, spreading, falling or toppling of the materials. Landslides can contribute to hundreds of deaths and injuries over the world each year, which makes it one of the major geo-hazards. When a slope fails, landslides that move slowly gradually cause damages to its surroundings, where rapid movement of landslides occurs so sudden and unexpected can cause property damage and cause casualties and injuries.
What Causes Landslide
There are many factors that contribute to landslides and can be categorized into three major types, geological causes; morphological causes and human causes. While landslides can be triggered by weak soil strength which leads to instability of the soil, thus slope failure; or after a heavy rainfall in monsoon seasons where the slip surface of the slope loses shearing resistance; or due to natural events such as earthquake forces, volcanic eruptions or earth gravity; landslides can also happen from the result of human errors, such as an error in the design, faulty construction or when the slopes are not regularly maintained.
Effects of Landslide
As mentioned previously, landslides could destroy properties, cause injuries and casualties. In addition, it could affect the water supply, clot or damage sewage systems, damaging the dams and road or destroying the forest. Not to mention, the economic effects of landslides in repairing, decreased property values, transportation routes disrupted and the medication cost for injuries. Additionally, the loss of fisheries or trees is also subjected to indirect costs.
Landslide Protection
That being so, slope protection is essential to prevent damages and economic losses caused by slope failure. It is important to maintain slope stability when performing activities such as demolition and excavation, especially for projects which require civil and mining engineering. Therefore, site selection and site inspection shall be conducted carefully for an effective slope protection design and successful project delivery.
There are some techniques used to stabilize slopes, such as geometric techniques, hydrological techniques and chemical and mechanical techniques. Geometric techniques can be carried out by making the slope flat, removing loads of the slope surface to decrease shear stress, providing strength against slope toppling failure by placing pressure berms and constructing draining passages to minimize the water pressure from building up at the pore. On the other hand, hydrological techniques are performed by installing drain pipes to disperse the water pressure. This technique utilizes inverted filters and thermal techniques to provide more stability to the slope. As for chemical and mechanical technique, it achieves slope stabilization by selecting and designing the best technique according to the properties of a slope. increasing the shear resistance of slope with grouting; installing restraining walls; placing baby crib walls and embankment piles in order to provide strength to prevent toppling movement of the earth; or by planting shrubs to grab the soil firmly with the shrub roots
Apart from that, seeding and planting techniques are also useful to reduce soil erosion. This can be done by having mixtures of three plant species or more to enhance slope protection. There are a few considerations in the selection of appropriate mixtures of vegetation to be planted across the slope for better protection, such as the initial stability of slope; climate and soil conditions; susceptibility of vegetation to be disturbed by rodents or other livestock; and aesthetic considerations. Hydroseeding can be used in spreading the slurry made up of grass seeds, mulch, fertilizers and other sources over a bare slope so that grass can be grown and its roots grip the soil to prevent soil erosion.
Furthermore, there are several engineering and structural techniques to be designed and installed according to the condition of the slope to achieve slope stabilization. Common techniques are rock reinforcement support which is to have extrinsic materials to give more strength to the rock. Besides that, rock bolts and anchors in combination with concrete walls are ideal for rock protection to keep the rocks in place. In addition, steel rods which are also named dowel bars acts as reinforcement to the slope by installing and grouting them into the rocks. Furthermore, shotcrete mainly formed from aggregates and mortar can be laid over the surface of rock mass for slope surface protection. Moreover, grouting is a technique which is injecting fluid grout into the rocks to stabilize the slope as the fluid grout removes the air or any water present in the cracks of rocks.
In a nutshell, slope failure which results in landslides can be prevented with careful planning, design, construction and maintenance. It is important that the design engineer design the most effective technique after inspecting the slope condition. The decision to the extent of the slope stabilization technique is influenced by the design, life expectancy and the costs incurred. For instance, the choice of the best-suited slope stabilization method should consider the geology, properties of rock and soil, presence of groundwater, the types of construction equipment and machinery used, budget for slope stabilization etc. In spite of that, maintenance of the slope is also essential, not only to prevent the slope from failing and to make the slope stabilization to be more efficient in the distant future but also it is cost saving in the long run.
Where to Get Landslide Protection Materials Supplier and Contractor in Malaysia
Aathaworld Sdn Bhd supply and install multiple types of landslide as well as retaining wall system, rockfall protection system, gabion cage, gabion basket, gabion wall, slope barrier, security fence that are applicable to a lot of buildings and purposes, including snow mountain, industrial factory, oil palm estates, power plant, agricultural land, rural area, highway, construction sites, water dam, reserve area, residential, mountain, events, facade, army, outdoor functions, boundary division, slope, development area, hiking venue, country borders, cities, animal farm, and other special needs. We provide advice, supply of components and installation of what type of system should be used, how to install or where to install to achieve financial cost and time saving. At Aathaworld, we ensure that we can supply and install a landslide protection system that works to meet your safety requirement. As a landslide protection material supplier and contractor in Malaysia, we are able to provide customized sizes to fit your project needs including coverage such as KL Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Klang Valley, JB Johor Bahru, Penang, Malacca (Melaka), Seremban Negeri Sembilan, Perak, Pahang, Kuantan, Kelantan, Terengganu, Perlis, Alor Setar Kedah, as well as Sabah and Sarawak for East Malaysia. Globally speaking, our materials and services can also support overseas countries especially Southeast Asia (SEA) countries such as Singapore, Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Brunei, Bangladesh as well as China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. As landslide protection materials consist of other applications and types. Additionally, we can also offer other materials such as aluminum, timber, vinyl, steel, chain link, barbed wire, bamboo, PVC, wrought iron, electric and more. Consult us for your landslide protective system supply and installation in Malaysia and other regions today at info@aathaworld.com or call (WhatsApp) to +(60)11-7001 1003 (Monday to Friday) or +(60)11-1188 1003 (Saturday, Sunday & Public Holiday).
Photo credit: dailyguardian, rbhcontractor, geoharbour, lmtribune
