city of
CINCINNATI
February 15, 2019
FOR YOUR INFORMATION
To: Mayor and Members of Council
From: Patrick A. Duhaney, City Manag
Subject Columbia Parkway Landslides
Cincinnati's topography makes it one of the most beautiful cities in the Midwest; however, it
also makes the City, its residents, and its infrastructure susceptible to one of nature's most
damaging natural events — landslides. Although most people refer to Cincinnati as the Seven
Hiils, itis located within valleys cut in by the glaciers thousands of years ago.
The soils on the valley walls above and below Columbia Parkway are clay soils derived from
the weathering of the underlying shale bedrock. These soil deposits, known as colluvium, are
susceptible to movement (commonly referred to as landslides) during times of heavy rain and
freeze-thaw cycles.
The freeze-thaw cycles and heavy rains over the past few weeks have left the soils on these
hillsides saturated and susceptible to movement. There have been some recent movements
along Columbia Parkway where the soil has spilled over the Columbia Parkway retaining wall
When this occurs, City crews immediately shut down the roadway and start the process of
removing the soils, trees and other debris. This process can take as little as hours or as long
as several days, depending on the amount of material that is removed.
The Department of Transportation and Engineering (DOTE) is responsible for monitoring these
susceptible areas. DOTE's approach to landslides is to monitor known areas of landslide
activity and implement mitigation measures where the greatest benefit can be achieved. In
many of these areas, including Columbia Parkway, previously active landslides may move, but
then remain stable for several years unless acted upon by other activities like the removal of
trees and vegetation or excessive rainfall. Once these areas are evaluated by DOTE's
engineers to be unstable and a risk to the public, property or infrastructure, the removal
process is implemented. The periodic removal of landslide material from the Parkway, while
potentially frustrating to commuters, permits stable material to remain in place, if possible, and
maintains the integrity of the landscape along the hillside.
‘One permanent solution would be to build a new, higher wall on the north side of Columbia
Parkway. A new wall on the upslope of the existing wall would be extremely expensive. Rough
estimates are about $1,000 per lineal foot of wall. The distance from Bains Street to Kemper
Lane is approximately 3,100 feet long, for a rough estimate of $3,100,000; and the area from
Kemper Lane to Torrence Parkway is approximately 6,600 feet long or $6,600,000. Installationof a wall would also require the removal of a large swath of trees and vegetation along the
hillside, creating considerable disruption to the landscape and some potential to introduce new
instability to the hill, and thus, cause new landslides. Additionally, any wall construction will
introduce lengthy traffic delays as access uphill is extremely limited, and construction and
staging activities will have to take place from the Parkway.
Complicating the issue further is the origination of the landslides. Much of this area along the
Parkway is privately owned. Although most of the Columbia Parkway landslides originate on
private property, the City determines it to be in the best interest and safety of the public to
expend public resources to clean up these landslides when they spill over into the roadway
and cause traffic hazards.
DOTE has contacted Greater Cincinnati Water Works/Stormwater Management Utiity (SMU)
leadership about performing a drone fly-over this winter-spring before the vegetation blooms
and obstructs the view of the hillside. This will give DOTE a bird's eye view of the area and
allow their engineers to compare existing conditions to aerial records to see if there has been
any additional movement and if any new landslides have developed.
DOTE researched the feasibility of installing a real-time monitoring system to detect movement
and provide an early-warning signal for the evaluation of the hillside. The monitor system
would consist of tilt meters installed at selected locations above the retaining wall where
existing movement is known or expected to occur. The tilt meters radio measurements to a
datalogger which then relays the data to a website through a cellular connection. A notification
would be sent directly to DOTE engineers when movement exceeds an established
threshold. The one-time installation cost and the annual cost for transmission and maintenance
of the system is dependent on the number of titmeters and datalogger installations.
Preliminary estimates for four tiltmeters which communicate to one datalogger station is
approximately $25,000 with an annual cost of approximately $3,000. At least one, possibly two
additional dataloggers with several tiltmeter sensors would be necessary to completely cover
the length of the Parkway from Bains Avenue to several hundred feet beyond Torrence
Parkway. DOTE engineers are currently working with a supplier and consultant to plan and
further develop details, including a detailed cost estimate for the installation and operation of
the monitoring system. DOTE will provide additional information regarding the system as soon
as the information and cost is established.
DOTE will continue to monitor the conditions of the hillside and take proactive measures when
possible to assist with hillside stability. The City has expended over $145,000 in 2018 and
2019 for Columbia Parkway landslide cleanups.
ce: Joe Vogel, Director of Transportation and Engineering