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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. Installation of 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

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