90
6 A Close Look of the Gravity Erosion …
in the Chabagou Watershed with an area of 205 km
2 and the Wudinghe Watershed,
which has an area of 29,600 km
2 .
6.4.3 Urgent Desires and Effective Measures to Prevent
Landslides
Due to the frequent occurrence of landslide disasters, effective measures advocated
by the local government are urgently desired to control landslide hazards. As the
authors were investigating the event in the Houwa Village, a woman villager burst
into a storm of abuse and tried to prevent us from the accident sites for she regarded
us as the officials from the government (Fig. 6.4). Obviously, high incidences of the
landslides have made great difficulties for the residents in the area. From a technology
perspective, controlling landslide erosion on loess slopes is not difficult. In fact, the
protection practices that are commonly used on the slope of the expressway and
other public buildings in the area are safe and reliable. However, most residents in
rural areas of the Loess Plateau usually build settlements near steep cliffs with no
revetment (Fig. 6.5). The phenomena result in numerous landslides.
For a structurally controlled landslide to develop, comprehensive control is advocated that combines structural, vegetative and managerial measures, which ensures
human safety with less investment; moreover, as part of the capacity-building efforts
in landslide control, an exclusion zone is also needed at the brink of scarps, which
prevents any human activity from aggravating the geologic hazard (Xu et al. 2015a).
For example, while retaining walls are constructed along the side banks in descending
steps, drainage ditches on the top of the slope, vegetation plantation on the slope and
reinforcement with grouted rocks at the slope toe, to some degree and by necessity,
are also proposed. Popularizing these measures will have a great practical impact on
disaster prevention and reduction on the Loess Plateau.
Fig. 6.4 Landslide victims
in the Houwa Village. The
female victim in the lower
section of the photo was
bursting into a storm of abuse
6 A Close Look of the Gravity Erosion …
in the Chabagou Watershed with an area of 205 km
2 and the Wudinghe Watershed,
which has an area of 29,600 km
2 .
6.4.3 Urgent Desires and Effective Measures to Prevent
Landslides
Due to the frequent occurrence of landslide disasters, effective measures advocated
by the local government are urgently desired to control landslide hazards. As the
authors were investigating the event in the Houwa Village, a woman villager burst
into a storm of abuse and tried to prevent us from the accident sites for she regarded
us as the officials from the government (Fig. 6.4). Obviously, high incidences of the
landslides have made great difficulties for the residents in the area. From a technology
perspective, controlling landslide erosion on loess slopes is not difficult. In fact, the
protection practices that are commonly used on the slope of the expressway and
other public buildings in the area are safe and reliable. However, most residents in
rural areas of the Loess Plateau usually build settlements near steep cliffs with no
revetment (Fig. 6.5). The phenomena result in numerous landslides.
For a structurally controlled landslide to develop, comprehensive control is advocated that combines structural, vegetative and managerial measures, which ensures
human safety with less investment; moreover, as part of the capacity-building efforts
in landslide control, an exclusion zone is also needed at the brink of scarps, which
prevents any human activity from aggravating the geologic hazard (Xu et al. 2015a).
For example, while retaining walls are constructed along the side banks in descending
steps, drainage ditches on the top of the slope, vegetation plantation on the slope and
reinforcement with grouted rocks at the slope toe, to some degree and by necessity,
are also proposed. Popularizing these measures will have a great practical impact on
disaster prevention and reduction on the Loess Plateau.
Fig. 6.4 Landslide victims
in the Houwa Village. The
female victim in the lower
section of the photo was
bursting into a storm of abuse