What is a Landslide?

Electric supply is stopped due to cutoff of electric lines.

Various damages caused by landslides

The ground is cracked and becomes uneven. Trees fall.

Before and after the landslide

A landslide is a phenomenon in which soil mass on a slope moves slowly along the slip surface downward the slope under the influence of ground water and other causes. Since landslides occur over an extensive area and a large amount of soil mass is moved in general, it can cause serious damages.

Water pooled in the upstream area submerges houses in water.

Rice paddies, fields and orchards are damaged.

Schools and hospitals are destroyed. Houses are destroyed. Factories are destroyed.

Large-scale landslide on Mt. Jizuki (Nagano City, July 1985)

Roads are cut, blocking traffic. Dams retaining sediment are collapsed, Bridges are crushed. thus causing floods downstream.

Landslides block the river (Natural dam).

26 killed, 4 injured Houses completely destroyed: 52, Amount of soil slid: 3.6 million m3

Landslide prevention works have made this area safe. (Photo taken in June 1990)

Preventive measures against landslides

A landslide is caused by a combination of various factors (topography, geology, geological structure, ground water, etc.). Accordingly, measures to be taken for landslide prevention come in a variety of types. Broadly the landslide preventive measures are classified into two types of works: control works and restraint works. The control works are intended to remove or mitigate factors which may lead to the occurrence of a landslide. On the other hand, the restraint works aim at stabilizing a slope by the construction of structures. Landslide-prone slope is effectively stabilized by the combination of both types of works.
Landslide caused by melting snow in Higashigawa Area, Matsuno-yama Town, Niigata Prefecture (April 28, 2001)

Anchor works

Drainage well works

Drainage tunnel works

Piling works

Landslides in Kamenose
Schematic view of control works and restraint works
Soil removal work

Location Map
Ikoma mountain area

Channel works Horizontal drainage boring

Drainage well

Drainage tunnel works

Steel pipe pile works

Yamato River collects rainfall from all over the Nara Basin. After passing through the Nara Basin, Yamato River runs into the Osaka Plain through the Kamenose Valley. The area around the Kamenose Valley has been prone to landslides since ancient days. There was a concern that landslides in the area might cause the Nara Basin to submerge and result in extensive damages caused by the outrush of dammed water in and around the Osaka Plain. The landslide prevention works in Kamenose are of the largest scale in Japan and use a variety of techniques including: caisson pile works reaching as deep as 100m; piling works using a large number of steel pipes to restrain the landslide pressure; soil removal works; channel works; drainage well works; and drainage tunnel works.

Kamenose
Osaka Bay Yamato River

Nara Prefecture

Osaka Prefecture

Kongo mountain area

Overall View of Kamenose Area where Landslide Prevention Works have been done.
94.29ha

Anchor works

JR

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