Landslide alert in Vashlijvari, Tbilisi
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Friday, March 19
Matchavariani Street and the nearby slopes in Tbilisi have been put on a landslide alert after a fissure appeared on slopes earlier this month. Landslide process has intensified on the slope connecting the Nutsubidze str and Vashlijvari. At the moment, the road connecting Nutsubidze and Vashlijvari is closed and specialists are working on the spot.
On March 16, the City Hall issued a statement saying that landslides had intensified due to certain actions taken on Machavariani Street and nearby slopes. For safety reasons, traffic in the area was restricted on both sides from the building of the Emergency Call Management Center to Vashlijvari settlement.
According to seismologist Tea Godoladze, the depth of the landslide is about 10 meters, and half a million cubic meters of land has cracked. Godoladze claims that it was all due to incorrect planning, and building construction s on wrong geological spots; she recalled the case of Vere Valle. "It's similar here; we are dealing with identical problems."
Geomorphologist Lasha Sukhishvili, who was also on the ground, told Formula TV that due to the ongoing processes on the ground, the removal of the slope pillar caused the landslide. He explained that there is a danger in the vicinity of the excavated land, as well as other parts of the land, because they have also lost their base support. Accordig to Sukhishili, it’s obvious that the bloc of the land will not stop there and what’s important now is to observe the situation around the bloc, because their base is removed as well, explaining that ‘we are waiting for domino effect’. According to him, it is unknown when or how fast the land might move. Thus, the construction must be stopped.
Geologist Giorgi Boychenko, who observed the landslide process yesterday morning, says that it is most likely related to the road construction activities. He also noted that about 10-15 meters of land was removed from the slope when the water pipes were laid in the ground, which facilitated gravitational processes. Boycheko said the most optimal option is to dismantle the landslide and slowly remove it from the area.
At the special briefing held by City Hall, Deputy Mayor Irakli Bendeliani explained that along the road connecting Nutsubidze and Vashlijvari, "landslides are observed in the upper part of Machavariani Street, and road works are in the lower part of that Street." He also announced that German geoengineers will arrive next week to be directly involved in the process. Bendeliani also noted that before the start of the work, a 'detailed' project was made and road repair work only started after the examination and conclusions of the geologists.
He also noted that the start of landslide processes did not happen due to one specific fact, but because of years of work, as well as natural factors. “We work 24 hours a day to fix the problem."
The Ilia State University Earth Sciences Group continues to work on the ground. They plan to publish the report after the completion of the works. However, as Sukhishvili commented, the City Hall has no obligation to take the group's advice into account. He addee that when their group arrived at the scene, it seemed like other professionals had been working there a few weeks ago.
