Tag Archives: landslides

Closure after heavy rains wash away portion of Interlaken Park trail

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(Image: Seattle Parks)

Monday’s heavy rains have claimed a structural victim on the slopes of Interlaken Park north of Capitol Hill.

Seattle Parks reports that a section of trail in the park has washed away near Boyer Ave E and E Howe above Montlake.

“That part of the trail has been closed and crews are assessing next steps for repair,” the department said Tuesday.

CHS hasn’t made it down to check out the damage yet but the collapse comes in the area where a new $205,000 Interlaken staircase and bike runnel was installed in 2018.

“The steep slopes and geotechnical recommendations required a robust concrete structure with shoring walls and steel pilings to construct the new stair and ramp connection between Interlaken Blvd and Boyer Ave E at E Howe Street,” Seattle Parks announced about the upgrade at the time. “Also included are community requested elements – a bicycle runnel, guard rails and a switchback that connects to the designated crosswalk.” Continue reading →

Can development help keep Capitol Hill’s slide-prone western edge from slipping?

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(Images: PB Architects)

We ask a lot of the designs for Capitol Hill’s new multifamily developments. A new project in the works is going to be asked to help hold up Capitol Hill — literally.

Set for its first session in front of the East Design Review Board this week, a planned six-story, 40-unit development along Lakeview Blvd E is being envisioned as a way to hold back at least one small stretch of the eroding, crumbling slopes of Capitol Hill’s western edge above I-5.

“Terracon, our geotechnical engineers have recently studied the soil and did test borings, and found the hillside to be stable,” the property owner and developer writes about the project in a recent response to community feedback on the proposal recorded in the city’s permitting system. “The soil that is to be removed during construction will be done in sections. As each is removed, tie-backs will be installed to insure stability. The new buildings themselves will then add permanent stability to the whole hill.” Continue reading →

With small slide below Interlaken, soggy March brings landslide concerns

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An unbelievably soggy March has neighbors in the sloping areas on the north of Capitol Hill worried about landslides.

A small slide closed 14th Ave E between Boyer and Lynn to through traffic Saturday morning. With continuing rains, you can expect to see more mud.

March has already reached its average rainfall totals following weeks of even wetter than usual weather around Seattle.

CHS has reported on small slides over the years and concerns about the slopes of northern Capitol Hill and around Interlaken Park. Our nature writer documented the landslide risk of the area in 2014 including the Hill’s geologic past of glacial till and water-pooling clay:

Then we come in. The grade is altered, creating new faults. Hills are denuded of trees, which hold slopes and mitigate flooding. Barriers to natural water flow diverts it toward unforeseen consequences. People understandably want views and build on cliffs, changing the loads on hills. Generally things more even more unstable. West Capitol Hill, Interlaken, North Capitol Hill. Slides every decade going back in our modern record. I won’t tally the slides in Hill history — that would take too long.

For the most part, recent slides have been mostly limited in damage. In 2011, cracks from the sliding hillside forced an indefinite closure of Interlaken Drive. It reopened after repairs five months later.