The New Jersey Institute of Technology's
Electronic Theses & Dissertations Project

Title:	Hydrological and geotechnical investigation of a Sparta, New Jersey landslide
Author:	Talerico, James
View Online:	njit-etd2003-016 (xiii, 111 pages ~ 8.4 MB pdf)
Department:	Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Degree:	Master of Science
Program:	Civil Engineering
Document Type:	Thesis
Advisory Committee:	Khera, Raj P. (Committee chair) Schuring, John R. (Committee member) Konon, Walter (Committee member)
Date:	2003-01
Keywords:	Landslides Sparta, New Jersey
Availability:	Unrestricted
Abstract:	On August 13, 2000, a massive landslide occurred in Northern New Jersey following an extreme rainfall event during which 14.1 inches of precipitation fell locally during a 24-hour period. The slide, with an estimated volume of 22,000ft3, traveled up to 1,500ft in a short period. While landslides do occasionally occur along the coastal bluffs of the Atlantic Coastal Plain, slides of this magnitude are uncommon in the glacial soils of the New Jersey Highland section. The investigation of this landslide was compiled through rainfall data and geotechnical data, which was used to determine the triggering mechanism of the landslide. The information supplied herein consists of a hydrological study, a geological/geotechnical study, a topographic survey, and slope stability analyses. The results of the data obtained and analyses performed determined that the triggering mechanism was a result of extreme pore-water pressures developed from the rainfall event and an abrupt change in permeability between two soil strata. This paper takes the results of this information to support the causative factors contributing towards the slope failure.