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Improving a hiking trail on the golf course below the landslide area is one of the things that will likely be investigated when the acute phase is over after the rapid clay landslide.
Recently, in November last year, excavation work was carried out just below the landslide in Gjerdrum, shows a Facebook message from the Gjerdrum golf course.
«The new hiking trail between Brådal and Nystulia is ready for use! It has been a challenging project due to the large amounts of precipitation and high humidity in the soil! “the golf club wrote on Facebook on November 19, when the hiking trail was completed.
In another message, dated November 9, it appears that the hiking trail crosses the golf course and crosses a stream about 60 meters higher.
Also read: You have identified the seven dead after the landslide
After the landslide, the golf club was asked about the construction of the hiking trail, and the person asking writes the following: «I hope you have been in dialogue with NGU / NVE about this. Think how awful if it was this job that caused the collapse … ».
Gjerdrum Golf Club writes in the response that they believe there is no reason for speculation:
“There is no need to speculate on this. Just a small surface treatment of a couple of laps on a previously prepared and approved trail”, write the golf club.
– Do not dig more than about 30 cm into the ground
The online newspaper has spoken with the chairman of the board, Ove Silkoset, at the Gjerdrum golf club.
– What kind of work was done with the hiking trail?
– We improved an existing hiking trail that was approved when the golf course was ready. We didn’t get more than a foot into the ground, Silkoset tells Nettavisen.
The board chairman says they have thought about whether the work may have contributed to the landslide.
– We have thought if the work with the hiking trail could have affected the landslide, but we are pretty sure that it is not like that, he responds.
Also read: I wanted to illuminate the landslide zone, but the police said no: – There is no stronger light in Europe
Didn’t apply for a permit: – So little work
– How far from the landslide is the hiking trail?
– It may be 100 meters, but we don’t have access to the area either, so it’s hard to say exactly, says Silkoset. The other end of the avalanche is even further from the hiking trail and the golf course.
Also read: I survived the landslide: – I thought that now life is over. I was cold and lost a lot of blood
He says they did not request permission from the municipality to repair the trail.
– Why not?
– We consider that this work was so small that it was not necessary, since the path was initially approved. This was just a surface treatment, he says.
Silkoset believes that this is not something to speculate on, here or there.
– The case will be investigated, says the president of the board.
– Will definitely be considered
Senior geologist Anders Solheim from the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) says that all construction activities in the area in recent years must be investigated to find the cause.
– When the acute phase is over, eventually there will be an investigation that I assume NVE will lead, where we will be involved. Then we have to review everything that has been done in the area over the last 15 years and see what could be one of the triggering causes of the landslide. For all kinds of construction activities in the area, in theory, it can affect stability, Solheim tells Nettavisen.
Solheim is confident that the development of the hiking trail will be part of the research.
– The hiking trail will surely be one of the elements to be considered, but I don’t know exactly where it is and what has been done there, so I can’t say anything about it, he says, and at the same time points out:
– He’s miles away to pinpoint any specific cause now. You also have to be a little more clear about where the landslide started, because we don’t know that yet either.
– Can it be ruled out that such human activity played a role in the landslide?
– You can’t really rule out anything. You have to look at what has been done there. There may have been human activity there that has not affected stability, but all that will be reviewed: what the municipality and possibly private developers have been responsible for, says Solheim.
Collection page: read all about the Gjerdrum landslide here
Human activated
He says that the largest rapid clay landslides in Norway in the last 50-70 years have been caused by human activity.
– But there are also landslides that are triggered naturally, says the geologist.
– Lately it has also rained a lot in the area. Could it be a cause?
– It does not affect directly. What affects are flooding in streams and rivers, and erosion. It has often been eroded over several years over a long period of time, and then eventually reaches a tipping point where it erodes and exposes clay quickly, and then small landslides can occur and can develop, he says.
It refers to a rapid clay landslide that occurred at Byneset in Trondheim in 2012, where it turned out that the cause was erosion over time.
See overview: Here, the clay rapid alarm has been sounding in Norway for the past 40 years.
Contractor: – Volunteer work
Entrepreneur Haakon Huuser claims that they helped the golf club with “gravel” from the hiking trail.
He strongly denies that this led to the landslide.
– How can you be so sure of that?
– The work we did was not in the landslide zone, he says. Huuser describes the work that was done as “volunteer work.”
NGI: Will not speculate
Øydis Ulrikke Castberg, Head of Communications at the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI), tells Nettavisen that they do not want to speculate on what may have caused the landslide:
– We are in an acute phase now and awaiting the revision that Tina Bru has announced, she tells Nettavisen.
The Minister of Oil and Energy, Tina Bru, will review the regulations for rapid clay construction, as soon as the acute situation in Gjerdrum ends.
NVE: – Will be investigated
The Norwegian Directorate for Water Resources and Energy (NVE) says their focus now is to assist in the rescue work in Gjerdrum.
– We hope that a thorough review of this incident will take place. Police have announced that the case will be investigated. This will be extensive and painstaking work, and out of respect for this, we do not wish to comment on the details of the course of events or evaluations conducted previously, writes communications consultant Mette Vinther Talberg at NVE in an email to Nettavisen.
These were the questions Nettavisen asked NVE:
a) Do you know that there was excavation work at the bottom of the landslide until November 2020?
b) Were you asked before the job was done?
c) Can you rule out that such human activity played a role in the landslide?
Gjerdrum Municipality also informs Nettavisen that it does not have the capacity to answer such questions now.
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