{"id":41364,"date":"2022-07-26T07:14:05","date_gmt":"2022-07-26T07:14:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/?p=41364"},"modified":"2022-07-26T07:14:05","modified_gmt":"2022-07-26T07:14:05","slug":"skagway-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/2022\/07\/26\/skagway-1\/","title":{"rendered":"The risk of large rockslides at the port of Skagway in Alaska"},"content":{"rendered":"

The risk of large rockslides at the port of Skagway in Alaska<\/h4>\n

Skagway is a small borough in Alaska with a population in the 2020 census of 1,240 people. In the summer months it becomes a key tourist destination – according to Wikipedia<\/a> it attracts over a million visitors per year, with the vast majority arriving on cruise ships.\u00a0 The port also processes iron ore mined from within the hinterland.\u00a0 Thus, the port, shown in the Google Earth image below, is of critical importance to the region.<\/p>\n

\"Google

Google Earth image of the port at Skagway.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

.<\/p>\n

As the image above shows, one section of the port abuts a steep rockslope, which is about 220 m high.\u00a0 This section provides mooring for large cruise ships.\u00a0 In 2017 two rockslides occurred on this slope – indeed, the scar of one of these events can be seen in the image above.\u00a0 In June 2022 a further rockslide occurred, causing a cruise ship to divert.<\/p>\n

The port authority is the White Pass and Yukon Railroad. The local authority, the Municipality of Skagway, has commissioned an initial inspection of the slope by Shannon and Wilson, geotechnical consultants.\u00a0 Admirably, their initial assessment has been published online<\/a> and is discussed in a recent article by KTOO<\/a>.\u00a0 It does not make easy reading.<\/p>\n

Included in the report is the image below, showing the slope and the recent rockslides, and providing a decent context for the hazards posed by failures from the slope:-<\/p>\n

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The potentially hazardous rockslope at Skagway in Alaska. Image from a report by Shannon and Wilson<\/a>.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

.<\/p>\n

There are some really interesting observations in the report:<\/p>\n