How fast was the Thistle landslide?
Once triggered, the slide reached a maximum speed of 3.5 feet per hour and dammed Spanish Fork River within a few days. The landslide ultimately reached 1000 feet in width, nearly 200 feet in thickness, and over one mile in length.
How did the Thistle landslide change the area around Thistle?
The area around Thistle has always been prone to landslides. Pre-historic landslides created the more gentle slopes that made the area usable as a transportation corridor across the Wasatch Mountains.
What was the Thistle landslide?
A giant landslide in April 1983 obliterated the tiny town of Thistle in Utah County. In 1983, the most costly landslide in US history swept down on the tiny town of Thistle, damming up the Spanish Fork River, and severing the rail line that connects Salt Lake City with Denver. By Sunday, Thistle’s fate was sealed.
Are landslides common in Utah?
Landslides are common natural hazards in Utah that often occur without warning and can result in destructive, costly outcomes. Steep slopes, mountainous terrain, rock types, and narrow, debris-choked canyons all contribute to our region’s susceptibility to landslide hazards.
Does anyone live in Thistle Utah?
Today, there is only one family living in Thistle: a young couple and their horse, living in a newly built home off U.S. 89. Phillip and Hillary Miller didn’t live in Thistle during the first mudslide, but Friday night’s flooding gave them a reminder of why they are the only people who now live in the deserted town.
How many people lived in Thistle Utah?
The little town of Thistle was once an important stop along the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad. As many as 650 residents lived here, and the town had a school, saloon and several restaurants.
How do you stop land sliding?
There are also various direct methods of preventing landslides; these include modifying slope geometry, using chemical agents to reinforce slope material, installing structures such as piles and retaining walls, grouting rock joints and fissures, diverting debris pathways, and rerouting surface and underwater drainage.
When did the Thistle landslide occur?
April 10, 1983
Beginning on April 10, 1983, and continuing through May of that year, a massive landslide occurred on the west side of the Spanish Fork Canyon. The landslide is located about 3,000 ft north of the site of the town of Thistle, in Utah County, Utah.
What caused the formation of Lake Thistle?
The waters of the Spanish Fork River rapidly created Thistle Lake upstream of the landslide dam. Railroad experts in consultation with the state decided to form the landslide into a dam and to construct an overflow spillway tunnel to control the uppermost rise of the lake.
How do you stop a landslide before it starts?
How can we prevent landslide in hilly areas?
The preventive measures that can be taken to avoid landslide in hilly area:
- By providing efficient surface and cross drainage.
- By providing sub-surface drains at foot of the hill slope to control seepage flow.
- By providing benching to soil slope.
What was the result of the Thistle Utah landslide?
Thistle, Utah. Thistle was destroyed; only a few structures were left partially standing. Federal and state government agencies have said this was the most costly landslide in United States history, the economic consequences of which affected the entire region. The landslide resulted in the first presidentially declared disaster area in Utah.
How big was the landslide in Utah County?
The landslide ultimately reached 1000 feet in width, nearly 200 feet in thickness, and over one mile in length. The lower end of the slide formed a 220-foot-high dam where it abutted against a sandstone cliff at the base of Billies Mountain.
How tall is Thistle Creek in Salt Lake City?
Thistle is about 65 miles (105 km) southeast of Salt Lake City, at the confluence of the two primary tributaries to the Spanish Fork River, Thistle Creek and Soldier Creek. This confluence, at an elevation of 5,043 feet (1,537 m), is also the junction of two naturally formed routes across the mountains of central Utah.
What was the population of Thistle Utah in 1917?
At its peak, around 1917, Thistle had about 600 residents. The town’s railroad infrastructure included a five-stall roundhouse, depot, machine shop, and structures to restock passing trains with sand, coal and water.