[en] Luxembourg is geologically divided into two parts: Oesling in the North and Gut-land in the Middle and South. Oesling is part of the Ardennes plateau. Gutland was formed in the Triassic and Jurassic ages and is much younger than Oesling. It consists mainly of sedimentary rocks.
Luxembourg has a variety of interesting, weak or problematic soils, such as the swelling gypsum layers, the layered schists of Wiltz and especially the weak Keu-per-Rhaetian-clay. The Rhaetian clay layer is mostly rather thin and is found at a relatively constant altitude and the band where it comes to the surface is identified by the varying erosion erratically found throughout Gutland. Approximately two third of all landslides are found along this line.
Hence it was decided to investigate the Rhaetian clay in the geotechnical laboratory of the University of Luxembourg. Samples were taken from a pit at Rue de Mühlenbach on the north side of the city of Luxembourg and from a sliding slope of a building pit in Schutrange. The friction angle was found to be 8° at Mühlenbach and 3° at Schuttrange, which are both record low friction angles, which explains the high number of landslides in Luxembourg.
Disciplines :
Civil engineering
Author, co-author :
Van Baars, Stefan ; University of Luxembourg > Faculty of Science, Technology and Communication (FSTC) > Engineering Research Unit
Bautista, Miguel
Becker, Rolf
Language :
English
Title :
Landslides in urban areas of Luxembourg, caused by weak Rheatian Clay
Publication date :
September 2014
Event name :
IAEG XII CONGRESS Torino 2014 Engineering Geology for Society and Territory
Event organizer :
International Association for Engineering Geology
Event place :
Torino, Italy
Event date :
from 15-9-2014 to 19-9-2014
Audience :
International
Main work title :
Engineering Geology for Society and Territory Volume 5