Considerations about the mass movement that took place on the western side of Av. Elísio de Moura in Coimbra

Abstract

In the winter of 1997, a signs of a landslip occurred, which resulted in stabilization work being carried out on the slope, greatly increasing the safety of the whole hillside. About three years later, on 27 December 2000, there was another landslip in the same place, between Rua António Jardim and the back of a 16-floor apartment block, n" 339, on the Avenida Elísio de Moura. This landslip shifted a mass of earth calculated to be around 4000 cubic metres, affecting an area of approximately 120 x 60 m, with a drop of almost 50 m, dragging with it the covering vegetation, which consisted mainly of large eucalyptus trees. The slippage was caused on the one hand by human activity on the slope and, on the other, by the abnormal rainfall that preceded the event