A large landslide may descend on the coast of the 16th station of Bolshoi Fontana. At the moment, a huge boulder hangs over coastal cafes and Odessans strolling along the embankment, which poses a mortal danger.
ElitExpert spoke with the professor of the Department of Engineering Geology of the National University named after I.I. Mechnikova Yevgeny Cherkez and found out how catastrophic the situation is.
According to the expert, the crack on the slope has been gradually increasing for 40 years: every year the block moves by 1 cm. However, even after carrying out the first emergency emergency works, the problem will not disappear, so it is necessary to carry out large-scale shore strengthening works.
"The fact is that it is the development of the upper part of this layer that leads to the fact that the situation worsens a little deeper in the massif. After all, there are also cracks. They are not so pronounced, but they are also present. That is, it is possible to predict the expansion of cracks further," Yevgeny Cherkez noted.
Meanwhile, this fall, the Odessa City Council announced a tender for emergency work on a dangerous slope. The cost of the work specified in the tender is almost UAH 7 million. With these funds, 1200 tons of limestone must be dismantled and removed, that is, the very part of the slope that is falling off. But we are not talking about any coastal fortifications. All work was promised to be completed by December 15 of this year. Yevgeny Cherkez notes that this month was chosen unsuccessfully. After all, it is extremely dangerous to work with equipment in the winter period. But the most important thing is that every day the probability of collapse increases.
"The strength of limestone decreases by approximately 30-40% if it absorbs moisture. In our case, the 300-meter part of the slope is also covered with cracks, so the probability of a landslide increases with each rain," said the geologist.
If suddenly the bidding fails, then the work will be postponed until next year, which will increase the threat to the lives of vacationers on a dangerous coastal site many times over.
