Two New Landslides and Bursting of Underground Spring.

Thursday, 2nd October, 2008.

With continuing blasting by the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) and Abigroup at and near Nerong (which is some 6 to 10 kilometres south of Bulahdelah and is not a part of the Bulahdelah 'upgrade' project) there have now been two landslides in one of the Alum Mountain's historic - and heritage listed - mining quarries.

An underground spring has also been caused to burst. This flooded the quarry and created a creek between the quarry and the 'top' car park. Although the water has now been pumped out, this has created a major mudslide hazard.

The following photographs were taken on 25th September, 2008:-

A section of the larger of the two landslides.

A section of the smaller of the two landslides.
The top of this landslide is only a few metres from walking-trail steps leading to the historic boiler site.

Rocks and boulders from the larger landslide now cover the pathway to the quarry.

This boulder came down with the smaller landslide.

Inside the quarry was completely flooded.

The water from the burst underground spring formed a creek which flowed from the quarry.

The creek flooded the 'top' car park and flowed down the mountainside, causing an extreme mudslide hazard.

And the RTA still intends to locate a new section of highway up to 25 metres deep into the western foot of the Alum Mountain - beneath the above!

And beneath cliffs from which boulders have been falling since the commencement of RTA, Abigroup blasting some 6 to 10 kilometres south of Bulahdelah!

The RTA's Treatment of Complaints about Boulder Falls

There have been extensive boulder falls from the forty metre high cliffs at the summit of the Alum Mountain since the commencement of blasting of the Karuah to Bulahdelah section of the Pacific Highway Upgrade at the village of Nerong, some 10 kilometres south of Bulahdelah.

As is the case with the mountain’s lower slopes, the summit is a heritage, research, tourism, and cultural area. It has been recorded by NSW State Forests as attracting thousands of visitors per annum and a car park, walking trails and two lookouts have been constructed for public use.

The RTA is dealing with the matter of these boulder falls in Communo-Fascist style: with blatantly preposterous lies.

In a letter dated 16th May, 2008, N.S.W. Parliamentary Secretary for Roads, Michael Daley M.P., claimed that ‘two geotechnical scientists and a geologist visited the mountain on Friday, 9th November, 2007’ and that they found ‘no evidence of the recent movement of large boulders’. The boulders, which are large chunks of rock from the mountain’s cliffs, shatter upon impact with the ground and the resultant fragments, some of which are also boulder-sized (i.e. over ten inches in diameter), discharge in all directions. They do not leave tracks along the ground. They do, however, smash and slice the trunks of trees and a section of the walking trail to the Ted Baker Lookout has been crushed. The trunk of a tree about a quarter of the way down the mountain road has been sliced in two places by boulder fragments. Further details, including photographs are at: http://pacific-highway.blogspot.com/

The Alum Mountain’s cliffs are porous. In his letter of 16th May, 2008, Michael Daley, Parliamentary Secretary for Roads, also stated that evidence of ‘minor rock falls’ had been found on Friday, 9th November, 2007 and: ‘Geotechnical staff attribute the falls to the recent rainfall over the past couple of months’. Yes, in the months prior to Michael Daley’s letter there was high rainfall - but there’s no way on this earth that rainfall which occurred in 2008 caused ‘rock falls’ in 2007. Michael Daley’s letter, however, provides written acknowledgement from the RTA that rain can cause rock falls on the Alum Mountain.

This post initially published: 20th July, 2008.

The RTA's Lies about Access to the Alum Mountain

Currently, most people access the summit of the Alum Mountain by private vehicle (using the road – not ‘track’ which leads to the upper car park). Despite their numerous claims to the contrary (including in a joint *media release by Eric Roozendaal and Jim Lloyd), the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) does not intend to maintain access to the Alum Mountain – they plan to decimate the highest usage area on the mountain’s foot and sever customary access to its summit.

*The abovementioned joint media release is of RTA propaganda and does not reflect the true situation. It is available at: http://www.minister.infrastructure.gov.au/jl/releases/2006/May/l50_2006.htm
or: http://www.ministers.dotars.gov.au/jl/releases/2006/May/L50_2006.htm.

From the Bulahdelah Upgrading the Pacific Highway Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Main Volume Page 5.19 [bold typeface and statements in square brackets added for emphasis/information]:-

'Mountain Access Overbridge

A single-span overbridge, totalling approximately 60 metres in length, is proposed at Station 96650 to replace the existing section of the Bulahdelah ([the] Alum) Mountain access track [actually an unsealed roadway] which would be cut by the Upgrade [should the ‘Option E’ route be used]. The overbridge would closely match the existing access track alignment. …

…

The bridge would have a 4-metre-wide deck and an internal clearance of 4.3 metres to the truss structure. It would primarily be used by pedestrians, but it could accommodate the passage of State Forest and emergency vehicles. Throw-over protective screens would be incorporated into the design.'

At the first of their RTA-conducted meetings this year (2008) the relatively few Bulahdelah community members who are prepared to meet with RTA bureaucrats were told that the (‘Option E’) route the RTA intends to use would not prevent private vehicles from accessing the upper reaches of the mountain. RTA meeting ‘notes’ show that – again – the RTA lied to community members, with the ‘notes’ stating that access to the mountain’s summit would only be for emergency vehicles.

This post initially published: 22nd July, 2008.