This feature article comes from The American Surveyor Magazine…
A Young Boy’s Discovery
More than 50 years ago, a Norwegian farm boy left his family home near the shore of a remote fjord to climb the 40 percent slope towering above. A stocky, healthy lad, Per Åknes managed the climb with the same ease as the family goats. But something seemed out of place: nearly 880 m (2,917 ft) up the rocky face, a crack the size of his small fist had formed. As the years passed, Åknes noted that the crack was widening–until today that same crack is more than 15 m (48 ft) wide: the entire slope is slowly accelerating towards a potential rockslide.
Åknes’ discovery set off a chain of events that resulted in an ambitious plan utilizing state-of-the-art research and technologies to detect and provide an early warning of the potential failure of the steep rocky slope.
The Åknes /Tafjord region of western Norway is a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage site and a popular tourist destination. Numerous cruise ships enter through narrow openings along the rugged coastlines into steep, fingerlike fjord complexes–miles and miles of pristine beauty. Located in the Stranda municipality along the Åknes reach of a much larger fjord complex, the region is also home to many small villages and farms.
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