Monitoring devices installed outside the site of the Northwest Talus Drive landslide were showing no new perceptible movement as of Monday, indicating the residential construction zone may soon become stable again.

Spokespeople said the city still needs to collect more data to ensure earth movement has stopped completely. But the news signaled a slowdown to the hectic public information campaign that began shortly after the Nov. 13 landslide.

Shortly after the slide, city staff established regular contact with the Talus Homeowners Association, and posted news about work and monitoring of the site online. Following criticisms from Talus residents that not enough was being done to inform the neighborhood, staff established a dedicated Web page and committed to daily email updates, even when no new information was available.

With the earth movement apparently ceased, the city stopped daily updates until new information becomes available.

On Nov. 13, construction work at a residential site at the corner of Northwest Talus Drive and Shangri-La Way was halted after earth on the hillside began slowly moving, with enough force to buckle the road. Crews installed an emergency retaining wall and covered as much ground as possible with plastic sheeting to stop water absorption that could contribute to the slide.

Crews also installed monitoring devices to study the geometry of the slide and drilled dewatering wells to slow movement, geotechnical engineer Martin Page said at a Nov. 24 community briefing (embedded at top).

Public Works Operations successfully rerouted water lines to the north of the landslide site Nov. 25. The site of the movement is close to water mains and lines which staff feared could break if movement returned, Emergency Management Director Bret Heath said at the community briefing.

“We have installed a combination of underground and overland 8-inch high-density polyethylene pipe” supplying the neighborhoods north of the site, Heath said. He called the action a “temporary-permanent” measure as the landslide site continued to be monitored. Heath noted the reservoir west of the slide site was safely outside of the site, on its upper side.