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<br />002806 <br /> <br />Dowd's No.1 <br /> <br />The lowest part of the Dowd's No.1 landslide is composed of ancient river <br />gravels resting on Minturn Formation bedrock. The gravels represent a former <br />COurse of the Eagle River and probably are evidence that in the past, movement <br />of the upper part of the landslide forced the river to alter its course by <br />forcing it to the north. <br /> <br />The lower part of the landslide has a long documented history of slow movement <br />and has damaged I-70, the nearby highway bridge, and its west approach. <br />Approximately the upper one half of the landslide shows no evidence of modern <br />movement. The upper area is composed of very large blocky material consisting <br />of arkosic sandstone of the Minturn Formation with individual blocks ranging <br />up to 30 ft in diameter. <br /> <br />Dowd's No. ~ <br /> <br />This is the smallest landslide in the area. It consists predominantly of <br />large blocky material from the Minturn Formation with a clay and sand matrix. <br />The landslide has been active recently and damaged 1-70 in 1983. <br /> <br />Community Impact <br /> <br />Catastrophic land failure in the Dowd's Junction area could result in the <br />following potential impacts: 1) the potential loss of life, 2) significant <br />economic loss, 3.) the potential flooding of the town of Minturn and West Vail, <br />and 4) the potential flooding of portions of the towns and unincorporated <br />Eagle-Vail, Avon, Edwards, Wolcott, Eagle and Gypsum if there is failure of a <br />dam formed by the landslide. <br /> <br />Mitigation <br /> <br />Over forty options were presented in response to the range of potential <br />threats posed by the landslides. The analyses are based on possible geologic <br />and hydrologic consequences if major earthflows occur and river damming <br />results. Options include: no action, flood insurance, monitoring, regulating <br />development, relocation, physical structures, drainage control, anchors, <br />weather modification, and many others (see Appendix __). <br /> <br />- 81 - <br />