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Pittsburgh Launching Program To Remediate And Prevent Landslides

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Pittsburgh is launching an expensive and ambitious program to remediate and prevent landslides.

Unusually heavy rains the past few years have destroyed homes, hillsides and even a park. Besides spending millions to fix it, Pittsburgh is looking for ways to prevent landslides.

Work to fix a landslide in the city's Troy Hill section is set to get underway after the Easter holiday weekend, according to the city.

The landside is impacting a hill behind Cowley Park.

City representatives say the work will include re-grading the slope and installing soil nail reinforcement and will cost about $1 million.

"With that rainfall, our hillsides give way to the bedrock below," said Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto.

The park is one thing, but in 2018, homes were destroyed in Pittsburgh's West End. Other areas were hard hit too. It follows record rainfall and it's going to cost millions to repair.

"Our budget, when I came into office, for landslides was $1 million dollars or less. We're spending now, because of climate change, nearly $10 million a year," said Peduto.

But the city is taking it a step further. They've partnered with Carnegie Mellon University to identify potential slides and design ways to prevent them.

"We can actually take proactive measures so we don't try to repair it afterwards," said Peduto.

But until that study is complete, Pittsburgh will be spending millions of dollars a year to fix its landslide damage.

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