May/June 2024 - 88

If preventative work is not able to be
performed, or the slide happens
unexpectedly, a full reconstruction is
required; this is what happened in
Harlan County. This failure caused 89 ft
(27 m) of the roadway to completely
break off and slide downslope, creating
major scarp lines on either side of the
critical area.
When a complete failure happens,
lateral soil nails paired with hightension
mesh, sheet piles or encased in
shotcrete have all proven to be effective
repairs in Kentucky since the early
2000s. GSI has repaired numerous failed
roadways throughout the state and has
been able to monitor repairs and approaches
for the area over an extended
number of years. With this knowledge
and experience, rapid response is an
option to reconstruct a road safely and
efficiently. By having a suitable plan in
place, the road can be opened to the
public sooner. Without a rapid response
plan, a road failure leads to a lengthy
road closure to allow consultants to
perform a geotechnical exploration,
create design documents and submit for
bids. A rapid response plan allows for the
repair to begin within days.
The process of repairing the roadway
requires stabilizing the failure and then
rebuilding the roadway to replace the
soil lost to the slide. These buildouts can
range from something as simple as a
formed area extending the road width
that is filled with lightweight backfill, or
something as extensive as a geosynthetically
confined soil block wall. The
Harlan County road failure required
both of these options to replace what
was lost during a major rain event.
Geotechnical Exploration
Once a call is received, the project
development engineer sets up a site visit
to make the initial assessment of the
failure. Site sketches are created using
techniques ranging from hand measurements
to drone photogrammetry
that are used to create a model using
software such as Pix4D. Site photos are
taken to capture the scarp lines, toe
88 * DEEP FOUNDATIONS * MAY/JUNE 2024
This failure caused 89 ft (27 m) of the roadway to
completely break off and slide downslope, creating
major scarp lines on either side of the critical area.
Initial failure
bulges and any other beneficial data to
help model a solution. Utilities, overhead
and underground, are noted. If utilities
are within the project limits, they
could potentially need to be moved or
cause a change of design. All data is provided
to the engineering team to review
and create an appropriate solution.
Project experience from past repairs
in the area can assist the team in
determining soil properties without
soil borings. Google Earth is also
utilized by using the soil web in
Kentucky. Unfortunately, the soil web
is not always the most accurate and
other methods are needed to confirm
Pix4D model

May/June 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of May/June 2024

TOC
May/June 2024 - Intro
May/June 2024 - 1
May/June 2024 - 2
May/June 2024 - TOC
May/June 2024 - 4
May/June 2024 - 5
May/June 2024 - 6
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