Remediation and monitoring of a highway across an active landslide at Trevor, North Wales

Abstract

In March 1989, a moderately steep slope forming sidelong ground below the B5434 Trevor to Froncysyllte Road failed after a period of exceptionally heavy rainfall and severed the highway. A long history of ground movements together with river erosion at the toe and a change in the groundwater regime within the slope created the preconditions for landslide. Site investigations characterised the ground conditions and identified the active slip surface within the compound landslide terrain. The permanent remedial measures adopted proved to be of considerable practical interest involving a bored pile anchored wall with foundations socketed into a deep sandstone foundation stratum. The anchored wall was designed to safeguard the highway and it was anticipated that deloading the slope would reduce the capacity for further movement. The wall achieved the design objective but progressive downslope movements resumed about one year after construction. They continue spasmodically to the present time with rates approaching 9 mm per year both laterally and vertically and although they affect the neighbouring areas, the highway corridor remains intact. The response of load cells attached to the ground anchors reveal two unusual patterns of increasing loads. At the eastern end of the wall, moderate load gains clearly relate to landsliding with reactivation along the existing slip surface and consequent removal of support to the wall as the ground progressively fails in a downslope direction. However, anomalous increases in loads recorded at the western end of the wall have proved more difficult to explain. They may be due either to a build up of water pressure behind the downhill portion of the wall or to localised weak ground conditions or swelling of degraded mudstones behind the wall. Monitoring of the load cells will continue in order to ensure the ongoing integrity of the highway.