Abstract
The paper details the use of acoustic emission generated by active waveguide subsurface instrumentation to monitor the stability of a rail soil cutting slope failure. Operation of the active waveguide, unitary battery-operated acoustic emission sensor and warning communication system are described. Previous field trials reported by the authors demonstrate that acoustic emission rates generated by active waveguides are proportional to the velocity of slope movement, and can therefore be used to detect changes in rates of movement in response to destabilising and stabilising effects, such as rainfall and remediation, respectively. The paper presents a field trial of the acoustic emission monitoring system at a reactivated rail-cutting slope failure at Players Crescent, Totton, Southampton, UK. The results of the monitoring are compared with both periodic and continuous deformation measurements. The study demonstrated that acoustic emission monitoring can provide continuous information on displacement rates, with high temporal resolution. The ability of the monitoring system to detect slope movements and disseminate warnings by way of text messages is presented. The monitoring approach is shown to provide real-time information that could be used by operators to make decisions on traffic safety.
Highlights
Fatalities from landslides in the UK are rare, but the cost to maintain and remediate infrastructure and the built environment as a result of slope instability is high
The Players Crescent field trial was designed to investigate the capability of Slope Alarms to provide real-time information that could be used by operators to make decisions on traffic safety
Summary This study looked at the use of active waveguides as subsurface instrumentation to monitor AE generated in response to slope movements, and to assess the stability of soil slopes
Summary
Fatalities from landslides in the UK are rare, but the cost to maintain and remediate infrastructure and the built environment as a result of slope instability is high. On the UK rail infrastructure the number of automated earthwork monitoring sites is still small, growing in number, and the large majority of deformation instruments (e.g. inclinometers) are read manually a few times a year. This method of operation cannot provide real-time information for use in early warning. There is a need for affordable instrumentation that can provide continuous, remote, real-time information with high temporal resolution on slope movements in order to provide early warning of instability for use in the protection of people and infrastructure by practitioners. Measurements from long-running field trials in the UK are used to demonstrate the performance of the method, and a case study of Players Crescent, Southampton, UK, is detailed as an example of where the AE monitoring system is being used to monitor the stability of a cutting slope that threatens continued operation of a rail line
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