Project Data Sheet Geotechnics (Retaining Wall)

Project Client

Barrow Docks, Cumbria Associated British Ports & ODE Ltd

Area 8 Ha Year 2009/10

This project was carried out in two phases. Phase 1 was carried out for Associated British Ports (ABP) and comprised preliminary analysis of the stability of the dock walls in three separate areas of the docks to determine whether they will be stable when subjected to the very high loads from the crane lifts (two cranes acting in tandem carrying 600 t each and travelling up to the dock wall). This work is to enable off-loading, storage and fabrication of 5 m diameter steel monopiles and off shore platforms for new wind farms in the Irish Sea. After fabrication the units will subsequently be loaded back onto barges. The assessment was based on the original Victorian construction drawings and site investigation data from other areas of the docks. This phase of work concluded that the dock walls were likely to be stable but further assessment would be required to confirm this and to determine whether any remedial works would be required. This further phase of work would require to be based on new site specific site investigation data. Phase 2 of the work was carried out for Offshore Design Engineering Ltd (ODE) who are the designers and project managers for the offshore works. TerraConsult assessed the stability of one dock wall when it is subjected to the very high loads (up to 1100 t) from a self propelled modular transporter carrying a newly-constructed sub-station platform travelling up to the dock wall. The work involved site investigation to augment the limited data provided by ABP and further analyses were carried out to check stability for the areas associated with off-loading, storage and fabrication of the materials for the construction of the sub-station platform. Analysis involved assessment of a number of complex loading scenarios all with a range of very high localized loads. Reference: Thomas Tsantikos Offshore Design Engineering Ltd 10-14 Princeton Mews 167-169 London Road Kingston-Upon-Thames Surrey KT2 6PT Telephone: 02085 412 063

Project Data Sheet Geotechnics (Slope Stability)

Project Client

Fletcher Bank Quarry Marshalls Plc

Area 48 ha Year 2008 - 2010

Fletcher Bank is a working quarry located just off the A56 Manchester Road in Ramsbottom, Lancashire. In 2008 TerraConsult were commissioned to carry out reserve calculations for a proposed extension to the existing quarry area. To support this work, TerraConsult procured and project managed a programme of rotary drilling across the extension area, utilising both open hole and coring techniques. The key objectives were to determine the thickness of the main sandstone units and to assess rock quality. Alongside the investigation works, a detailed geological survey of the quarry face was undertaken through a combination of direct face logging, but mainly by remote survey techniques. Direct face logging has significant safety risks due the need to approach the working quarry face. These safety hazards do not apply when undertaking the remote survey method. The collected survey data was utilised alongside the investigation information to model the surface of each quarry unit, thus allowing the available reserves in the extension to be calculated. During 2009/10 TerraConsult also carried out a stability assessment for a waste silt lagoon located at the southern end of the quarry. The silt, originally sourced from the on-site washing facility, is retained within insitu rock and two engineered buttresses. To support the stability assessment, intrusive investigation works were carried out through rotary drilling and Cone Penetration Testing (CPT). The investigation data was used to derive appropriate material parameters which were then utilised in the analysis. The stability assessment was carried out in accordance with the Eurocode 7 (BS EN 1997-1:2004) design methodology, utilising the slope stability analysis programme XSTABL. Reference: Brian Morris Quarry Manager Marshalls Plc Fletcher Bank Quarry Manchester Road Ramsbottom Lancashire BL0 0DD

Project Data Sheet Geotechnics (Earthworks)

Project Client

Ashton Moss Plot 2000 Enabling Works P Casey Civil Engineering Ltd

Value 5M plus Period 2 years plus Year 2000-2003

This challenging project provided the roadworks for the Ashton Northern Bypass and the Enabling Works for Plot 2000 of the Ashton Moss Development, a 12 Hectare commercial and leisure development site on Junction 23 of the M60. It comprises part of the 64 Ha site designed and supervised by TerraConsult. Peat and underlying alluvial clays had to be excavated and replaced with engineered fill comprising compacted selected imported Construction, Demolition and Excavation Waste (CDEW). Control of the quality of the fill, in terms of both the chemical contamination and the geotechnical properties was made more difficult by a tight timescale which required construction through two winters to meet programme. To minimise the double handling of large quantities of surcharge and the timescale of normal surcharge solutions several options were adopted. The plots where the earliest hand-over dates were situated used vertical band drains beneath surcharges but all later fill used horizontal geosynthetic drainage layers at one metre centres to radically reduce surcharge heights and periods. Monitoring demonstrated adequate settlement generally within four weeks. The work continues in 2005 and beyond on a nearby area where the excavated peat and further imported CDEW capping are being engineered to provide a golf course, playing fields and allotments. This work was carried out as the Designer under an ICE Design and Construct Contract with the Main Contractor, P Casey (Civil Engineering) Ltd., for AMEC Development Ltd and Stayley Development Ltd. Reference: Peter Casey P Casey Civil Engineering Ltd Rydings Lane, Rochdale, Lancashire, OL12 9PS Tel: 01706 341121

Project Data Sheet Geotechnics (Slope Stability)

Project Client

St Marys Caravan Park, Prestatyn Royal Bank of Scotland

Area 5.2 Ha Year 2008 - 2010

TerraConsult was commissioned by West Register (Realisations) Ltd on behalf of RBS to carry out a Phase 1 and preliminary Phase 2 site investigation at a former caravan park in Prestatyn. The purpose of the investigation was to provide general information on the site ground conditions and, more specifically, to carry out a preliminary assessment of the stability of a gabion wall located at the southern end of the site. The information was required to support the redevelopment of the site, with the proposed end use again being a caravan park. Following a detailed desk study and walkover, intrusive investigation works were carried out at the site through both trial pitting and a series of dynamic window sample holes. These showed the site to be underlain by a considerable thickness of glacial till (typically firm to stiff clay). They also indicated that the site had been subject to a significant cut/fill exercise in order to create benches for locating caravans. Alongside the investigation works, a condition inspection of a 150 m long gabion wall was carried out, which in some places extended to a height of > 7m. Above the walls crest level the glacial till had been trimmed back, in some areas attaining a gradient of 1 in 1.5. Based on the findings of the site works, an assessment of the gabion wall was undertaken to determine the acceptability of the design. The assessment included stability checks, carried out principally using the finite difference programme FLAC/SLOPE. The assessment indicated that the design of the gabion wall was unacceptable with instability of the wall likely to occur in the future. A number of remedial options were subsequently provided, with the use of soil nails the preferred option. Alongside the geotechnical aspects, a preliminary assessment of ground contamination was undertaken in accordance with BS 10175: 2001 Investigation of Potentially Contaminated Sites Code of Practice. The assessment highlighted the need for full radon protection measures in any new buildings constructed on site. Reference:

Project Data Sheet Geotechnical (Rock Slope Stability)

Project Client

Llanddulas Quarry Waste Recycling Group

Area N/A Year 2003

Llanddulas Quarry is a disused quarry adjacent to the A55 North Wales Trunk Road. Consideration is being given to its long term re-use and it was recognised that there might be constraints to development caused by the steep quarry walls. These appear generally stable but to enable initial planning layouts to be evaluated the constraints from instability and potential rockfall needed to be defined. The planning consultants AXIS PED Ltd requested a stability survey with treatment options with their spatial constraints plus indicative treatment costs. TerraConsult used their past experience of geotechnical survey in mines and quarries to safely map and survey the faces. They used advanced remote face profiling survey techniques and traditional geotechnical measurements of the dip and strike measurement of joints in the rocks. The data obtained was used with a series of computer software packages for analysis and to provide the parameters and required guidance. Such work is relatively inexpensive and reduces risk which in the past would have required roped access on the faces which would have been relatively costly in risk, time and monetary terms.

Reference: Nick Roberts AXIS PED Ltd Well House Barns Chester Road Bretton Chester CH4 0DH Tel: 0844 8700 007

Project Data Sheet Geotechnical Expert Witness

Project Client

M60 J23 Cutting Slope Failure Highways Agency

Value 200,000 Year 2001 - 2005

Following a slip in the cutting of the M60 motorway near Junction 23, Ashton under Lyne, the Highways Agency asked Alan Binns of TerraConsult to complete the investigation into the mechanisms and causes of the failure. During construction on the adjacent site, the contractor had surcharged the ground to reduce settlement in the peat and alluvium which existed below their filled site. The slippage moved the surcharge mound and its supporting subgrade en bloc some six or seven metres towards the highway. Extensive site investigation and laboratory testing together with analyses was carried out and lead to conclusions about the mechanisms of failure. Conventional light percussive boreholes were combined with CPT testing on site together with substantial trial trenches to examine the slipped materials. Health and safety issues of trenching through a failed slope on the motorway hard shoulder had to be addressed. Laboratory testing included effective stress triaxial compression tests together with the results of large shear box tests. It was established that slippage of the surcharge mound along weak clay layers at depth spread to the highway cutting slopes. High porewater pressures were induced in the soft clay and spread to the highway cutting slope causing slippage along planar surfaces.

Reference: Mr C Duffell Highways Agency Sunley Tower, Piccadilly Plaza, Manchester, M1 4BE Tel: 0161 930 5660