NEWS 2014

Posted September 11, 2013 (Updated March 10, 2014)

Event: March 19, 2014

GSE: Don Proudfoot, M.Eng., P.Eng., Thurber Engineering Ltd. - Stabilization of the Hwy. 726 Landslide in the Eureka River Valley near Worsley, Alberta

Location: Room #Y240 - Nexen Theatre, Petro-Canada Centre, NAIT

Time: 11:45am Registration, 12:00pm Lunch, 12:15pm Presentation

Cost: $10 Members, $15 Non-Members, $5 Students

Highway 726 is the main access route to the Hamlet of Worsely, located in northwestern Alberta. The portion of the highway that crosses the Eureka River valley, using a side-hill alignment, had been affected by ongoing landslide activity, which had reached the point where stabilization measures were required to keep the highway open. This presentation describes the conditions leading to the landslide event and options considered to deal with it. Further detail is given about the selected option consisting of reconstructing the highway using EPS light-weight fill, combined with supporting the edge of the roadway with a tied-back CIP concrete pile wall. A second cantilevered concrete wall was constructed lower down the slope near the Eureka River to prevent soil loss from the upper wall. Slope inclinometers were installed inside some of the piles and load cells were attached to some of the ground anchors to monitor wall deflections and anchor loads over time. The landslide stabilization measures were constructed over the 2012 and 2013 construction seasons.

Mr. Don Proudfoot, M.Eng., P.Eng. has more than 30 years of experience in geotechnical engineering. He is a Principal and Senior Geotechnical Engineering in the Edmonton office of Thurber Engineering Ltd. He began at Thurber Engineering Ltd. as a techician (Diploma in Civil Engineering Technology, NAIT, 1980) and later became an engineer. He is now a Principal and Senior Geotechnical Engineering in Thurber's Edmonton office. His area of expertise is in transportation and slope stability particularly in northern Alberta as the Review Engineer for Thurber's work in the Fort McMurray and Peace River regions.