South Dakota's landslide exposure concentrates in the Black Hills' granite and schist terrain and the Badlands' sedimentary formations further east, and along I-90 and US-16, SDDOT crews see two distinct failure types within one state — hard-rock block failures in the Black Hills and soft-sediment slumping in the Badlands — that require fundamentally different engineering approaches.
GSI treats this as one of several Steep Slope Stability Issues issues the state's infrastructure owners regularly face.
GSI's soil nail approach differs by region within South Dakota: Black Hills granite and schist slopes get pattern reinforcement targeting joint-controlled block failure, while Badlands sedimentary slopes get reinforcement designed around progressive slumping in weaker material. This draws directly on GSI's soil nailing work.
Black Hills fracture-controlled groundwater and Badlands clay-perched groundwater require different horizontal drain strategies — GSI designs each independently rather than applying one drainage approach statewide. GSI's Soil Nail Launcher™ capability supports this step.
Both South Dakota terrain types — fractured Black Hills rock and soft Badlands sediment — can defeat conventional drilling for different reasons; the Soil Nail Launcher™ handles both without relying on either material's structural cooperation. This is one application of GSI's broader horizontal drains expertise.
GSI often considers landslide emergency response alongside this work when scoping South Dakota projects.
Engineered for South Dakota's conditions. GSI recognizes South Dakota's two genuinely distinct slope failure regimes — Black Hills hard-rock block failure and Badlands soft-sediment slumping — rather than applying one statewide design approach. GSI's general contractors and asset owners experience backs this approach.
Design/build delivery. Engineering and field crews work as one team — eliminating the gaps that traditional design-bid-build creates.
SDDOT specification compliance. Documentation and installation methods align with DOT standards from the project's first submission.
SDDOT partners and South Dakota infrastructure owners describe GSI's landslide repair results.
GSI's engineers are ready to assess landslide repair conditions at your South Dakota site.
