While preventing slope failure along our nation’s transportation arteries is essential, preventing slope “slips” along the Oil and Gas transmission pipelines is imperative to protect the nearby people and infrastructure. Often the pipelines transverse remote areas whose geology makes them landslide prone and could result in the pipeline’s rupture if a landslide occurs. In these cases, the slope stabilization project using engineered slope repairs must be completed quickly to protect the pipeline’s integrity.
A midstream transmission group asked GeoStabilization International®, a soil nail wall contractor and experts in mitigating landslides, to design and construct a repair for a series of steep, shallow landslides that had developed on a pipeline section traversing a steep, remote mountainside, more than a mile long. Traditional repair techniques were not feasible due to the site’s difficult access and the surrounding environmentally sensitive wetlands. A GeoStabilization representative visited the area with the client’s engineer and performed site reconnaissance. Their field data was electronically forwarded to GeoStabilization’s in-house engineering group, which designed the repair. The solution consisted of SuperNails® combined with high-strength wire mesh for slope stabilization and soil retention.
When GeoStabilization’s crews began drilling for the SuperNails®, they had to utilize special equipment and procedures to ensure their safety due to the severity of the slopes’ grade. Limited access drill rigs were used to install the soil nails. At the same time, the team members and equipment were tethered from ropes and climbing harnesses for safety. Working in sections, once the SuperNails® were drilled into the slope, more than 40,000 square feet of high-tensile wire mesh was placed on the slope, and then secured with bearing plates and nuts. This wire mesh, tightened securely to the slope, acts as a soil retention system to engage the soil if it begins to move in the future.
Observing the surrounding environment is very important when protecting critical oil and gas infrastructure. Our field crews recognize site condition changes which are then transmitted to our engineers, allowing real-time design changes to ensure a satisfactory solution is installed.
For over twenty years, our teams have been providing residential slope stabilization, slope monitoring, slope protection, and landslide prevention services. Contact GeoStabilization International® at 855-579-0536 to learn how to utilize our geohazard mitigation services for your geotechnical application.
If you are interested in a no-obligation site visit to determine if our services fit your geohazard mitigation needs, call us at 855-579-0536 or fill out our contact form.
