Earthwork Stability

Protecting Your Infrastructure with Advanced Earthwork Monitoring

Earthworks, including embankments, cuttings, and retaining structures, are vital for maintaining stable and safe transport networks. However, with age and increasing environmental pressures, these structures are at risk of destabilisation, leading to costly infrastructure damage and safety concerns. Our monitoring solutions provide early detection of potential failure points in slopes and embankments, allowing you to take preventative measures and ensure uninterrupted rail operations.

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The Challenge

Increased risk of failure – Earthworks, especially older ones, are prone to failure due to natural forces such as erosion, landslides, and subsidence.
Environmental pressures – Changing weather patterns, including heavy rainfall and temperature extremes, accelerate the deterioration of earthwork stability.
Aging infrastructure – Many embankments and cuttings were built before modern engineering standards, which can make them more susceptible to failure under current operational and environmental conditions.
Costly disruptions – Failure of earthworks can result in significant infrastructure damage, service disruptions, and costly repairs.

Our Solutions

Monitoring – Our advanced monitoring systems track slope and embankment stability, detecting even the smallest shifts before they lead to failure.
Comprehensive site assessment – High density lidar and ground penetrating radar (GPR) data capture key insights at operational speeds.
Geotechnical insights – Techniques such as seismic refraction, multichannel analysis of surface waves, and electrical resistivity imaging provide in-depth analysis of earthwork composition and stability.
Early warning system – Satellite-based InSAR and ground-based methods like Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) using fibre optic cables and interrogators provide alerts for potential structural movement or instability.

Our Technology

We utilise a combination of innovative technologies to monitor and assess the stability of earthworks:

High density lidar – Captures slope angles, crest heights, and vegetation data to identify change over time.
Ground penetrating radar (GPR) – Detects subsurface anomalies such as subgrade settlement, erosion, and drainage issues.
Geotechnical assessment – Using seismic refraction, MASW, and ERI, we perform detailed analyses of material stiffness, groundwater distribution, and soil composition.
Satellite-based InSAR – Monitors millimetric elevation changes to provide early warning of structural movement.
Remote monitoring – Ground-based systems like DAS and wireless tiltmeters can deliver near real-time data to prevent costly failures.