Dubious ‘embankment’

[PaxVobiscum]

Not really a railway matter (though there is a connection because of the former station site and of course the current concern with stability of earth works) but I would be interested to hear opinions from any civil engineers on here:

A couple of years ago, on the site of a long closed station, construction was started on a new housing estate. To maximise the number of houses built, the site was levelled and a retaining ‘wall’ built which raised a number of eyebrows due to the nature of its construction and the angle of the slope.

The main issue is the use of gabion boxes filled with soil rather than the usual rock, with an apparent reliance on a light fabric mesh and the growth of grass and natural vegetation to retain the soil in the lightweight chickenwire boxes. Over the 2 years since its construction I have seen quite a number of people taking photos of this alarmingly steep earth embankment. I took some this morning and noticed quite a number of cavities where the soil had been washed out due to very heavy rainfall. I seriously wonder if this embankment design is safe.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Does look to be a severe slope on the banking from a certain angle, which must impact on stability, notwithstanding the metal mesh / netting.

Are the cavities due to water erosion or the activity of burrowing animals, do you reckon?

 

[PaxVobiscum]

To be fair, I have no evidence as to what has actually caused the cavities. I’m sure those living above would greatly relieved if it was only rats making the holes

 

[Bletchleyite]

Well, I'd not buy one of those houses.

 

[thejuggler]

By the time it becomes an issue the developer's responsibility is long gone.

A similar system are crib lock timber walls. Timber rots, in 20-40 years time some homeowners may be getting very big bills to ensure their homes remain supported.

 

[Bletchleyite]

By the time it becomes an issue the developer's responsibility is long gone.

I wonder who's legally responsible for that embankment? The end houses, all of them or what I wonder?

Beyond a terraced house which don't have a record of falling over en masse, I would run a mile from any house with a feature that relied on anyone else's responsibility to keep it upright. Flats are bad enough.

 

[PaxVobiscum]

In the original post I should also have added that a small number of fairly short piles were sunk a few metres back from the top edge of the slope after the embankment was constructed but before the houses above it were built

 

[Bletchleyite]

In the original post I should also have added that a small number of fairly short piles were sunk a few metres back from the edge after the embankment was constructed but before the houses above it were built.

So it's possible the piles, not the embankment, are holding the houses up? Would still run a mile though.

 

[najaB]

It doesn't look good, but one presumes that the design would have been signed-off by an engineer at some point. Given that they can be held criminally responsible if their designs are show to be sub-standard I'm guessing that either: a) it was a very old engineer who expected to be dead before there was any signs of trouble; or b) the design is more stable than it appears to be.

 

[PaxVobiscum]

When they were building it I wondered “What would Network Rail have to say about that?”

When the Borders Railway work was being carried out I was impressed by how thorough the approach was to reworking the original embankments, so this housing estate feature was quite a surprise. The roads next to it carry a lot of heavy traffic and there must be quite a lot of vibration so not to dissimilar a situation.