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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Stephanie Glendinning
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND).
To ensure that road and rail transport networks remain operational, both highway and railway embankments require continual maintenance and renewal to mitigate against ongoing deterioration and repair any sections damaged by realised failures. This paper provides a review of recent developments in the understanding of highway and railway embankment degradation and failure. Failures due to pore water pressure increase, seasonal shrink-swell deformation and progressive failure are considered. The material composition and construction of highway and railway embankments differ, which influences the dominant type and timing of embankment failure. There is evidence for highway embankment failures induced by pore water pressure increase, but not seasonal deformation and progressive failure. Some railway embankments are susceptible to pore water pressure increase, seasonal shrink-swell deformation and progressive failure due to the age and nature of the dumped clay fill used in their construction. The approaches used to measure and explore embankment failure mechanisms are compared and discussed. Field observations have been used to understand pore water pressure increase and seasonal shrink-swell deformation in embankments, while the investigation of progressive embankment failure has mainly utilised physical and numerical modelling approaches. Further field and laboratory investigation is required before the rigorous analysis of embankment failure can be routinely undertaken. However, progress is being made to empirically identify and evaluate the various risk factors affecting transport infrastructure embankment failure.
Author(s): Briggs KM, Loveridge FA, Glendinning S
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Engineering Geology
Year: 2017
Volume: 219
Pages: 107-117
Print publication date: 09/03/2017
Online publication date: 02/08/2016
Acceptance date: 31/07/2016
Date deposited: 25/08/2016
ISSN (print): 0013-7952
ISSN (electronic): 1872-6917
Publisher: Elsevier
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2016.07.016
DOI: 10.1016/j.enggeo.2016.07.016
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