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I am a
small developer. Constructed a road on steep terrain which has
developed large 2-3 inch cracks along one section on the fill side which
seems to follow the underground utility trench line. The road has been
down for 4 years & we have continuously patched before each winter; however,
each time we patch, the cracks reappear and become wider. A visual
inspection and probe reveals that the cracks are fairly deep, possibly 2-3
feet in some areas. Also, some sections of the crack area seem to be
subsiding. We have done some investigative borings to rule out a water
leak. Could this possibly be a compaction problem. All work was
supervised by a qualified soils engineer and completed by a qualified
contractor. Would appreciate any input you can supply.
Thanks,
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From
your description it sure sounds like a soils problem.
As far as compaction is concerned, the practice in my area is that the soils
engineer specifies a certain compaction level (90-95%), and a qualified
inspector verifies it during construction. If that was not done then
you may have a problem that should improve with time (if you keep repairing)
and eventually go away after the soils compact naturally.
Is it possible that you have a slope failure on the side of the road?
Probably not, because that would have been the most obvious thing to check.
You may need to retain an experienced Geotechnical Engineer to do site
investigation, if things do not improve soon. Actually, you may want
to do it ASAP while the original soils engineer and contractor are still
around to fix their errors (if any) |