Remote Monitoring System PTH 83 Shell River Landslide Russell, Manitoba

Provincial Trunk Highway (PTH) 83 crosses a former landslide along the south slope of the Shell River Valley between Russell and Roblin, MB. To keep the highway open department maintenance staff have had to repair dips in the road caused by relatively slow but ongoing movements of the landslide since it was constructed in 1961. However, two major landslide events in 1999 and 2012 closed the highway for extended periods while it was reconstructed. Engineering studies have not identified economically feasible options to stabilize the landslide or relocate the highway around the landslide.

The traditional geotechnical instrumentation installed to measure landslide movements and groundwater levels has provided valuable information on the nature of the landslide. However, they do not provide an effective method of warning of potentially dangerous landslide movements because the data must be retrieved manually from the site and processed before it can be interpreted. This led to the need for a real-time monitoring system that could provide early warnings of abnormal landslide movements.

In November 2015, Manitoba Infrastructure installed a remote monitoring system at the site to detect landslide movements and provide early warnings of dangerous road conditions. The system consists of two laser distance measuring devices (LDM) and a shape accelerometer array (SAA). The LDMs are mounted on the top of the landslide escarpment and measure distances to targets located in the active part of the landslide. The 25 m deep SAA is positioned between the two LDM targets and measures ground movement to the base of the landslide.

Data is collected every hour and sent to Manitoba Infrastructure’s Winnipeg office where it is automatically processed and uploaded to a website for viewing. The system was designed to send text message and email alerts to notify department maintenance staff of abnormal landslide movements so they can get to the site and assess the road conditions. This paper presents a background of the landslide, and a description and evaluation of the remote monitoring system.

Author

Alexander, S.
Tallin, J.

Session title

Innovation in Geotechnical and Materials Engineering

Organizers

Soils and Materials Standing Committee

Category

Soils & Materials

Year

2017

Format

Paper

File

 


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