A new technique for retention of a landslide in Hazard, Kentucky has been completed which utilizes steel galvanized guardrail and steel rail piling in combination to implement the final phase of this emergency abatement project. Phase I design has been in place for over six months for protection of a house and was provided by in-ground steel rails for temporary stabilization. The final design eliminated the need for a reinforced concrete wall which represents a substantial savings to the Office of Surface Mining. This final project design was a long-term solution for stabilizing a slide which had penetrated under a house affected by mine drainage and spoil from an old abandoned surface and underground mining operation conducted in the 1920's.
The newly developed design utilized a combination of steel rails with galvanized steel guardrail for retention panels. This technique is generally valid for walls less than 10 feet in height with granular backfill and with a footer that can be placed on shallow soils or on bedrock. The landslide below the wall was excavated to prevent any further encroachment on a state highway that had also been affected by the original slide. The combination of guardrail and steel rail piling allowed a savings of 50 percent of the cost of a comparable reinforced concrete retaining wall. These walls are planned as a standard design in the future for similar height structures.
