Construction of the Thrace motorway involved earthworks in sidelong ground in a residual landslip zone in a sequence of heavily over-consolidated clays with overlying sand and gravels. This zone had not been fully appreciated by the scheme designers and major failures occurred during initial construction. Reappraisal and redesign of critical sections of the earthworks were undertaken by the supervising engineer. The extent of the residual landslipping over several kilometres of the route was identified from aerial photographs and geomorphological reconnaissance. Boreholes were sunk at critical locations to permit detailed stability analysis. Remedial works consisted of reprofiling and drainage measures. They included a 700m long rock toe, the excavation for which was logged so that the design could be modified locally to suit actual ground conditions. Faulting and tilting were found to exert a controlling influence on the local groundwater drainage and stability.

  • INTRODUCTION

  • TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOMORPHOLOGY

  • GEOLOGY

  • STABILITY ANALYSES

  • REMEDIAL MEASURES

  • GEOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS DURING REMEDIAL WORKS

  • CONCLUSIONS

  • REFERENCES

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