Re: State Line Fill - A headache for the D&RGW and C&TS

In several of the photos, especially # 4 you can see a deep crack running along side the right of way. Thia occurs when wet ground moves away from more stable ground. Levee inspectors inspect the 'dry' side of the levee looking for similar cracks, indicating that the levee is separating and is now weaker. The ability of a fill to be stable is based on the width of the solid fill; cracks like this indicate the fill width has been reduced and is now weakened. In cold weather such cracks can fill with water that freezes into ice increasing the size of the crack. The cure is removing the water in the soil; sometimes replacing dirt with rock and road base and then compaction will reduce the water content, but draining the area and reducing water flow into the area are the long term fixes.