Laserfiche WebLink
<br />appeared that a small channel/ditch had been constructed across the road to direct it away from the failed <br />area. Based on our measurements, it appeared that the water was flowing over the road at a rate of <br />approximately 10 gpm. We followed the water back to its apparent source, which appeared to be in the <br />natural drainage that is situated to the south of the failed area. The water appeazed to be flowing out of the <br />boulders that were located within the drainage. Based on the amount of vegetation (dense willows), it <br />appeared that this area had not been disturbed during the construction of the irrigation ditch that was <br />located above and crossed the drainage. <br />We visited the project site a third time on May 6, 2003 to observe the conditions at the site. We were <br />advised that the subject slope failure had increased in size over the previous weekend and that a crack was <br />now apparent in the road berm located above the slide. We met at the site with Allan Wheately, Gary <br />Bumgarner and Mike Ritchard (ditch owners), as well as with Rick Wahl and Randy Keck of Elk Fork <br />~ Ranch and Tim Boch, a local excavation contractor. We were advised that the ditch had been shut off on <br />Sunday May 4, 2003 after the crack was observed. However, the ditch was discharging at a rate of <br />approximately 2 cfs at the time of our visit on Tuesday. <br />At the time of our visit, we could not observe the crack that had been observed on Sunday, due to the <br />disturbance caused by a large number of elk tracks in this area. However, it did appear that the fill <br />materials on the outside edge of the road/betm had settled at least one inch since our previous site visit. In <br />addition, it appeared that the scarp face had propagated uphill towards the berm and ditch by approximately <br />5 to 7 feet. It also appeared that the debris/mud flow from the failed area had increased significantly since <br />our previous site visit. We were advised that the mudflow had crossed the roadway that is located <br />immediately adjacent to the creek that is situated below the slide. Based on our observations, we <br />recommended that they turn off the flow to the ditch, we also recommended that they have the excavator <br />remove the fill materials from above the scarp face as soon as possible and then lay the soils back to as flat <br />as a slope that they can achieve without cutting into the side of the ditch. We also discussed several options <br />for stabilizing the failed area. These options will be discussed later in this report. <br />Conclusions and Recommendations: Based on our observations made at the site and our experience with <br />similar projects, we believe that the slope failure that occurred below the irrigation ditch is a result of a <br />failure in the natural topsoil materials that were overlain by the fill materials from the ditch excavation. <br />~ Factors most likely contributing to the failure include the surcharge pressure applied by the overlying fill <br />materials and saturation of the soils by seepage from the irrigation ditch. The resultant mud and debris <br />flow that occurred below the failed area likely contributed to the lower road embankment failure. Based on <br />our cursory observations, we believe that the most likely source for the water that is seeping out of the <br />failed area is from the portion of the ditch that had been constructed over the natural drainage, which is <br />situated downstream of the failed area. However, the water could be coming from fractures in the bedrock <br />that is exposed upstream of the failed area in the cut slopes above the ditch. The source of the water could <br />probably be determined; however, it would take a lengthy investigation to verify the source of the water. <br />Based on our cursory observations made at the site and our experience with similar projects, we believe <br />that there are two feasible solutions for stabilizing the subject slope failure and allowing the irrigation ditch <br />to be put back in use. The fast alternative would be to reconstruct the natural hillside and road/berm <br />• Job Number. 03-5547 NWCC, [nc. Page 3 <br />