Sketch drawing showing the detail and
contributing factors of the Penarth Marina Escarpment Slope
FailureVale of Glamorgan Council appointed Mott
MacDonald to investigate slope failure which occurred above a busy
car park and boatyard surrounding the local Marina in Penarth,
South Wales.
The slope failure occurred after a period of heavy rainfall
within an escarpment which has a history of previous failures. As a
consequence, the Council sectioned off half of the car park area
with temporary fencing.
Following an in-depth desk study of the entire 140m long
escarpment, including studies of aerial photographs, historic maps,
geological information and an environmental database, a roped
access survey was undertaken by our team and Ascend roped access
specialists at strategic points along the escarpment crest.
A bespoke geotechnical risk assessment, based upon DETR (2001)
guidelines was designed and completed using data collated from the
desk study and roped access survey.
From the risk assessment it was recommended that the temporary
fencing remain in place and that an intrusive ground investigation
be carried out to help understand the failure mechanisms within the
slope. The results of the investigation resulted in back analysis
and stability analysis of the existing failure mechanisms within
the slope and the submission of a remediation options report with
indicative costings to Vale of Glamorgan Council.
Further analysis of all variables associated with the slope failure
at Penarth resulted in the successful submission of a technical
paper, authored by our team with permission of Vale of Glamorgan
Council. This was presented as part of the IAEG Conference in
September 2006.
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