Geophysical investigation of failure on a railway cutting

Abstract

Summary A case study about a geophysical investigation on the rockface of a railway cutting in Wales (UK). A fissure was observed at the surface above the cutting, with the risk of collapse of the rockface on the railway line. A standard ERT and GPR survey was executed, interpreted in a novel way by incorporating full 3D topographic data capture and visualization. The resulting dataset was interpreted to assess the depth of the fissure and associated risk of collapse which will be used in development of a remediation scheme of the site to allow normal railway operations to resume.