England: A huge landslide between Doncaster and Northern Lincolnshire- The landslide is still moving. (NEW ZetaTalk)

[khan]

A landslide that demolished a railway track at Stainforth will be closed until further notice.

A huge landslide between Doncaster and Northern Lincolnshire means trains will be cancelled for at least 8 weeks.

Network Rail say the landslide is still moving and the site remains dangerous.

As a result, engineers have not been allowed to start work. An initial estimate ahead of a full investigation is that the line will be shut for approximately 8 weeks from the point of when the land stops moving.

It'll mean trains run by First Transpennine Express are not able to operate between Doncaster and Scunthorpe for the foreseeable future - and there is no other rail line available.

Nick Donovan, FTPE Managing Director says:

"The ground at Stainforth, between Doncaster and Scunthorpe, remains extremely unstable and land movement continues. The site needs to be made safe before Network Rail can fully investigate the damage caused.

"This is however very significant and it is now highly unlikely that we will be able to operate a train service for at least the next 8 weeks between Doncaster and Scunthorpe. This is clearly major disruption and I want to assure passengers that we are doing everything within our power to make journeys as stress free as possible and return the line to normal service as quickly and safely as possible.

Source

top image

See also: Landslips Explode Across England

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ZetaTalk Chat Q&A for February 16, 2013

A massive landslip occurred in Stainforth, UK on February 12 and continued for days mangling rail lines and halting train service in this region for at least 2 months. The unusual upward ground movement of this landslip is being attributed by the "authorities" to the close proximity of a coal mine spoil heap, combined with a raised water table from excessive rainfall.  Given the increasing reports of shifting Earth in the UK, which is consistent with the Zetas' explanation of how this region is destabilizing due the downward pull from a widening Atlantic Rift, and how Stainforth is approximately 15 miles from the apparent terminus of the River Humber, it appears there is far more than varying compositions of soggy soil to blame. Will the Zetas please elaborate on the ground forces that actually caused the Stainforth landslip? 

"During each Pole Shift, each passage with consequent crustal shift, the UK experiences sinking on its western side. Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and even England will experience drastic sinking during this pending passage. That this has happened in the past can be seen by looking under the waves, and seeing ocean bottom that has recently been land, below. England will not only be pulled down, on its western side, it is also obviously being torn in two at the River Humber. The establishment will come up with an excuse, as they always do, for the Earth changes in process, no matter how absurd their excuses become. The Eurasian Plate is being pulled apart, while the Atlantic is spreading apart. Rock layers get torn apart in this process, so the loose ground shifts as the base upon which it lies gives way. This process will continue and accelerate."

[Andrey Eroshin]

http://www.capitalbay.com/uk/319573-a-cracking-view-cliff-top-beaut...

[Andrey Eroshin]

14.03.13. Dangerous chasm opens up on popular clifftop walk. The 6ft deep and 150ft long hole has appeared on a popular stretch of the coast path between Redcliff Point and Bowleaze Cove in Weymouth.
http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/10289211.Walkers_warned_as__danger...

[Starr DiGiacomo]

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/river-clyde-walkway...

In pictures: River Clyde walkway collapses despite council being warned about it

28 Feb 2013 16:58

A RECORD reader phoned Glasgow City Council last week warning them the walkway between the Squinty Bridge and Squiggly Bridge would collapse- now it has.

River Clyde walkway wall collapses

A LARGE section of river walkway in Scotland’s biggest city has collapsed.

No-one was hurt when the quay wall at The Broomielaw fell into the River Clyde, at an area popular with joggers and city workers.

Problems with the section of paving were reported to Glasgow City Council a week before the collapse on Wednesday night.

They responded by placing three small cones around a small area, which lies between the landmark Squinty Bridge and Squiggly Bridge.

 View gallery

Buchanan Photos

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In pictures: Clyde walkway collapses

View gallery

 

Our photgraphs show the progression from the moment the problem was spotted to the devastating hole that was found yesterday morning.

The Record reader who phoned the council to highlight the problem said: “I noticed that something was wrong and that it was inevitable that the walkway would end up in the river.

“When I was out walking later I notived they had sent out an emergency team, whose work seemed to total the placement of three cones.

“It’s hard to think how they might have saved anyone if they were walking past when the quay wall collapsed. I hope they believe that the area needs some proper attention now.”

The collapsed area is just yards from the Kingston Bridge and is close to an area that was recently dredged, as landing jetties were installed for riverboats.

The section of river is key to the development of new Clydeside projects, aimed at connecting the city’s west end to the city centre, which is costing hundreds of millions of pounds.

Clydeport, which is responsible for maintaining stretches of the river, said it was a matter for the local authority.

A council spokesman said: “A depression in the walkway was noticed last Wednesday. That afternoon, council staff assessed the depression and fenced off the walkway.

“The assessment indicated a failure in the quay wall. A local contractor with a good working knowledge of the quay walls in the area is now on-site. The contractor is carrying out investigations on the quay wall and is monitoring it daily. Local businesses and residents have been informed.”

[Mark]

No end in sight to 'worst ever' train problems between Scunthorpe and Doncaster

http://www.thisisscunthorpe.co.uk/end-sight-worst-train-problems-Sc...

QUOTE: "Work cannot begin repairing the track until the landslide stops moving – and officials at Network Rail say they have no idea when this will be."

[Andrey Eroshin]

21.02.13. Another stratch landslip in Subiza, Spain

http://www.noticiasdenavarra.com/2013/02/21/vecinos/cuenca-de-pampl...

[Howard]

Stainforth Landslip Still Moving, Investigators Stumped (Feb 19)

The landslip that has engulfed a regional rail line is still moving a week after it was first discovered.

Investigations are still continuing on-site at the Hatfield Colliery slag heap between Hatfield and Stainforth, north east of Doncaster to try to find the cause.

The railway line between Doncaster and Goole and Scunthorpe is expected to remain closed for at least two months.

Source

http://www.thestar.co.uk/community/star-bizarre/video-landslip-that...

[Kojima]

The geology and a possible mechanism of the Hatfield Stainforth col... [AGU Blogosphere; The Landslide Blog; 14 Feb 2013] Posted by dr-dave

Unfortunately, overnight no new images have appeared of the Hatfield Stainforth landslide, so it is difficult to know whether the landslide has now stopped moving.  The morphology of the landslide continues to suggest to me that this is a bearing capacity failure.  I have taken a quick look at the excellent BGS Geology of Britain Viewer, which produces the following map (I have marked the approximate location of the colliery at which the landslide at occurred):

copyright BGS: http://mapapps.bgs.ac.uk/geologyofbritain/home.html

The map shows that underlying the location of the spoil tip is a layer of alluvium – basically soft sediments such as sands and gravels deposited by ancient rivers.  These are comparatively weak materials, especially when wet.  So, my hypothesis is that the weight of the spoil tip has caused the development of a failure through these materials, which has then generated a landslide with a rotational geometry.  The sketch below is my suggested interpretation, with the spoil sitting over a layer of alluvium.  The very wet weather over the last few months has led to a high groundwater level, which in turn has reduced the strength of the alluvium.  This has then failed with the geometry shown in the upper sketch – the rotational landslide has then progressively moved to generate the geometry in the bottom sketch:

The good news is that this type of landslide is self-stabilising – eventually there is enough material uplifted to balance the load of the spoil, and movement terminates.  However, from this it is not difficult to understand from this why it is a challenge to re-establish the railway line.  If the uplifted material under the tracks is removed the spoil will not be in balance and the landslide will reactivate.  So, to stabilise this slide either the spoil at the back of the displaced block will need to be removed or the strength along the shear surface will need to be increased.  Neither are straightforward.  Only when that is achieved can the material under the track bed be excavated.

Incidentally, back at the end of November I noted the following in relation to landslides in the UK:

So what next?

The heavy rainfall has now moved away, to be replaced by cold weather, so the immediate threat should start to subside.  However, for some slopes the groundwater level will still be rising as the rainfall percolates through, so more landslides are possible.  It is notable though that all of the above landslides are shallow – so far there is not much sign of the deep-seated landslide systems reactivating.  This is almost certainly because groundwater levels were so low after the prolonged drought that ended in the early summer.  These deep groundwater levels will now be rising, so don’t be at all surprised if there are reports of larger landslide movements over the next few months.  Places such as Dorset and the Isle of Wight, where there are large coastal landslide systems, will be particularly vulnerable.  Such landslides represent a comparatively low level of risk to life, but can cause extensive property damage.  It will be an interesting winter.

Thus, it is not really surprising that we are now seeing deep-seated landslides developing.  I expect that there will be more over the next two or three months.

[Kojima]

An unusual colliery landslide yesterday - Hatfield Stainforth in Northern England [AGU Blogosphere; The Landslide Blog; 13 Feb 2013]

Posted by dr-dave

In the UK there is a very high level of sensitivity about colliery landslides because of the Aberfan disaster over 40 years ago.  The result has been a huge effort to prevent and mitigate landslides associated with coal mines, such that colliery landslides are now unusual.  Thus, the very large landslide at Hatfield Stainforth on the outskirts of Doncaster is very surprising.  This may well be the largest and most significant landslide in the UK for a decade or more, even though the mainstream media has yet to catch up with it.  You will see what I mean when you see the aerial photograph released by Network Rail via Twitter last nig... says it all:

https://twitter.com/networkrail/status/301424568516632576/photo/1

The spoil is from the Hatfield Colliery, which reopened in the last few years.  Note at the crown of the landslide the multiple arrays of tension cracks; the lack of lateral scarps (so far…); the toe bulge and the enormous deformation in the railway lines at the toe.  Note that this is an active line, which unsurprisingly is now closed.  The following Network Rail image shows why:

https://twitter.com/networkrail/status/301424568516632576/photo/1

It is hard to know exactly what has happened here, but the size and geometry of the toe bulge might suggest a bearing capacity failure, when the ground supporting the slope fails.  In this case the ground has been loaded by the spoil heap,, and my hypothesis would be that a failure surface has developed through it, allowing a quasi-rotational failure to develop.  Whatever the cause, managing the slope is going to be very difficult.  It will not be possible to simply excavate the material around the railway line as this would remove support from the toe, promoting further movement.  It is more likely that material will have to be removed progressively from the crown area, but very carefully.

I would imagine that the deformed lines will be out of action for some considerable period of time and I am sure that work will also be going on to ensure that no other failures are developing in the spoil heap.  A lot of people are going to be very busy dealing with this.