Groundwater seepage and rusted pre-stressed concrete steel wires were the likely causes of a massive landslide on Freeway No. 3 last year that killed four people, an investigation report said yesterday.
Following the incident on April 25, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications asked a group of civil engineering experts to investigate the causes of the landslide.
The report said investigators had conducted numerous experiments and rock analysis on the dip slope where the accident -occurred. They said the slope was on the verge of sliding because its surface had been softened by the groundwater.
Investigators said they had also inspected the ground anchors that were supposed to retain the dip slope surface and found that the steel wires had become corroded. Those factors could explain why the landslide occurred even though there was no heavy rain at the time, they said.
Although the freeway contractors had followed the construction standards set by the National Freeway Bureau, the investigators said the casing pipe covering the steel wires might have become detached or damaged during construction, which in turn may have resulted in grouting voids.
As a result of the possible voids, the groundwater could have easily entered the pipe and corroded the steel wires, they said.
In response, the National Freeway Bureau said it had revised its highway maintenance guidelines, adding that construction workers would be required to follow a new set of procedures to ensure that ground anchors are completely grouted.
Meanwhile, the bureau said slopes along the nation’s freeways would be divided into four different categories. Those in category A will be considered the most unstable and will require weekly inspections.
Bureau Director-General Tseng Dar-jen (曾大仁) said his agency would also establish a database allowing people to check the maintenance records of all the slopes on the freeways.
Contractors working on the overpass connecting Wugu (五股) and Yangmei (楊梅) on Freeway No. 1, which is currently under construction, will be asked to follow new grouting procedures as well, Tseng said.
Bureau chief engineer Lien Shyi-ching (連錫卿) said complete safety evaluations of all the freeway slopes were scheduled to be completed by the end of June.
“The investigators had recommended that 32 dip slopes be placed on the priority list,” he said. “We found that 17 of them need reinforcement.”
Lien said construction on the 17 dip slopes was scheduled to begin this month.
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