The longest pile wall in Peace River

How do you prevent an unstable slope from sliding?

In the case of this roadway in the town of Peace River, Alberta, the answer lay in a pile wall option designed by Thurber (geotechnical) and Dialog Design (structural).

At 240 meters long, this pile wall is the longest constructed in the region. It consists of 141 cast-in-place concrete piles, a 1.2 meter and 1.7-meter-high concrete waler, 79 anchors at 30 meters in length, and a three-meter high timber lagging wall. To further improve stability and reduce the driving force on the slide, the contractor (Kichton Contracting Ltd.) removed approximately six meters of soil downslope of the wall and constructed riprap- and TRM-lined channels to handle water flow.

Thurber was responsible for contract administration including full-time site inspection, QA materials testing, and instrumentation monitoring to ensure the site was stable during construction.

Now that the project is complete, Thurber will continue to monitor the site using cellular-connected instrumentation to confirm performance and ensure continued public safety.

In 2023, Thurber's work on this project received a Consulting Engineers of Alberta Award of Merit for Transportation Infrastructure - Transportation Structures.