FORT MADISON – A mudslide that happened earlier this month below Blackhawk Heights here did not compare to one that covered several hundred feet of railroad tracks Tuesday.
The mudslide just a few blocks from the Iowa State Penitentiary was discovered by a BNSF engineer operating an empty train at around 7:50 a.m., said Steve Forsberg, a spokesman for the railway company.
The mud covered at least 300 feet of the single north/south track and measured anywhere from six to 10 feet deep…
This was not on the TRANSCON so not too big a deal.
From the linked article, it seems some of the residents are trying to blame this slide on the railroad - specifically because it seems that last fall the railroad cut new or deepened the ditches on each side. [PDN note - Insert suggestion that residents read any reputable railroad engineering or geotechnical text about how better drainage usually prevents such occurences - maybe the railroad just didn’t dig soon enough or large enough here.]
Also unusual is a statement that it all occurred on railroad property, so the local authorities weren’t called. How wide is the R-O-W there ?
It would be interesting to check out what the soil conditions are like there. It looks to be a kind of soil slump that just happened to cross that ROW. But then again-----[:-^]
PDN:
Deep embankment?[(-D][%-)]
How many times have we seen slip/slump failures caused by the jokes up the hill either loading up the top of the slide plane (gravity works) or lubricating the slip plane?
(a quick look at GoogleEarth make me suspicious that “point at the railroad before they catch the real culprit” is in play here.)…future employment for geotechs is available.
A few blocks from the state pen, hmm? Maybe due to a little unauthorized tunneling.[:-^]
Jeff