Content Description

Prepared by the Embankments, Dams, and Slopes Technical Committee of the Technical Coordination Council of the Geo-Institute of ASCE

Highway 1 Rat Creek Embankment Failure: 2021 Reconnaissance and Analysis, GSP 337, provides an overview of the embankment failure in Big Sur, California, and details the investigation performed by the team mobilized by the Embankments, Dams, and Slopes Technical Committee. It further expands on the team’s subsequent radiocarbon dating, data analysis, and recommendations for reducing future failures.

Topics include

• Overview of Big Sur Highway 1 including the history, geological context, and description of the embankment failure;
• Specific data collection activities such as terrestrial LiDAR and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) data acquisition, exposure mapping and sampling, radiocarbon dating of soil samples, precipitation and geospatial analyses, and satellite-based assessments;
• Repair of the roadway; and 
• Recommendations to avoid embankment erosion that may potentially cause similar failures.

GSP 337 details a valuable case study regarding the failure of US infrastructure in the face of climate change, cascading natural disasters (e.g., wildfire and rainfall, and reconstruction activities) and will appeal to civil engineers who are interested in designing and constructing resilient infrastructure to accommodate future extreme events.

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About ASCE

Founded in 1852, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) represents more than 140,000 members of the civil engineering profession worldwide and is America's oldest national engineering society. ASCE's Mission Provide essential value to our members and partners, advance civil engineering, and serve the public good.