M25 Junction 6 East Grinstead

[joules99]

Clockwise on the M25 about 1 mile before the East Grinstead (Junction 6) turn off on the right hand side is a steep field with loads of fenced off areas with what looks like styles on each one, they are baout 2 metres squared and there are loads of them and there is loads of concrete pipes sticking up out of the field, what is it? thanks

[clawalc]

Hi joules99

I've had been wondering about those strange constructions for about 2 years. I found out today that in 2000 there was a landslide that stopped at appr 80 m from the motorway. A system was designed to prevent other episodes that might end up with the M25 closed by an avalanche of mud and clay. This system consists of something called "augered piles" inserted in the soil. I suppose the fenced areas are where the piles are placed, and the protruding concrete pipes are the encasing system.

I found this article on the web describing the work
<www.hatchmott.com/documents/adobe/ Stabilization%20of%20a%20Landslide%20on%20the%20M25.pdf>

I'm not an engineer, so apologies for the lack of technical details. And you may have noticed that English isn't my first language, so apologies for my grammar and syntax errors.

cheers

clawalc