The road is heavily used by the oil and gas industry and requires regular maintenance due to landslide movement, which movement of several feet occurring in recent years.  McKenzie County retained Shannon & Wilson to characterize the landslide and to develop and evaluate mitigation options.  Shannon & Wilson’s study included a geologic reconnaissance, which built on the firm’s extensive knowledge and experience in Badlands geology, completion of field explorations, and installation of instrumentation to monitor landslide movement and characterize groundwater conditions.   

Based on the geologic characterization of the landslides at the site, we then developed several mitigation alternatives for the site.  We then completed a selection process, considering issues such as cost, constructability, schedule, risk, and environmental impacts, to determine the preferred mitigation approach for the site.  The selected approach consisted of an anchored drilled shaft landslide stabilization structure.  However, we also reviewed several lower cost, higher risk options that could be implemented relatively quickly by the County to decrease significant landslide movement.