Applying innovative geophysical methods to assist identification and repair of road collapses

By Ian V. Pedler and Robert J. Whiteley

Seismic tomographic imaging (STI) is applied to assess the extent of a road collapse that occurred in a major arterial road through the north-western suburbs of Melbourne. The road collapse was associated with a 4m diameter sewer tunnel being driven through mixed soil conditions under compressed air at a depth to the crown of about 18m.