Eskdale Ridge Geotechnical Investigation

LDE delivered geotechnical engineering services for a proposed residential development at Eskdale Ridge, a rural Hawke’s Bay hill property on a broad ridge feature bordered by steep slopes, active landslide scarps, and a gully where slope movement was reactivated during Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023.

The site has a documented history of instability stretching back to 2003, with landslide reactivation recorded during access road earthworks in 2021 and again during Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023. Before the design team could begin, a thorough understanding of the ground conditions and slope behaviour was essential to establish where the proposed dwellings and pool could safely sit.

LDE carried out a comprehensive geotechnical investigation including UAV aerial imagery, LiDAR cross-sections, hand-augered boreholes, dynamic penetrometer and shear vane testing, engineering geological model development, and detailed numerical slope stability analyses across static, extreme groundwater, and seismic design scenarios. This helped determine safe building setbacks and establish a defined building envelope for the architect to work within.

With building footprints now finalised, LDE has undertaken additional geotechnical investigations and updated the slope stability models to determine the depths of instability the specific foundation designs need to mitigate, as well as the retaining wall design parameters for building consent to Hastings District Council.

This kind of work disappears once the build is done, but getting it right at this stage is everything.