HEADS UP! LOOSE BOLT IN JH

[chrisporcheret]

Evening all.
As the title says. On route down the alternative route for livathon today and one of the eco bolts popped out as I was checking them before getting on the hang. It is the furthest left eco of the main y hang for descent.  There is spits in place just above so I don't know if someone else has seen the issue but thought I would let you guys and girls know just in case.

Chris

 

[Simon Wilson]

Evening all.
As the title says. On route down the alternative route for livathon today and one of the eco bolts popped out as I was checking them before getting on the hang. It is the furthest left eco of the main y hang for descent.  There is spits in place just above so I don't know if someone else has seen the issue but thought I would let you guys and girls know just in case.

Chris

Hi Chris,
Could you give more information please? When resin anchors fail it is important to find out why.

Did it come all the way out? Did it come out with all of the resin on the anchor? If so, was the hole dusty or slimy? Was there rock dust on the resin? Before it came out was the lower edge of the loop below the surface of the rock? Do you have the anchor? Any chance of a photo? Do the adjacent anchors look identical?

Simon.

 

[SamT]

As per Simons post...

Also

Have you reported it to dca who will have to arrange for it to be replaced.

 

[chrisporcheret]

Morning chaps, I have emailed the DCA with the details of it.
The eco bolts in that bit are the older ones that wasnt countersunk.  It didnt come completely out the rock. It did come out enough for me to notice it though and it twists very easily ( by hand) as far as the resin/ dust questions guys ill be honest ive never seen it before nor have i seen eco bolts been put in so i didnt look. All i can tell you is thr bolt wasnt countersunk and there appeared to be a lack of resin ( visible cap between bolt and rock)
Prehaps water has got in and deteariated it?

Hope that helps.

chris

 

[Mark Wright]

Before DCA think about replacing the bolt, it should first take every effort to establish why the previous one fell out!!!

From my industrial experience in the installation and testing of chemically bonded anchors, a bolt that pulls out of the substrate by hand has more than likely been installed incorrectly. This is usually through poor substrate selection, incorrect hole size/shape, insufficient bonding agent (resin) or, and this is the usual reason for failure, the hole wasn't sufficiently cleaned of drill dust or other contaminants.

The records held by the DCA should be able to establish when and who installed the original bolt together with details of any other bolts installed by that person and the installation procedures being followed. They should also be able to identify the batch of resin and bolts used for the installation and the locations of other bolts /resin from the same batch, together with the details of any testing that has been carried out. With all the relevant information they should then be able to establish a course of action which would almost certainly involve a lot of testing, both axial tests of 6kN and, where appropriate, additional destructive tests.

Usually, if a bolt fails, it fails during testing where a load of 6kN is applied axially for 15 seconds from a safe location for the tester. It stands to reason that if you don't bother testing the bolt at all, if it is going to fail, it is more than likely going to fail when somebody hangs on it. Not an ideal situation.

Mark Wright

 

[Simon Wilson]

.......... All i can tell you is thr bolt wasnt countersunk and there appeared to be a lack of resin ( visible cap between bolt and rock)
Prehaps water has got in and deteariated it?

Hope that helps.

chris

Thanks Chris.

It sounds as though a possible cause could be badly mixed resin. I hope somebody investigates and reports on it.

Simon.

 

[Pete K]

https://flic.kr/p/oWEd1z

 

[Jenny P]

Just to let you know that DCA is already on the case. 

The dodgy bolt will be checked to find out exactly why it failed and also whether any others in the immediate area might be suspect.  All bolts in the same sequence of installation will be checked with a Hydrajaws tester.  Action taken thereafter will depend on these findings.

Arrangements are are already in hand to replace the dodgy bolt with a new BP bolt but this probably won't happen till next week so, for the time being, best to avoid this area.  We will let you know when it's been replaced.

Jenny Potts,
DCA Hon. Sec.

 

[JB]

This anchor has been in place for almost twenty years and may have had a fair bit of use. Let's remember that routes are equipped to provide redundancy where necessary.

The installation techniques used today are slightly different/improved and movement should be less likely. I'm not massively surprised that this anchor (and there will be others in future) has failed. There is certainly no indication at the moment that there's any problem with the installation procedure/materials etc but we will test the others like Jenny says.

Thanks for reporting it.

Jules.

 

[Jenny P]

DCA has replaced the failed resin bolt in J.H. with a BP anchor

It was reported on 14th. September that on the alternative route for Leviathan, one of the last bolts for the main Y-hang for the descent (the furthest left) was loose.  This resin bolt came out the rock when it was later checked by DCA installers and it was found not to be a DCA-installed Eco anchor; instead it was one of a series of spits and resin bolts installed by persons unknown some time ago.  On 22nd. September DCA installers replaced this bolt with a BCA-approved BP anchor, which will shortly be tested with the Hydrajaws.  The other bolts and spits on this alternative route were checked and appear sound but will not be tested with the Hydrajaws for fear of damaging them as they may be inherently weaker than the BP bolts.  From a risk point of view there are lots of anchors on that route with relatively short sections separated by double-bolt re-belays so it is suggested there is a relatively low risk if people are rigging properly.  (DCA installed Eco-anchors on the main route some years ago; consideration is being given to whether DCA should replace all the bolts on this alternative route with BP anchors.)

Jenny Potts,
DCA Hon. Sec.

 

[chrisporcheret]

Thanks Jenny for the update.
Cheers to you all

chris