Contents/ syllaby

Introduction (Definition, Scope of study, Objective of

study) First week
Rock mass classification & index properties (week 2 4)
Rock strength and Failure criteria (week 5 6)
Initial Stress & the measurement ( wee8 9)
Planes of weakness in rock or rock discontinuity (week
10)
Rock deformability (week 11)
Applied rock mechanics ;
Rock slope engineering (week 12)
Foundation Engineering (week 13)
Underground excavation (week 14)

ROCK SLOPE STABILITY

(Teuku Faisal Fathani)
References:
- Introduction to Rock Mechanics (Goodman,
R.E., 1980)
- Rock Slope Stability (Giani, G.P., 1992)
- Rocks and Rocks Minerals (Dietrich, R.V.,
1979)

Topics
1. Landslide mechanism and causes
2. Rock strength
3. Rock slope engineering
4. Shear strength and failure criteria

5. Rock slope stability

6. Peak ground acceleration
7. Movement prediction

Mechanism and Causes of

Landslides

Landslide blocked both the river stream and the highway.

Jizukiyama
Landslide,
Japan
Many houses were
buried by the slide.

Sueling Landslide

Cibangkong Landslide, Banyumas Province

 Geological formations are subdivided into bedrock, debris soil and earth
soil. Slope movements were classified by Varnes (1978) into 18 types.
The abbreviated classification of slope movements:
Type of Movement

Type of Material
Bedrock

Engineering soils
Predominantly coarse

Predominantly fine

Falls

Rockfall

Debris fall

Earth fall

Topples

Rock topple

Debris topple

Earth topple

Rock slump

Debris slump

Earth slump

A few units

Rock block slide

Debris block slide

Earth block slide

Many units

Rock slide

Debris slide

Earth slide

Lateral spreads

Rock spread

Debris spread

Earth spread

Flows

Rock flow (deep

creep)

Debris flow (soil

creep)

Earth flow (soil

creep)

Complex

Combination of two or more principal types of movements

Slides: Rotational
A few units
Slides: Translational

Frequency of the Varnes classification movement types and identification

difficulty degree in the Italian geological environment (Carrara et al., 1985)
Type of
Movement

Identification

Type of Movement

Identification

Rockfall

Debris slide

Rock topple

Debris spread

Rock slump

Debris flow

Rock slide

Earth fall

Rock spread

Earth topple

Rock flow

Earth slump

Complex

Earth slide

Debris fall

Earth spread

Debris topple

Earth flow

Debris slump

Slope movement types :

Large diffused slope; Average diffuse; Rare diffused
Easily identifiable slope; Difficult to identify; Unlikely identifiable

Slope movement scale (after Varnes, 1978)

Rate
> 3 m/s
> 3 m/min
> 1.5 m/day
> 1.5 m/month
> 1.5 m/year

Definition term
Extremely rapid
Very rapid
Rapid
Moderate
Slow

> 0.006 m/year

Very slow

< 0.006 m/year

Extremely slow

Carson and Kirkby (1972) proposed the classification of slope

movements based on water content of sliding mass and slope
movement velocity
FLOW
WET

FAST
Debris

Mud Flow
Earth Flow
Landslide

DRY

SLOW

Rock Slide
HEAVE

SLIDE
FAST

SLOW

Difference between landslide and slope failure

Landslides

Slope Failures

Geology

Occur in places with particular

geology or geological formation

Slightly related to geology

Soils

Are mainly active on cohesive

soil such as slip surface

Frequently occur even in sandy

soils

Topography

Occur on gentle slopes of 5 to

20

Frequently occur on the slopes

steeper than 30

Situation of
activities

Continuous, or repetitive
occurrences

Occur suddenly

Moving velocity

Low at 0.001 to 10 mm/day

High speed > 100 mm/day

Masses

Have little disturbed masses

Have greatly disturbed mass

Provoking causes

Greatly affected by groundwater

Affected by rainfall intensity

Scale

Have a large scale between 1

and 100 ha

Have a small scale. Average

volume is about 440 m3

Symptom

Have cracks, depressions,

upheavals, groundwater
fluctuation, before occurrence

Have few symptoms and

suddenly slip down

Gradient

10 to 25

35 to 60

Some terms describing a landslide

(Cruden and Varnes, 1996)

Some terms describing a landslide

(Cruden and Varnes, 1996)

Causes of Landslide
Rainfall or storm rainfall the rising of
groundwater level
Construction works Earthwork, Cutting,
Filling, Tunnel construction,
Reservoir induced landslide the rising and
drawdown of reservoir level
Earthquake horizontal acceleration gx, gy

The main causative factors of Landslides

(Anagnostopoulos, 2005)
1. Climatic conditions
2. Topography
3. Lithology and distribution of soil and
rock formations (Geological Conditions)
4. Past and recent tectonic activity
(Seismicity)
5. Vegetation
6. Human activities

Rainfall Storm Rainfall

The magnitude of the absolute amount of annual
rainfall is not always related to the occurrence
rate of landslides
Because the landslide occurrence related to
difference factors such as lithology-geology,
topography, vegetation, human interfere,
amount of rainfall vs duration of the event

The relationship between landslides in the cliffs in

Omigawamachi-Chiba Prefecture and the rainfall amount

The number of
occurrence of landslides
in cliffs

Hourly rainfall amount

(in Choshi)
Omigawa-machi

Accumulated rainfall amount

(The time when the Typhoon No. 25 hit in September 1971)

S 421967
Hourly rainfall amount

Hourly rainfall
amount
Accumulated
rainfall amount

Accumulated rainfall amount

Number of occurrence

Landslides
in cliffs

Landslides in
cliffs

The relationship between the rainfall amount in Kobe city and

the time at which landslides in the cliffs occurred

The Rainfall Amount in Ichinomiya

The landslide occurred
in Nukiyama

8th,

9th,

10th,

11th,

12th,

13th

September 1976

Fig. 5.1.4 The Status of the Rainfall in Ichinomiya-machi in Hyogo Prefecture

Groundwater Level and Landslide

Movement
Many reports presented about the correlation between
rainfall and the groundwater level in the landslide site,
and the relationship between the groundwater and
landslide displacement.
Watari describes that there is a close relationship
between the water level of ponds and landslide
movement in Takizaka landslide (Fukushima Pref.)
Taniguchi performed a soil mechanic analysis on the
groundwater level and the landslide movement velocity
in Kamiya landslide (Niigata Pref.).

The relationship between the daily rainfall amount and

displacement velocity in Mt. Chausu)

The relationship between pore water pressure at the sliding

surface or groundwater level and the velocity of landslide

Landslide due to construction works

Recently, there are increasing cases of landslides in
mountainous areas, caused by large-scale cuttings and fillings
associated with construction of roads, tunnels, or large-scale
land developments.
These landslides jeopardize execution of the project that has
caused the landslide, or oblige the project to be greatly
modified, or seriously damage, or threaten the safety of
houses and important facilities in the surroundings.
Most of these landslides could have been avoided if a detailed
study had been done and appropriate preventive measures
based on the results of the detailed study had been taken

Road cutting
Human-induced landslide

Tunnel Drilling beneath

Sliding Surface

Subsidence
Deformed sliding surface
Loosened zone

Case of A): Occurrence of

loosening and subsidence

Sliding surface with reduced

stability
Loosened zone

Case of B): Loosening

Potential sliding surface

Transited sliding surface

Case of C): Transition of sliding surface, tunnel drilling too

Loosening by Tunnel Drilling and Occurrence of Landslide

Sliding cliff
Landslide mass
Subsidence
Block
Sliding surface

Tunnel

Fig.5.2.9 Loosening by Tunnel Drilling and Occurrence of Landslide

Reservoir induced landslides

The countermeasures of landslides around dam
reservoirs have been carried out to date, especially
after the occurrence of landslide at the Vaiont Dam in
Italy 1963 that resulted in 2,600 deaths
The reservoir-induced landslides include those
occurring with the rise of reservoir level and those
occurring with rapid drawdown of the reservoir level
(Yoshimatsu, 1981).

Dam (Reservoir) construction

landslide

Human-induced

Landslide at A dam reservoir

Location : A dam, A1 area, Shikoku Island, Japan.

Geological feature:
Weathered slate and schalstein (Mesozoic & Paleozoic)
Fracture-zone type landslide

Site investigation:
1. Tiltmeter
2. Piezometers installed in the boreholes

Reservoir level (m)

Tiltmeter
fluctuation (sec)

Reservoir level, tiltmeter fluctuation and rainfall

at A dam area
50

0
-50
-100

Typhoon Typhoon
No. 13
No. 19

Cracks found

210
200 1 m/day
190
180
170
50
160 40
30
150 20

0.5 m/day
1 m/day

10

4/1

5/1

Precipitation (mm)

6/1

7/1

8/1

9/1

Time

FS change by the rising of reservoir level

Safety
Safety factor
factor
0.7

(m)(m)
a
Reservoir level
level
Reservoir

230

0.8

0.9

1.0

1.1

1.2

1.3

1.4

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1.5

1.6
8

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

220
210

V
IV
III

200

Sliding
mass

190
180
170

II
I

Bedrock

160
0

10

20

30

40 50 60
Distance (m)
Distance
(m)

70

80

90

c= 0 kN/m2 ; =34.25o
c= 5 kN/m2 ; =32.15o
c=11 kN/m2 ; =29.50o
c=15 kN/m2 ; =27.65o
c=20 kN/m2 ; =25.26o
c=25 kN/m2 ; =22.77o
c=30 kN/m2 ; =20.19o
c=62.54 kN/m2 ; =0o

I Low level
II Limiting level
III Normal level
IV Failure level
V Surcharge level

Landslide at E dam reservoir

c - tan
2

Cohesion, c (kN/m )

80

180
3
1 2

160

6
45

140
t=18 kN/m3

120
kN/m2

100
80
60

sub=8 kN/m3

40
0

20

40

60

80

;
1 c=20
2 c=30 kN/m2 ; =31.93o
3 c=40 kN/m2 ; =30.10o
4 c=42.1 kN/m2 ; =29.71o
5 c=45 kN/m2 ; =29.16o
6 c=50 kN/m2 ; =28.20o
7 c=80 kN/m2 ; =22.05o

100 120 140 160 180 200

Distance (m)

70
60
6

50

54

40

3
2

30

1
20
0.40 0.45 0.50 0.55 0.60 0.65 0.70
tan

=33.69o

FS vs c
1.00
Safety Factor

Reservoir level (m)

Actual slip surface

34 5 6

0.99
2
0.98
0.97
0.96

1
20

30 40 50 60 70
Cohesion, c (kN/m2)

80

Earthquake induced landslides

Chi-chi Earthquake (1999)
The Chi-chi Earthquake (Sept 21st, 1999), the biggest quake
on Taiwan in this century, has a Richter scale magnitude of
7.6. The peak ground acceleration greater than 1g was
recorded. Nearly 2400 people were dead and more than
10,000 were injured. Total damage 9,200 million USD.
Across the Central Mountain Range of Taiwan, at least 7000
landslides hit an area of several thousand square kilometers.
There were 16 places where individual landslide area
exceeds 10 ha. There were two gigantic landslides of an order
of magnitude of 108 m3, at Tsaoling and Chiufengershan.

Acceleration(gal)

E-W
1000
800
600
400
200
0
-200
-400
-600
-800
-1000
0

20

40

60

80

Time(Second)

Earthquake magnitude = 7.6 R or 7.3 R (BMG Taiwan)

Epicenter depth = 7.5 km
The maximum acceleration of earthquake motion = 989gal(s)
(near Sun Moon Lake of a basin, EW ingredient
Maximum speed, the shake is observed for a long time very
greatly with about 40 seconds,

Prof. Mori (DPRI-Kyoto Univ):

(Che-lum) Fault moved in
the direction of north and south in
about 25 seconds as a mechanism
of this earthquake covering the full
length of about 60 km

Damage of Dam on September 21st 1999

Damage in mountain slope

Tsaoling Landslide

Induced by 1999 Chichi Earthquake,

Taiwan

Volume: 1.4 x 108 m3

Affected area: 698 ha

Total length: 4 km

Source area:
Length: 1.5 km
Width: 2 km
Depth: < 200 m

Destruction of 5
houses, resulting in 29
deaths

Chiufengershan Landslide

Induced by 1999 Chichi Earthquake

Volume : 3 x 107 m3

Affected area : 180 ha

Total length : 1.2 km

Width: 1.1 km

Average depth:
30~50m

Destruction of 21
houses, resulting in 41
deaths.

The landslide blocked

the river along 1 km,
and 2 small lakes
have been formed at
the upstream.

16
(2004)

20041023
1910

Chuetsu Earthquake, Niigata Pref, Japan(M=6.8)

Landslides induced by the Chuetsu Earthquake, Japan

Landslide dam caused by

the Chetsu Earthquake

Bantul Earthquake (2006)

More than 150 events of landslides occurred with various
dimension and mechanism in response to Bantul
earthquake May 27, 2006
Aims:
Addresses factors controlling the occurrence and
mechanism of landslide
Potential impact to the safety of surrounding
environment (empirical analysis)

Most of the landslide susceptible areas were formed by

steep volcanic rocks such as interbeded tuff sandstone
pumice breccia and andesitic breccia.