GROUND INVESTIGATION:

Before any further examination of an existing slope, or the ground onto which a slope
is to be built, essential borehole information must be obtained. This information will
give details of the strata, moisture content and the standing water level. Also, the
presence of any particular plastic layer along which shear could more easily take
place, will be noted.

Piezometer tubes are installed into the ground to measure changes in water level over
a period of time.

Ground investigations also include:-

in-situ and laboratory tests,

aerial photographs,
study of geological maps and memoirs to indicate probable soil conditions,
visiting and observing the slope.
 MOST CRITICAL FAILURE SURFACE:
In homogeneous soils relatively unaffected by faults or bedding, deep seated shear
failure surfaces tend to form in a circular, rotational manner.

We aim to find the most dangerous, ie.the most critical surface, and using the
assumption above, we can find this surface using "trial circles".

The method is as follows:-

Consider a series of slip circles of different radii but the same centre of
rotation. Plot the Factor of Safety (FoS) for each of these circles against radius,
and find the minimum FoS.
 This should be repeated for several circles, each investigated from an array of
centres. The simplest way to do this is to form a rectangular grid from the
centres:-
 Each centre will have a minimum FoS, and the overall lowest FoS from all the
centres shows tha FoS for the whole slope. This assumes that enough circles,
with a large spread of radii , and a large grid of centres have been investigated.

We then have an overall failure, surface, with smaller individual ones which
should not be ignored.
BEWARE:-

A series of circles in a granular fill neglect the possibility of a deep

seated failure in the clay, unless investigated further.
 TENSION CRACKS:
A tension crack at the head of a slide suggests strongly that instability is imminent.
Tension cracks are sometimes used in slope stability calculations, and sometimes they
are considered to be full of water. If this is the case, then hydrostatic forces develop as
shown below:-

Tension cracks are not usually important in stability analysis, but can become so in
some special cases. These cases are not covered here but can be referred to in "The
Stability of Slopes" by E.Bromhead (p141).<nb. This link is to Prof. Bromhead's
homepage at Kingston University, London.>

We should therefore assume the cracks don't occur, but take account of them in
analysing a slope which has already cracked.
 SUBMERGED SLOPES:
When an external water load is applied to a slope, the pressure it exerts tends to have a
stabilising effect on the slope.

The vertical and horizontal forces due to the water must be taken into account in our
analysis of the slope.
So we can allow for the external water forces by using submerged densities in the
slope, and by ignoring water externally.

(nb.Use submerged density below the external water level and full density above this
level.)
 FACTOR OF SAFETY:
In slope design, and in fact generally in the area of geotechnical engineering, the
factor which is very often in doubt is the shearstrength of the soil. The loading is
known more accurately because usually it merely consists of the self-weight of the
slope.

The FoS is therefore chosen as a ratio of the available shear strength to that required
to keep the slope stable.

Guidelines for limit equilibrium of a slope:-

FACTOR OF SAFETY DETAILS OF SLOPE

<1.0 Unsafe
1.0-1.25 Questionable safety
Satisfactory for routine cuts and fills,
1.25-1.4
Questionable for dams, or where failure would be catastrophic
>1.4 Satisfactory for dams

For highly unlikely loading conditions, factors of safety can be as low as 1.2-1.25,
even for dams. eg.situations based on seismic effects, or where there is rapid
drawdown of the water level in a reservoir.
 LONG AND SHORT TERM STABILITY:
It is important to know when analysing a slope whether its most critical state occurs at
the end of its construction period, ie. short term, or in a more long term situation. This
depends on the type of slopes in question and on the type of soil.

EXCAVATION EMBANKMENT
End of Construction (short
MOST STABLE CONDITION Long Term
term).
MOST CRITICAL End of Construction (short
Long Term
CONDITION term).
 EFFECTIVE OR TOTAL STRESS PARAMETERS?:
It is important to identify the most dangerous condition in a practical problem so the
appropriate shear strength parameters are used in design.

Short Term:-
Low Permeability Soil, eg.Clays:

Free Draining Materials, eg.sands/gravels:

Long Term:-
 PROGRESSIVE FAILURE:
This is the term describing the condition when different parts of a failure surface reach
failure at different times.

This often occurs if a potential failure surface passes through a foundation material
which is fissured or has joints or pre-existing failure surfaces.Where these fissures
occur there will be large strain values, so the peak shear strength is reached before
other places.

Take, for example, the three points indicated on the diagram below:-
 PRE-EXISTING FAILURE SURFACES:-
If the foundation on which a slope sits contains pre-existing failure surfaces, there is a
large possibility that progressive failure will take place if another failure surface were
to cut through them.

The way we deal with this situation is to assume that sufficient movement has
previously taken place for the ultimate state to develop in the soil. We then use the
ultimate state parameters.

If failure has not taken place, then we must make a decision on which parameters to
use:-
 ASSUMPTIONS IN LIMIT EQUILIBRIUM:
We need to make certain assumptions in analysing slopes using limit equilibrium:-

Assume a Failure Mechanism: We assume the shape and location of a failure

surface rather then determining it by analysis.
Assume Plane-Strain (2-D):We ignore 3-D effects (although of course in reality
slopes are in three dimensions). We are being conservative by neglecting these
effects, ie. we would achieve higher FoS's by taking them into account.

Assume Rigid Block Movement: We assume the soil mass to moove as a rigid
block, with the movement only taking place on the failure surface itself.
Assume Uniform Localisation of Shear Stresses: As previously discussed in
"Progressive Failure", the shear stresses are not usually uniformly mobilised
over the whole length of the failure surface. However, for the purpose of our
analysis, we assume they are.
 Granular Soil:- This is the simplest slope to analyse.
o The C'=0 Method

Assumptions:- infinite, dry slope.

 Cohesive Soil:-
(i) Circular Failure Surface
The Basic Idea:-
Assumptions:- circular arc, radius R, centre O.
 METHOD OF SLICES:
Assumptions:- circular arc, radius R, centre O

The soil mass above a trial failure surface is divided into slices by vertical planes.
Each slice is taken as having a straight line base.

The Factor of Safety of each slice is assumed to be the same, implying mutual support
between the slices, ie. there must be forces acting between the slices.
To go about finding the FoS, the problem is now statically indeterminate and we need
to make some assumptions about the interslice forces:- (See Fellenius' Method)
 FELLENIUS METHOD:

This is a modified version of the Method of Slices.

 BISHOP'S METHOD:
Another method which follows from the basic "Method of Slices".
ii) Non-Circular Failure Surface:
JANBU'S METHOD:
The difficulty in analysing a non-circular failure surface is that it is difficult to find a
single point through which many of the force components act. So, the moment
equilibrium method used for circular surfaces is no longer the most appropriate.

Janbu chose instead to use the force equilibrium method in the analysis which follows.

Following on further from Bishop's Method, we get:-

 THE INFINITE SLOPE METHOD:
This method is used when we assume the slide to be elongate, where the effects of the
head and toe portion of the slide are negligible.

We also assume that the failure surface is parallel to the ground level.
 STABILITY CHARTS:

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

It is not practical or a good use of an engineer's time to carry out long stability
calculations on each modification of a slope. The following charts show a range of
stability characteristics for slopes with various soil properties and shapes.

Taylor's Charts:
(Taylor's 1st chart to be inserted)

(2nd Taylor's Chart be inserted)

Spencer's Charts:

These include the effects of porewater pressure. The charts are broadly similar to
Taylor's Charts, but introduce the parameter ru, the porewater pressure ratio.

Each of the charts is calculated for a single ru value. In a slope, ru will vary at different
points but we use a mean value for simplification. As the variance isn't large, this is
not an over-simplification

Spencer chose to use ru = 0, 0.25, 0.50.

We estimate a FoS for the slope in question using each individual chart, and then
interpolate for the actual ru value for the slope.

(Spencer's Charts to be inserted)

 LOADING THE TOE

This method is most effective for deep-seated instability. The berm can either be
constructed from material which is removed from the crest of the slope (involving
regrading of the slope), or from that which is brought to the site from elsewhere.

These methods are described in studies of a slope at the College of St. Hild and St.
Bede in Durham, at Carrville, also in Durham, and at Walton's Wood in Staffordshire.

Slopes stabilized in this way may continue to suffer shallow forms of instability in
near-surface layers, but the extent of the failure is well controlled.
 REGRADING THE SLOPE
This can be done in three ways:-

Regrading the slope to a flatter angle,

Reducing the overall slope height, keeping its profile unchanged,
Removing some material from the crest and placing it at the toe.
(See "Loading the toe".)

Acheiving a flatter slope angle: can be done by either cutting material away from the
slope, or adding (filling) material. This method is most effective where there are
predominant shallow forms of instability. See the case study on Walton's Wood for a
practical example.

Reducing the height of the Slope: In a man-made (earthworks) slope, this method is
not very practical as the height of the slope usually is not able to be changed due to
design. For a natural slope though, this may well be considered.

However, the reduction in instability achieved using this method is much lower than
that achieved by say loading the toe, unless the failure is deep-seated. It does not help
much in the case of shallow failures.
 DRAINAGE METHODS
It is difficult to quantify the effectiveness of most drainage methods.

Drainage is best used as a short-term stabilizing method, due to the fact that, in the
long-term, the drains need much maintenance and repair, which is often difficult to
perform, and expensive.

Drainage methods are split into various categories:-

Shallow/Surface Drains:

The aim of these is to reduce surface water and thereby reduce the porewater
pressures at a much deeper level.
These are the easiest drains to repair but get damaged easily.
These drains will usually be either -
lined or unlined ditches
shallow, gravel-filled trenches
Commonly a herringbone or chevron shape is used for the drains on the surface
as this is most effective in catching run-off water.

Surface Drainage on a slope on the road into Runswick Bay, a coastal village in
Yorkshire, England
Deep Drains:

These perform the function of modifying the shape of the seepage flow in the slope
material.

They can be:-

Deep trenches (although they are more commonly shallow),

Vertical bored drains - filled with sand or gravel,
Horizontal bored drains - lined with perforated pipes.

Drains to Eliminate Construction Porewater Pressures:

These fall into two types:-

Drainage Blankets- Thses are installed either between layers of the fill material
(which allows low permeability material to be used), or between the fill and
foundation material.
 Vertical Drain Wells- Sand filled vertical drains have been discussed above.
Thesedrains may be constructed using geofabric materials, cardboard, or
merely sand alone. Their aim is to "catch" horizontal water flow.

Drains in Dams:

This is covered comprehensibly in the WWW site by Andrew Graham also of Durham
University
 SOIL ANCHORING

Often these soil anchors are stressed, and the force they exert on the slope
needs to be considered along with the other forces.
The axial load on the anchor increases the effective stresses at depth, therefore
increasing the strength of the slope.
A vector component of the force may also act to help stabilize the slope against
destabilizing forces.
 SHEET PILING
This is an expensive remedial procedure, and is not commonly used unless the
recovery scheme is very large. One example where it was used is the Team
Valley in the North East of England.

RETAINING STRUCTURES
(NB. Steel-Sheet Piling is strongly related to this section, as it is itself a retaining
structure.)

As a whole, retaining structures are not particularly effective methods of

remedy.
They are very difficult to construct on an already moving slide.
One use of them, though, is to ensure complete stability of an existing (old)
landslide, which may in the future be reactivated.
We estimate the force acting on a retaining wall by using the interslice forces
from stability analysis. These derived forces (See "Methods of Analysis") are
based on the equilbrium situation.
The wall provides additional resistance which is only mobilized by further
deformation of the slope.
The force then acts along the line of action (see diagram below) into the soil or
rock beneath the slope.
 GEOTEXTILES
Geotextiles are man-made (usually plastic based) soil reinforcement materials.
In the area of slope stabilization, geogrids are used eg. In an embankment fill to
reduce the amount of movement possible, keeping the fill in place.
Very often the geogrid is used as an anchor, providing a reaction against the
disturbing moment.
They are often also used to repair small slides in engineering earthworks. They
perform this function well.

GRASSING-OVER" THE SLOPE

By covering over a slope with either sand or grass, we immediately reduce the amount
of water which can infiltrate it.

This method is often used in conjunction with more effective and long-term methods.
It's benefits in being inexpensive and simple, whilst still performing a stabilizing
function, make it worth serious consideration.
 WHICH METHOD IS BEST?
Generally, in looking at a failing slope, we need to choose a primary stabilization
method ie. one which will immediately take effect in stopping the slide.

In deciding which primary method to use, the order of preference generally is:-

METHOD NOTES
Regrading the Slope Has an immediate effect
1 Unlikely to become uneffective with time.
(includes Loading the Toe)
Should be used if regrading is impractical
Has immediate effect in high-permeability
soils.
2 Drainage Takes more time to take effect in fine-
grained soils.
Surface drinage is very common.

Incorporating These structures can be active (eg. Stressed

Structures into the
3 Slope
(eg. nailing, geotextiles,
retaining stuctures).
nails/anchors),
or passive (eg. walls or sheet piling.)
Passive schemes only take effect on further
movement of the slope, which of course
may not be desirable.

Secondary Methods:
Secondary methods of remedy need to also be considered. These are to ensure more
long-term stability of the slope, and may act to preserve the effectiveness of the
primary treatments.

These may include secondary drainage methods (both shallow and deep), geotextiles
and a variety of those methods previously discussed.
 PERCY SQUARE, SOUTH SHIELDS
The study which the following information was taken from is "A Report on Toe Wall
and Cliffs below Percy Square", by Maurice Nachshen, November 1948. Attached to
it is a geological and soil mechanics report by Skempton, who was brought in to carry
out investigations on the site.

THE SITUATION AND HISTORY:-

South Shields is an area on the North East coast of England, near a town called
Whitley Bay.

Percy Square is the name of the area in a bay between North Groyne and Swaddle's
Hole on the north bank of the Tyne. Here, there are sloping cliffs in boulder clay
reaching 100 ft above the beach level. The cliffs are around 200 ft wide in plan.

At the foot of the cliffs is a "Toe" retaining wall, which was built in 1937, to stabilize
the cliffs. It performed this job slightly, as the factor of safety in 1936 (before
construction of the wall) was 1.10, compared to 1.21 in 1937.

The wall is 1264 ft in length, with a 30 ft return at the east end

On top of the cliffs , within 50 ft of the crest, is situated a very large, 5 storey block of
flats. The "James Knott Flats" stretch a distance of 750 ft along the cliff.

PROBLEMS OBSERVED:-

In 1948, the wall basically split into two sections, with the break occurring
1061ft from it's west end, and with the east section moving forward a total of
approximately 4 ft! Not much tilting occurred in this section.

Movement of the centre section of the wall was different to that of the east end.
Between 500 and 750 ft from the west end of the wall, ie. immediately below
the flats, a large tilting deformation could be clearly noticed.

OUTCOME OF INVESTIGATIONS:-

The problems noted above were significant, and the time had come to investigate the
cause of the deformations of the wall, and make a decision about the way forward for
the area. As the flats obviously housed a large number of people, any risk of slope
failure needed to be reduced as much as possible. Remedial measures undertaken at
this stage would obviously be much less costly and more effective than if collapse was
allowed to occur!

Movement at the East end of the Wall: It was discovered from borehole
investigations, that in this section there is a thin layer of soft "fireclay" between the
stronger boulder clay and the rock.This fireclay layer was level with the base of the
wall.

Over time a deep-seated rotational earth slide had developed under the cliff, at the east
end of the wall, and because the toe wall here was not grounded in rock, it had moved
forward horizontally with the earth mass.

Movement at the Centre Section of the Wall: It was discovered that the lower part
of the slope here had bulged forwards, with water running from the foot of the slope,
and earth flowing slowly towards the river like a thick fluid.

The causes of this was water logging of the fill material, which interrupts natural
drainage of the cliff. The toe wall blocked drainage by banking up the groundwater
behind it.

Year Factor of Safety of Cliffs

1936 (Before construction of wall) 1.10
1937/38 (after construction of wall) 1.21
1948 (when investigations were carried out) 0.95 (dangerous!)

REMEDIAL MEASURES:-

Each of the two areas described above were to be dealt with separately, but the final
remedial work must form a unified whole.

The eastern end of the toe wall was underpinned and buttressed, and also partly
reconstructed.
The section of the wall below the Knott's Flats was repaired, and the cliffs
reshaped to a safer profile and redrained.
Diagram showing the Remedial Measures carried out at the eastern end of the
toe wall.
 WALTON'S WOOD, STAFFORDSHIRE
A detailed report of this landslide can by found in The Quarterly Journal of
Engineering Geology, 1972, vol 15. The report is written by Kenneth Reginald Early
and Alec Westley Skempton.

THE SITUATION

The area known as Walton's Wood is situated approximately 1.5 miles north of
Madeley, in Staffordshire. In 1961, an attempt was made to construct an embankment
here for the M6 motorway. Severe slipping occurred , and the partially built
embankment failed.
The Stability analysis mentioned above was carried out using three different
methods:-

The traditional Method of Slices.

The more reliable (for curved surfaces), Janbu's Method.
Morgenstern and Prices' Method (not covered by this site).

REMEDIAL MEASURES

(1) The soft clays and peat in the swamp were removed and replaced by a free-
draining granular fill.

(2) The partially completed embankment was removed and the material used to
construct a berm (or buttress). (See Loading the Toe).

(3) Trench drains, 1.5m wide, 3 to 4.5m deep, @ 20m centres beneath the
embankment and @ 40m centres further up the slope,were constructed in the old
landslide. These fulfilled the purpose of preventing a build-up of porewater pressure
during constructionof the embankment and of stabilizing the hillside above.

(4) The embankment was then built to the intended height and width.

A factor of safety of 1.4 was used in the design of remedial measures.

The remedial measures needed to be completed without delay, as obviously this
embankment failure slowed up a large and important project. The motorway
was still able to open in November 1963.
 CHRISTOPHER BUIILDING, HILD BEDE COLLEGE,
DURHAM

THE SITUATION:-

On the northern slope of an arm of the loop in the River Wear, Durham City, sits the
College of St. Hild and St. Bede (of which I am a member!), a college of the
University of Durham.

In 1965/'66 there was a winter of very heavy rainfall and the caps of the piles beneath
the Christopher accomodation block began to be exposed. It was also evident that
some trees had been dragged downslope, and superficial cracking was observed inside
the building.

Construction of the block had caused failure of the slope, and the piles had been
placed in postitions which meant they were in fact "stitching" across a failure surface.
Hence, the piles were subjected to high shear stresses.

The average slope of the ground towards the river was approximately 1 in 4, and the
geology of the ground was a granular mass overlying laminated clays. From
investigation, it was discovered that the slide was transitional along the boundary
between the granular and clay materials, but became circular in the upper granular
material.
REMEDIAL MEASURES:-

The toe was loaded successfully,

The slope was regraded, and
Drains were incorporated at the foot of the slope.

Diagram Showing Failure Surfaces along the Christopher Slope

 Example Question 1
A contractor attempts to use side slopes of 1:2 for a temporary excavation in a
very soft clay. Excavation is carried out rapidly. However, when the excavation
reaches 5m the side slopes fail.

(a) An investigation carried out after the failure shows that the soil has failed
along a circular arc, as shown in the diagram below. Calculate the shear strength
mobilised at the moment of failure for the slip. Assume a value of 20 kN/m 3 for
the bulk unit weight of the clay.

(b) Further excavation is required on the site to the same depth of 5m. However,
space constraints prevent the contractor from adopting shallower slope angles.
Therefore, a novel technique of electro-osmosis is to be used to improve the shear
strngth of the clay. State an acceptable value for shear strength which would
need to be achieved before excavation could proceed.
 Example Question 2

(a) The stability of the fill has been considered by analysing three circular failure
surfaces as shown in the diagram below. These are centred on the point O and
have radii of 9m, 10m, and 12m respectively. Identify which of the three failure
surfaces you consider to be the more critical, giving reasons for your selection.
(No calculation is required).

(b) Calculate the factor of safety against shear failure for the surface you have
selected. Do you consider the factor of safety to be adequate?

(c) Do you consider that a circular failure surface is suitable for analysing this
particular problem?