CHAPTER 11

STABILITY OF SLOPES

Course Outlines
11.1 Introduction
11.2 Infinite Slopes and Translation Slopes
11.3 Definition of Factor of Safety
11.4 Finite Slopes- Forms of Slip Surface
11.5 = 0 Analysis (Total Stress Method)
11.6 c - Analysis- Method of Slices
11.7 Location of the Most Critical Circles
11.8 Friction Circle Method
11.9 Taylors Stability Number
11.10 Bishops Method of Stability Analysis
11.11 Use of Stability Coefficients

11.1 Introduction
11.1.1 Background
Many civil engineering projects are located on or
near sloping ground and thus are potentially
subjected to various kinds of slope instability such
as slides, flows, and falls.
Slope failures often produce extensive property
damage and occasionally result in loss of life.
Therefore,
geotechnical
engineers
and
engineering geologists frequently need to evaluate
existing and proposed slopes to assess their stability.

What is Slope or Earth Slope?

A slope or an Earth Slope is an inclined
boundary surface between air and the body of
an earthwork such as highways cut or fill,
railway cut or fill, earth dams, levees and river
training works.
The stability of slope is one the most important
in civil engineering practice.
A fairly common engineering failure of slope
is slipping of an embankment or cutting.

What is Slide?
Presence of water increases weight reduces shear
strength and decreases the stability. Weights of manmade structures constructed on or near slopes tend
to increase the destabilizing forces and slope
instability. These slope failures are known as Slides.
The failure of a mass of soil located beneath a
slope is called a slide.
It involves a downward and outward movement
of the entire mass of soil that participates in the
failure.

Classification of Slopes
Slopes of earth are of two types
1. Natural Slopes
2. Man-made (Artificial) Slopes
Natural slopes are those that exist in nature and
are formed by natural causes. Such slopes exist in
hilly areas i.e Natural Hillslopes.
The sides of cuttings, the slopes of embankments
constructed for roads, railway lines, canals etc. and
the slopes of earth dams constructed for storing
water are examples of man-made slopes.

Confined Failures

Infinite Slopes
If a slope represents the boundary
surface of a semi-infinite soil mass,
and the soil properties for all identical
depths below the surface (i.e. same
along every vertical section) are
constant, it is called an infinite slope.
The term infinite slope is used to
designate a constant slope of infinite
extent.
The long slope of the face of a
mountain is an example of this type.
Slopes extending to infinity do
not exist in nature.

Finite Slopes
If the slope is of limited
extent, it is called a finite
slope. e.g inclined faces of
earth dams, embankments
and cuts, etc.
The
slope
length
depends on the height of
the dam or embankment.

Finite Slopes
Failure of finite slopes occurs along a curved surface.
In stability analysis of finite slopes, the real surface of
rupture is replaced by an arc of a circle.
As to the mode of failure, the slope may fail basically
in the following two ways:

a) The failure surface passing through the toe of the slope

or above the toe of slope is known as slope failure.
b) The rupture is deep seated and passes through the
embankment supporting soil below the toe of the slope is
known as base failure.

Face/Slope Failure
Slope failure above toe
i.e. the slip surface cuts
the surface of slope
above the toe.
Occurs when the sliding
mass of soil daylights
on the slope face.

Toe Failure
Slope failure through
toe i.e the slip surface
passes through the toe.

Base Failure
Slip surface passes
below the base or toe
of the slope.
Normally occurs on
Deep Soft Clay Stratum
about which the failure
surface passes below
the toe.

Types of Slope Failures/Slips

(a) Falls
(b) Topless/Topple
(c) Slides
(d) Spreads
(e) Flows

Falls
Slope failures consisting
of soil or rock fragments
that drop rapidly down a
slope.
Most often occur in steep
rock slopes.
Usually triggered by
water pressure or seismic
activity.
the free fall of rock or
sediment that detached from a
very steep slope, usually
accompanied by bouncing or
rolling movement
D. Wylie

Topless/Topple
Similar to a fall, except
that it begins with a
mass of rock of stiff
clay rotating away from
a vertical joint.
The forward rotation of
blocks of rock or sediment
resulting in an end-over-end
movement

Slides
Slope
failures
that
involve one or more
blocks of earth that
move downslope by
shearing along well
defined surfaces or thin
shear zones.
The downslope movement of
bodies of relatively intact
material along planes of
weakness

Mountain River, N.W.T.

(J. Aylsworth)

Spreads
Similar to translational slides
except that the block separate and
move apart as they also move
outward.
The extension, or spreadingout, of blocks of sediment or
rock on a gentle slope
Can be very destructive.

Scatter River, B.C. (O. Hungr)

Flows
Downslope movement
of earth where earth
resembles a viscous
fluid.
Mudflow can start with
a snow avalanche or be
in conjunction with
flooding.

Flows

Types of Slides/Slips/Failures

(a) Rotational Slides

(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)

Translational Slides
Compound Slides
Wedge/Plane/Block Slides
Complex and Composite Slides

Rotational Slides
Most often occur in
homogeneous
materials
such as fills or soft clays.
Occurs by rotation along a
slip surface by downward
and outward movement of
the soil mass.
Slip surface if generally
circular for homogeneous
soil condition and noncircular in case of nonhomogeneous condition.
Either be a Base Failure,
Toe
Failure
or
a
Slope/Face Failure.

Rotational Slopes in Homogeneous

Soils

Shapes of Rotational Slopes

Translational Slides/Slips
Occurs due to the movement
of soil mass along a level
surface or along planar
shear surfaces.
Occurs on both finite and
infinite slopes.
Plane translational slips of
infinite slope occur on
infinite (very long) slopes
where the soil layer at the
surface is shallow and is of
uniform thickness and the
underlying stratum is
stronger and is parallel to
the slope.

Compound Slides
Combination of the
Rotational and the
Translational Slip.
A compound Failure
Surface is Curved at
Two Ends and Plane in
the middle Portion.
A compound Failure
Occurs When a Hard
Stratum Exists at
Considerable Depth
Below the Toe.

Complex and Composite Slides

Wedge/Plane /Block Failure

A Failure along an
Infinite Plane.
Occurs when
Distinct Blocks and
Wedges of the Soil
Mass Become
Separated.

Plane of Weakness or Interface

Wedge

Plane Surface

Causes of Failure of Slopes

Gravitational force
Force due to seepage water
Erosion of the surface of slopes due to flowing
water
The sudden lowering of water adjacent to a
slope
Forces due to earthquakes

Factors of Instability
The factor leading to instability can generally
be classified as
Those causing increased stress and
Those causing a reduction in strength

Factors Causing Increased Stress

Include
a) Increased unit weight of soil by wetting.
b)Added external
buildings, etc.)

loads

(moving

loads,

c) Steepened slopes either by excavation or by

erosion.
d) Shock loads, Imposed Loads or Dynamic
Loads e.g. Earthquakes.

Factors Causing a Reduction in

Strength
a) Vibration and earthquakes(Repeated
Loadings)
b) Increase in moisture content by absorption of
water(softening)
c) Freezing and thawing action (weathering)
d) Increase in pore pressure
e) Loss of cementing pressure/material (erosion)

Few Photos of Slope Instability

La Conchita slump, California.

Landslide Triggered by the1994 Northridge
Earthquake, Southern California

R. Couture
Rockslide/rock avalanche at Brazeau Lake, Alta.

(J. Aylsworth)
(S. Evans)

(B. Wang)

Glaciolacustrine clays and silts

Fine-grained permafrost soils

Glaciomarine clays and silts

(GSC 118541)

Weak Cretaceous bedrock

R. Couture

Mountainous terrain

North Vancouver landslide, 2005

(Didier Perret)

Chelsea, Que., 1973

Cecil Lake Road Landslide, BC.

(D.E. Lawrence)

(R. Couture)

Frank, Alberta, 1903. (Albert Ling)

Five Mile Creek, Alta, 1999 - Banff National Park

(R. Couture)

Conrad Station, BC.,

1996 (S. Evans)

Kicking Horse, BC., 1978

(Lionel Jackson)

Valleyfield, Que, 1996

(S. Evans)

Components Parts of a Slide

Slope Stability

The term slope stability may be defined as the

resistance of inclined surface to failure by
sliding or collapsing.
It may be defined as the Safety of a Slope Against
Failure.

Slope Stability Analysis

Performed to assess the safe and economic design of a human-made
or natural slopes (e.g. embankments, road cuts, open-pit mining,
excavations, landfills etc.) and the equilibrium conditions.
An analysis of stability of slopes consists of two parts:

(1)The determination of the most severely stressed internal surface

and magnitude of the shearing stress to which it is subjected.
(2)The determination of the shearing strength along this surface.

The shearing stress to which any slope can be

subjected depends upon the unit weights of the
material and the geometry of the slope, while shearing
strength which can be mobilized to resist the shearing
stress depends on the character of the soil, its density
and drainage conditions.

Basic Assumptions of Stability

Analysis
(i)Failure is along a slip surface or failure surface which
may be plane or curved and the problem can be solved
as a two-dimensional plane problem.
(ii)Soil strength properties are isotropic.
(iii)The safety factor is determined by the limit
equilibrium method and is the ratio of the resisting
forces (or moments) to the sliding forces (or moments).
(iv)Coulombs theory can be used to compute shear
strength and shear strength is assumed as uniform along
the slip surface.
(v)The flow net in case of seepage can be drawn and
seepage forces evaluated.

Objectives of Slope Stability

Analysis

Finding endangered areas,

Investigation of potential failure mechanisms,
Determination of the slope sensitivity to
different triggering mechanisms,
Designing of optimal slopes with regard to
safety,
Reliability and economics,

Designing possible remedial measures, e.g.

barriers and stabilization

Soil Stability Analysis Techniques

1) Limiting analysis approach
2) Limiting equilibrium approach and
3) Displacement-based approach

Limiting Analysis Approach

By limiting analysis we mean the so-called
upper bound solution and lower bound solution
techniques.
derived from classical plasticity theory using
associated flow rule.
Their application is very much limited to ideal
material with simple geometry.

Displacement-based Approach
More recent development which includes the
finite elements, the boundary elements, and the
discrete element methods.
Discrete element methods are particularly
useful to rock slope stability analysis.

Limiting Equilibrium Approach

Assume that the shear strengths of the materials
along the potential failure surface are governed by
linear (Mohr-Coulomb) or nonlinear relationships
between shear strength and the normal stress on the
failure surface.
FOS is calculated using one or more of the
equations of static equilibrium applied to the soil
mass bounded by an assumed, potential slip surface
and the surface of the slope.

Limitations of Limit Equilibrium

Methods
1. The factor of safety is assumed to be constant along the
potential slip surface.

2. Load-deformation (stress-strain) characteristics are not

explicitly accounted for.
3. The initial stress distribution within the slope is not
explicitly accounted for.
4. Unreasonably large and or negative normal forces may
be calculated along the base of slices under certain
conditions
5. Iterative, trial and error, solutions may not converge in
certain cases.

Remedial Measures for Slope Stability

Problems
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Slope Reduction
Providing the Berm at the Toe of the Slope
Providing Drainage
Densification (Hardening of Soil)
Vegetation
Construction of Earth Retaining Structures
Earth Anchors

Slope Reduction
Flattening the slope
reduces the weight
of the potential
sliding mass and
consequently the
driving forces,
resulting in the
increase of the FOS.

Providing the Berm at the Toe of

the Slope
Presence of berm
adjacent to the toe of
the slope increase the
resisting forces and
consequently the FOS
will be increased.
This is especially useful
when there is a
possibility of base
failure.

Providing Drainage
Proper drainage of
water is one of the
most effective
methods to increase
the stability of earth
slope.
surface drainage and
sub-surface drainage
are provided to
increase the stability
of the slope.

Densification (Hardening of Soil)

Densification of the
ground surface
increases the shearing
resistance of the soil,
thus increases the
stability of the slope.
Addition of chemical
additives (lime or
cement) for clay soils
Vibro-flotation (deep
densification of
conesionless soils)

Vegetation
Planting the surface of the
slope is beneficial to protect
the slope against shallow
slides.
The plants enhance the
stability of the slope in two
different ways:
1. Consolidation of the soil
by network of roots and
therefore increasing the
resistance to shear.
2. Drying out the surface
layers by water suction by
the roots, increasing the
shearing resistance of the
soil

Construction of Earth Retaining

Structures
Construction of earth
retaining structures
(retaining walls,
reinforced earth, etc.) at
the toe of the slope
increases the resistance of
the potential sliding mass.

Earth Anchors