102 L.

B JERRUM

--/.54 -
Hnght m metrrsabove 1
se0 water level
uhc 5oundary OF slide
0 Borings

0 20
1 : : :

Nctres

Section A-A

I80
h9Om

no I .+ Assumed wrfore b
170
Q!! _---
I60 :A__
/ Averagr inclinotton: 3 % MO
I50 i ~urfoceoftcr slide
I50

I I I
t95m I60 t20

Fig. 56. Slide at Ullensaker, December 1953. Plan showing boundary of slide and position of
borings. Cross-section through slide with surface before and after sliding
 STABILITY OF SATCRAL SLOPES IX QUICK CLAY 103

Midway between the road and the brook a small farmstead was situated containing a
number of buildings. The night before Christmas Eve 1953, the farmer observed some
fissures in the lower part of the slope towards the brook. At midnight a slide occurred which
totally effaced the farm. As far as the occurrences can be reconstructed they were started by
a ZO-m-wide initial slide in the lowest part of the slope towards the brook. From this initial
slip the slide developed backwards to the rear slope, simultaneously widening in all directions
as shown in Fig. 55. The result was that behind the initial slide towards the brook a bowl-
shaped cavity with a diameter of 200 to 300 m, and with a depth varying between 5 and 8
m was formed.
The most characteristic feature of this slide is the change of the consistency of the clay
in the process of the sliding. As the clay became involved in the slide, and therefore remoulded,
it changed to a viscous liquid with a consistency like heavy oil. Through the opening formed
by the initial slide the clay slurry moved from the cavity and descended with considerable
velocity along the brook (Fig. 55). Flakes of the stiff upper drying crust were taken by the
slurry and carried downwards. In all, about 200,000 cu. m of clay flowed away from the cavity
of the slide. Xt a distance of 1.5 km from the slide the brook runs under a road embankment.
At this place the clay slurry was dammed up, resulting in a big lake. Next morning the
farmer found the demolished remains of his houses, and a cow and a horse were extricated
while still alive.
Thorough investigations of the slide have been carried out by the Norwegian Geotechnical
Institute. The results of a survey are shown on a plan in Fig 56, giving the contour of the
slide and the position of the borings. Below the plan is shown a cross-section through the
slide with the terrain surface before and after the slide.
The results of the borings are shown on Figs 57 and 58. Fig. 57 is a graphical plot of
the results of a series of vane tests made on an axis through the deepest part of the slide.
Fig. 53 gives the results of a boring in the centre of the cavity formed by the slide.
In broad outline the borings have shown that below an upper crust of stiff fissured clay
a silty, soft, marine clay is encountered to a depth of about 20 m. The clay is decidedly
quick in the lower part of the slope which was involved in the slide, whereas the sensitivity
is lower in the clay outside the slide (Fig. 57). It is thus believed that the slide has removed
all the quick clay above a certain level, but that it came to a standstill when it reached the
less sensitive clay in the higher part of the slope.
As will be seen from Fig. 58, the Atterberg limits of the quick clay are very low.
This is a result of a. reduced content of the salt in the pore-water, due to leaching out
by ground-water movements. Originally the salt concentration in the pore-water was
20 to 30 g/l. ; today it is from 1.2 to 2.9 g/l. If salt is added to the clay until a concentration
of 35 g/l. is reached, the liquid limit increases from 26% to 34%.
From the constant increase in shear strength with depth it is concluded that the clay is
normally consolidated. The ratio of shear strength to effective overburden pressure, which
is a characteristic constant for a normally consolidated clay, amounts from 0.09 to 0.13 for
the borings in the sliding area and from 0.13 to 0.16 for the boring outside the slide. These
values are relatively low, and they can only be explained as a result of a reduced salt content
in the pore-water (Bjerrum, 1954). Originally, the ratio of shear strength to overburden
pressure is believed to have been 0.17, corresponding to the plasticity index 13% determined
at the original salt concentration.
Above the quick clay there was a crust of stiff, fissured clay. From borings outside the
slide it is found that this “drying crust” showed a thickness of approximately 5 m. The
shear strength of the drying crust decreases with depth (Fig. 57). The average shear
strength of the drying crust outside the slide amounts to from 3 to 5 tons/sq. m.
From the borings in the cavity of the slide it is found that the soft and sensitive clay,
which took part in the slide, has disappeared almost completely during the slide. The bottom
104 L. BJERRUM

I I

\
\
\
 STABILITY OF NATURAL SLOPES IN gUICK CLAY 105

Water content in % iheor strength in t/m*

20 30 40

re
IO

; Quick cluy

1 Contents of particles
G?p -37%
Contents OF NON -
2 ~mmmn per litre

20

+ vane teds
2ZiF Is& unconthd commssh Ms
I0 strain(%) ot fidm

Fig. 58. Slide at Ullensaker, December 1953. Results of a boring in the cavity of the slide

of the cavity consisted mostly of flakes of the drying crust, resting on thin layers of partly
remoulded clay. Such a complete removal of the quick clay can only be explained as an effect
of a squeezing of the clay under the weight of the drying crust, occurring as the material
from the single slides moved out from the cavity.

CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF SLIDES IN QUICK CLAYS

The slide at Ullensaker is not a unique occurrence. Almost every year slides take place
which in respect to course and form, are very similar to the slide at Ullensaker. As regards
size the Ullensaker slide is relatively small. The biggest slide described in literature on the
subject was that in Vaerdalen from which more than 55,000,OOO cu. m clay were remoulded
and flowed down the valley (P. Holmsen, 1953). From literature it is known that in the last
century thirty-five major slides took place, but the great numbers of smaller slides are not
described. Since 1900 forty major slides on slopes in quick clays are known to have occurred.
The number of slides in Norway is so great, their course and form so similar, the resultant
106 L. BJERRUM
 STABILITY OF NATURAL SLOPES IN QUICK CLAY 107

damage occasioned so comprehensive, that this type of slide may be considered as a special
Norwegian kind of cataclysm.
In comparing a large number of slides it is observed that they can be distinguished by
some characteristic features.

(1) The slides occur for no apparent external reasons which can explain the reduced
stability. In general, it is impossible to point out initiating causes.* Move-
ments of the areas are very seldom observed in advance of the slide.
(2) The slides very often occur in gentle slopes, and even horizontal areas arc often
involved in the slide.
(3) This type of slide occurs only in quick clays. A characteristic feature is the
extreme displacement of the material after the slide has occurred, due to the
change of the clay to a heavy liquid as it is involved in and remoulded by the
slide. The slides are thus accompanied by a flow of liquid clay running through
a narrow opening and down the valley.
(4) The slides are characterized by their retrograde course. An initial slide at the
lowest part of the slope is followed by a series of slides successively involving the
areas behind the initial slide.
(5) Owing to the retrograde course the slide often broadens within the initial slide,
resulting in a circular depression with a narrow opening towards the valley.

GEOLOGICAL AND GEOTECHNIChL PKOPEKTIES OF (,)UICK CLAYS

During the Pleistocene ice age Norway was covered by enormous ice masses. The effect
of the glaciers was, firstly, a removal of residual soil and loose rock and, secondly, a depression
of the country under the weight of the ice. In the subsequent period, with warmer climate
and consequent withdrawal of the glaciers, soil and crushed rock were transported by rivers
of melted ice and deposited on the sea bed in salt water.
Simultaneously with the withdrawal of the glaciers, the underlying rock was unloaded,
resulting in a land elevation. In Norway, this uplift exceeded by far the corresponding rise
of the sea-water level. Around the Oslo and Trondheim fjords the land uplift now amounts
to from 200 to 220 m, relative to the present sea level. Owing to this land elevation the late-
and post-glacial clay deposits came above sea-water level and it is in these formations the
above described slides occur. In Fig. 59 (a) the known slides of this type arc plotted on a map.
A total of 94 slides is plotted. A map showing the zones of marine deposits, which means
the areas which were inundated during the withdrawal of the glaciers, is, for the sake of
comparison, shown in Fig. 59 (b). The correlation between the occurrence of slides and existence
of marine clays is immediately observed.
A detailed study of the geographical location of the slides shows, moreover, that the
most wasted areas are the big clay terraces around the Oslo and Trondheim fjords, which have
undergone the greatest uplift. At these locations a hydraulic gradient of the ground-water
has caused a slow flow of water through the clay. This has led to a leaching, resulting
in a slow exchange of the original salt pore-water in the clay with fresh water. This leaching
process is an important factor for the stability of slopes in the marine clays since it is the reduction
of the salt concentration of the pore-water that is responsible for the formation of quick clays
and, hence, for the occurrence of the type of slides as already described.
The effect of a reduced salt concentration in the pore-water on the geotechnical properties
of Norwegian marine clays has been described in a recent publication (Bjerrum, 1954). In
the present paper, consequently, a short review only will be given, pointing out those factors
which are important for an understanding of the above-described type of slides.
* In a few cases river erosions at the toe of the slope have been pointed out.
108 L. BJERRUM

The main effect of a reduced salt concentration in the pore-water of a marine clay is a
decrease in the activity of the clay minerals, which again leads to a lowering of the liquid
and plastic limit. The decrease in activity and Atterberg’s limits does, however, not take
place in linear proportion to the reduction in salt concentration. Only negligible changes
occur for a decrease in salt concentrations down to approximately 10 g/l. A further leaching
will, on the other hand, cause a considerable decrease in activity and Atterberg’s limits.
Now, it is an experienced fact that the natural water content remains unchanged during a
leaching. This is readily observed from a comparison of the natural water contents of clay
deposits that have retained the original salt concentration in the pore-water and those that
have been subjected to leaching. A constant water content is also found during leaching of
clay samples in the laboratory.
As the natural water content remains unaltered, whereas the liquid limit decreases during
a leaching, the shear strength of the remoulded clay is reduced and the sensitivity is consequently
increased. A normal medium-sensitive marine clay may by leaching in this way be changed
to a quick clay.
Investigations of a number of natural clay deposits have shown that the quick clays in
general are normally consolidated, which means that they have never been subjected to
pressures higher than the present overburden. Their shear strength properties can, there-
fore, be expressed by a constant ratio of shear strength to effective overburden pressure, cJp.
A statistical treatment of the c/p-values of a number of different clays has, furthermore,
indicated that a leaching-out of the salt of the pore-water of marine clays is accompanied by
a reduction in shear strength of the undisturbed clay. This reduction can amount to as
much as 30%.
Owing to the low permeabilities of the clay, the change in properties of marine clays
during leaching out of the salt is, of course, a very slow process. At Bekkelaget (Eide,
Bjerrum, 1954) it is presumed that the post-glacial isocardia clay was raised up above sea-
water level about 2,000 years ago. The original salt concentration in the pore-water is
believed to have been 35 g/l. Today it is 2 to 3 g. Assuming that the leaching started when the
clay was raised up above sea level * the average rate of reduction in salt content amounts
to I.5 g/l. per 100 years. Now the change in properties is concentrated over the last part
of the leaching process. The decrease in c/p from the original value 0.20 of the salt clay
down to 0.12 which is found today may, for instance, have occurred during the last 400 to 500
years. In the same time the sensitivity has increased from about 8 to 80. Whether the
derived figures are quite correct or not, this example gives a rough idea of the rate of change
in properties by leaching. It illustrates that only in special cases has the decrease in strength
to be considered in civil engineering design. But, on the other hand, it demonstrates
clearly that the leaching process is important in a geological scale and, therefore, also for the
stability of natural slopes.
It is, of course, of special interest to investigate how the leaching proceeds and what
form and size the quick clay strata obtain. From a study of a great number of borings it is
found that quick clay is encountered in three different forms. In a number of borings the
clay is quick from below the drying crust and down to rock. In other borings the quick
clay is situated as a strata just below the drying crust. Finally, quick clay strata are found
in layers at various depths ; in this case the quick clay layers are situated close to more
pervious strata.
It is, therefore, believed that the leaching proceeds, in general, from the surface of the
clay deposits and downwards. Owing to drying and weathering the upper crust of the clay
deposit shows always an increased strength and a reduced sensitivity, but most of the original
salt content is washed out. The downward propagation of the leaching and the simultaneous
formation of an upper stiff crust will very often result in a lenticular form of the quick clay.
* This is not necessarily the case. Leached clays are often found below present sea-water level.
 STABILITY OF NATURAL SLOPES IN QUICK CLAY 109

Leaching occurs, however, also along pervious zones very often resulting in horizontal quick
clay layers. These layers may vary in thickness from a few centimetres to several metres.
If the results of the investigations on the effect of salt on a clay are considered against the
background of the frequent occurrence of the special types of slides met with in marine clays,
serious consequences in the judgement of the stability of natural slopes may be found. The
decrease in shear strength by leaching means that a steadily increasing danger of slides in
slopes subjected to a ground-water flow has to be taken into consideration. The increased
sensitivity means an increased danger of a progressive involvement of large-and even flat-
areas in a slide. The change on remoulding of the clay to a liquid increases also the danger
of damage along the valley below a possible slide.

PREDICTION OF STABILITY OF NATURAL SLOPES

However interesting it may be to study in greater detail the occurrences of slides and
their form and course, a still more important problem, from an engineering point of view,
arises : Is it possible with our present knowledge to estimate the danger of sliding of a natural
slope in quick clay ? How can the stability be analysed and which values of the shear
strength have to be inserted in the analyses ?
It may be said at once that further research is necessary before an answer can be given
to these questions. The investigations are still in a preliminary stage and for this reason the
treatment as described below cannot give more than a few provisional results.
Of course, in calculating the stability of a natural slope in quick clays a number of problems
arise, which are identical with problems met with in slopes in all clays. The treatment as
described in this article will, however, concentrate on those problems which are special for
slopes in quick clays. These problems are :-
(1) Which values should be inserted for the shear strength of the quick clay ?
(2) To what degree can the relatively stiff but often fissured drying crust be relied
upon to increase the stability ?
(3) Which sliding surface should be applied in order to reproduce as closely as possible
the special mechanism of the slides in quick clays ?
These questions will be dealt with separately.

SHEllR STRENGTH OF QUICK CLAY

As already pointed out, slides in quick clay slopes are believed to be conditioned by a slowly
occurring decrease in shear strength due to leaching out of salt in the pore-water. It may
thus be assumed that only small excess pore-water pressures exist at the moment of sliding.
This fact would obviously dictate an analysis of the stability to be carried out with respect to
effective stresses with shear parameters as found by drained tests, and with pore-water
pressures as could be measured in the slope. In order to determine the shear parameters in
terms of effective stresses, a number of triaxial tests on quick clays have been carried out at
the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute. The tests included drained tests as well as undrained
tests with measurements of pore-water pressures, and isotropically as well as anisotropically
consolidated samples were tested. If the test results are analysed it is, however, found
that the obtained failure criterion in terms of effective stresses would lead to higher shear
strengths than could be expected in the clay “ in situ ” or could be recalculated from slides.
The full explanation of this result has not been found ; but it is supposed that the increased
strength is partly due to a change in structure of the quick clays during the reconsolidation
of the samples in the laboratory.
With our present knowledge it is thus hardly possible to analyse the stability of a natural
slope in quick clay in terms of effective stresses. A second possibility is to carry out a 4 = 0
analysis using the shear strength as found from vane tests or from unconfined compression
 110 L. BJERRUM

tests on undisturbed samples. While it is known that at failure only small excess pore-water
pressures exist in the slope, it is, however, by no means evident that an analysis which is based
on undrained tests would lead to reliable results. Presumably, this will only be the case in
clays which show the same shear strength for the same failure water content, regardless of
whether the shear stresses are applied under drained or undrained conditions. This require-
ment is in general fulfilled in normally consolidated clays (W. E. S., 1947 ; Bjerrum, 1950)
and triaxial shear tests have proved that this is also the case in a quick clay. It is, therefore,
supposed that a I$ = 0 analysis will lead to approximately correct results.
In connexion with an analysis of the long-term stability of slope in quick clay the question
arises how to estimate a possible reduction in shear strength with time due to a further leaching
out of the salt in the pore-water. As described in a recent Paper (Bjerrum, 1954), the relation
between plasticity index and ratio of shear strength to effective overburden pressure (c/p)
combined with a laboratory determination of the relation between plasticity index and salt
concentration, gives an answer from which shear strengths could be derived for different
salt concentrations in the pore-water. It still remains, however, to estimate the rate of the
future reduction in salt concentration. Such an estimate may in some cases be made from
a detailed study of the ground-water movement.
For the relatively young Norwegian clays, more reliable results can probably be obtained
from an evaluation of the average rate of leaching which has occurred since the sedimentation
or since the land elevation. It is today possible from an analysis of micro-fossils in clay
samples to determine the geological age of a clay deposit with sufficient accuracy for this
purpose. Moreover, such investigations give information about the salt concentration of
the sea-water in which the clay originally was deposited. Also data can be obtained for the
different stages of the land elevation allowing an estimate to be made of the period during
which the clay strata has been subjected to a hydraulic gradient. A determination of the
present salt concentration and the above geological information may thus give a rough
idea of the average rate of leaching.
In connexion with stability problems in quick clay the question of danger of progressive
failure arises. If, for instance, the shear stresses in a zone of a sliding surface exceed the
shear strength, a partial remoulding of the overstressed zone could be feared, resulting in
reduced strength and danger of a progressive extension of the failure zone. If this was the
case slides could be feared in slopes which show a safety factor above 1-O by a conventional
stability analysis, and the deviation between calculation and practice would increase with the
sensitivity of the clay.
All Norwegian experience indicates, however, that the full shear strength is mobilized
simultaneously over the whole sliding surface even in extremely quick clays. This means
that the failure does not occur progressively. Some of the observations which have led to
this conception will be mentioned in the following pages.
It is a matter of fact that an analysis of a number of slides in quick clay has demonstrated
that the shear strength found by vane tests is in fairly close agreement with the strength
calculated from the slides. An example of such an analysis is given in a Paper describing
the slide at Bekkelaget (Eide and Bjerrum, 1954).
A similar agreement between measured and calculated shear strength was found from a
series of loading tests on very quick clays. A series of four tests were published in a recent
Paper (Bjerrum, 1954). Since then a further series of tests was made on a clay with a
sensitivity of 80, including tests at depths below the surface as great as 10 times the diameter
of the loading plate. This test series was made as it was expected that a possible progressive
failure could more easily be observed from the results of loading tests on deeply buried
plates. The results of both series are given in Table 1 (p. ill), and as will be seen, a
close agreement is found between the directly measured shear strength and the values
calculated from the loading tests, using Skempton’s bearing capacity formulae. A similar
 STABILITY OF NATURAL SLOPES IN QUICK CLAY 111

agreement is found in clays with low sensitivity (Skempton, 1951), and it is thus concluded
that the failure did not occur progressively.

SHEAR STRENGTH OF THE DRYING CRUST

=Is already mentioned, the Norwegian clay deposits are covered by a so-called drying crust
of stiff clay, the thickness of which may vary from 3 to 8 m. From the surface and down to
this depth the upper crust shows a steady drop in shear strength. Besides having a high
shear strength the upper clay crust is characterized by a system of fissures. It belongs thus
to the type known as “ stiff fissured ” clay.

Table 1.
Loading tests with 36-cm circular plate on a quick clay

Results of loading tests Shear strength

/

1 0 ’ 0 ~ 424 42.0 2.5 6.8 /

2 0.36 / 1 43.0 I 42.2 3.4 5.,5
3 0.36 : 1 / 42.0 41.2 3.1 ~ 5.4 5.3
4 0.72 / 2 49.<5 48.0 2.9 / 5.7 : 5.4
__- I : I
I)ata of clay : w ~~27oh, ic’~ -: 240:10, ‘Up = 167& y = 1.97 tonjsq. m Sensitivity- = 30.

Loading tests with 25-cm circular plate on a quick clay

Results of loading tests Shear strength

i Ratio ! -
Test /
Strain at Calculated I Determined
failure from tests
NO.
I on samples
% of B tons/sq. m I tons/sq. m
2.5 10 / 15.2 10.7 2.;5 - 1.19 1.25
2.5 10 I 15.9 11.4 2.,;, 1.27 1.25
2.5 10 15.7 11.2 3.0 1.25 I 1.25
2.5 10 15.3 10.8 2.5 1.20 1.25
I I
Data of clay : w = SS%, we == 37%. We : 19%, y = 1.80 tonkq. m. Sensitivity = SO.

Owing to the low shear strength of the quick clays the relatively stiff upper crust plays
an important part in many stability calculations. As an example it can be mentioned that
for the slide at Bekkelaget (Eide and Bjerrum, 1954), it was found that 55% of the resistance
against sliding was due to the upper crust, although less than 2Oo/oof the slip plane passed
through this zone. An estimate of the safety against sliding depends, therefore, very much
on a prediction of the shear strength of the upper crust. However, this problem raises special
difficulties, as it is known that in stiff fissured clays an essential reduction in shear strength
may take place by softening if there is an opportunity for lateral expansion of the fissures.
As mentioned above, the high shear strength of the upper crust has been explained as a
result of drying out of the surface followed by negative capillary pressures. However, the
so-called drying crust is also observed in clay deposits below the water tables that have
never been subjected to drying (Jakobson, 1953). The increased strength of the upper crust
may, therefore, only partly be explained as a result of drying. Now, a detailed study of
Norwegian clay profiles has shown that in homogeneous clay deposits it is commonly observed
112 L. BJERRUM

that the drop in strength with depth through the upper crust is accompanied by a correspond-
ing drop in the liquid limit. This is illustrated by an example in Fig. 60 and also in the examples
published by Jakobson (1953) is this the case. This finding indicates that the increased
strength of the upper crust may partly be a result of a weathering.*

Sheor strength in t,hnt Cloycontent

%C 2/b
42
40
46
42
35
softcloy 40
cxtm quick
40

4 -liquid limit + vane tests

Wp=plostic limit e unconfinrd com-
pression t&s

Fig. 60. Geotechnical properties of drying crust. Results of a boring in Manglerud

A study of the chemical processes which follow weathering showed that the main
reaction produces a release of KC1 resulting in an increase of free K-ions in the pore-water.
Some experiments made at the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute by Dr I. Th. Rosenqvist
showed that if a normal clay is remoulded with KC1 an increase in shear strength and
liquid limit will result, Even small amounts of K-ions showed a surprising effect on liquid
limit and shear strength. But the tests showed yet another surprising effect of the K-ions
on the clay. Only a few minutes after the remoulding, the clay showed a thorough system
of fissures, often shiny with free water. This means that by addition of K-ions to the pore-
water a normal clay was transformed into a stiff fissured clay, very similar to the upper
clay crust. The obvious explanation, therefore, is that the increased strength of the upper
layers of a normally consolidated clay deposit is partly a result of a chemical change of the
clay due to weathering and disintegration of the particles.7 This process results in increased
liquid limits and-as the natural water content remains constant-also in increased shear
strength and reduced sensitivity. By syneresis (Skempton and Northey, 1952) the
structure of the clay is changed, resulting in a stiff fissured clay.
As pointed out by Terzaghi (1936), the reduction in strength with time of a stiff fissured
clay is a consequence of a softening occurring if a lateral expansion is possible. In order to
investigate this question, some special triaxial tests were run which attempted to reproduce
in the laboratory the effect of a lateral expansion of the clay. In this type of tests the clay
samples were first consolidated under a certain pressure and thereafter sheared with decreas-
ing lateral pressures and constant axial stress ; the tests were performed as drained and also
* This theory was strengthened by some observations on samples taken from the bottom of the
Tyrrenhian sea by Swedish oceanographers, that Illite particles were formed “ in situ ” after the sedimenta-
tion of the clay. This finding proves that a disintegration takes place even under the sea bottom.
t This explanation is in accordance with the fact that the well-known stiff fissured clays-London clay,
Lillebelt clay, Bear paw shale, Cucaracha formations and so on-are relatively old clays.
8
 STABILITY OF NATURAL SLOPES In- QUICK CLAY 113
as undrained tests with measurement of pore-water pressures. From the results of the
triaxial tests some conclusions may be drawn :

(1) The shear strength of the clay can be expressed by the failure criterion in terms
of effective stresses :

As typical values of c’ and tan 4’ can be given c’ = 2 tons/sq. m, tan 4’ = 0.53,

4’ = 30”.
This failure criterion holds good for drained and undrained tests and for tests
performed with increasing axial stress as well as for tests with decreasing lateral
pressures.
(2) The clay showed a pronounced dilatant structure. This caused a decrease in
pore-water pressure during the last part of the undrained tests, and in the drained
tests a volume increase was observed. The test results indicate that the dilatancy
is less prominent in the lower part of the drying crust than in the layers near the
surface.
(3) Owing to the reduction in lateral stresses during the test and to the water adsorp-
tion caused by the dilatancy, the drained tests carried out with lateral expansion
of the samples showed a great reduction in shear strength. This reduction can,
for instance, be expressed by the ratio of the undrained shear strength and the
shear strength found by drained tests with decreasing lateral pressures. From
several tests it is known that this ratio is approximately 1.0 for normally con-
solidated clays (Bjerrum, 1951). For clay from the drying crust this ratio varies
from 2.5 to 5.0. The test results indicate that this ratio increases for decreasing
liquidity index and for decreasing consolidation pressure.
‘4) Owing to the dilatancy the pore-water pressures decreased during the zdrained
tests, and for typical samples from the drying crust values below zero were
reached. The rates of change in pore-water pressure with change in deviator
stress were identical in tests carried out with increasing axial stress and tests
with decreasing lateral pressures. But in the latter the decrease in all-round
pressure caused an additional steady drop in pore-water pressure. The negative
values of the pore-water pressure were consequently in this type of test reached
at a smaller deviator stress. Now it is known that cavitation occurs for negative
pore-water pressures below a certain value and this may explain why the undrained
tests with lateral unloading of the sample gave smaller shear strengths than
the normal undrained tests. Typical values of the ratio of the normal undrained
shear strength and the undrained shear strength found for decreasing lateral
pressures are I.1 to 2.5.

Even if the tests, as described, show a reduction in strength of the upper crust under a
condition of a lateral expansion which is qualitatively in accordance with observations in the
field, it is by no means to be taken that the reduction found in shear strength is quantitatively
the same as that occurring in nature. For instance, it is questionable as to what degree the
test results include the effect of the fissures. In nature a sliding surface will preferably
follow the fissures which in a compression test is only partly possible.
In order to investigate this question an attempt has been made to compare the test results
with data collected from slides in stiff fissured clays resulting from a long-term reduction in
shear strength due to lateral expansion. As data are available from only three Norwegian
slides the comparison has been extended to include also some English and American slides
in similar materials. The result of this comparison is shown in Fig. 61. For each slide is
113 L. B JERRUM

25 calculated the ratio of the undrain-

ed shear strength* of the intact
clay to the shear strength at failure
calculated from the slides. This
ratio is in a diagram plotted against
the liquidity index of the clay. A
correlation is evident, and this pro-
vides a reasonable justification of
the liquidity index as an indication
of the dilatancy and, thus, also of
the softening which could be expec-
ted in along-termstabilityproblem.
Although not appearing directly
from the plotted values in the dia-
/
gram, it might be espccted from
- D.5 0 0.5 l.0 the results of the laboratory tests
1is uidity index that shallow slides, would fall on a
Pig. 61. Reduction in shear strength of stiff fissured more highly situated curve than
clay due to softening deep slides.
In the diagram the results of
the laboratory tests are also plotted. The number of available tests is, however, too small to
allow final conclusions to be drawn. For clays with positive liquidity index it seems likely,
however, that the drained triaxial tests with lateral expansion show a similar reduction in
the shear strength to that which can be expected in nature.
Reverting to the question as to the effect of softening of the upper soil crust on the stability
of slopes, some tentative conclusions may be drawn.
Firstly, if there is an opportunity for a lateral expansion the shear strength of the upper
clay crust will be smaller than that found by normal undrained compression tests on undis-
turbed samples or by vane tests. This is the case even under undrained conditions, i.e., for
no change in water content.
Secondly, for an estimate of the long-term stability, a further reduction in strength due
to softening has to be considered. For cuttings in stiff clay a stability analysis with respect to
effective stresses may be expected to give approximately correct results. In an analysis of the
stability of natural slopes in quick clay this procedure will, however, lead to too conservative
safety factors if used for an evaluation of the shear strength of the drying crust only. In
general, that minor part of the slip circle which cuts the drying crust will show an approxi-
mately vertical direction and, consequently, only very small normal pressures on the sliding
surface result from conventional calculations. This means that the calculated shear strength
of the drying crust will be too low.
Until better procedures are developed, an approximate minimum value of the shear
strength may be obtained as the half of the compressive strength found by drained triaxial
tests performed with decreasing lateral pressures.
For a correlation between laboratory results and actual slides and as a provisional basis
for an evaluation of the reduction in strength with time the diagram in Fig. 61 may be useful.

SLIDING SURFACE
If the stability of a quick clay slope is analysed by conventional methods, assuming that
the .whole slope takes part in a failure along a single slip surface, the resulting safety factors
will be higher than can be relied on in nature.
* An analysis of the slides in terms of effective stresses has proved impossible, as only in a few cases are
the shear parameters known.
 STABILITY OF NATURAL SLOPES IN QUICK CLAY 115
As an example, the results of an analysis of the “ overall stability ” of the slope in Ullen-
saker will be mentioned. A number of different slip circles were analysed, but owing to the
fact that the lowest shear strength is observed just below the drying crust the most dangerous
sliding surface proved to be a plane running parallel to the surface of the slope at a depth of
3 m. This slip plane showed a safety factor of 14 against sliding. For comparison, it can
be mentioned that a slip circle which touched the firm strata below the quick clay showed a
safety factor 1.6.
These values demonstrate that the stability of a slope in quick clay can only be predicted
if in the analysis the special mechanism of the slide in quick clay is taken into consideration.
This means that the retrograde backward development of the slide has to be recognized
in the analysis.
In doing this it is necessary to distinguish between the danger of occurrence of an initial
slide at the toe of the slope and the danger of the rear slope being involved in a retrograde
sliding process.
The investigation of the danger of an initial slide at the toe of the slope is a typical
long-term stability problem. An analysis of the stability may be carried out in terms of
effective stresses inserting pore-water pressures as measured in the field. If quick clay is
encountered, an analysis in terms of total stresses may be preferred using shear strengths
as determined, e.g., by vane tests. In this case the shear strength of the drying crust has
to be reduced, for instance, by aid of the diagram in Fig. 61, or the shear strengths may be
found by drained triaxial tests carried out with decreasing laterial stresses. Independent
of the analysing method, it is necessary to include the consequences of possible future river
erosion.
If the safety factors resulting from this analysis show that the danger of initial slides
can be neglected, the whole slope will be stable, independent of the presence of quick clay.
It is hereby presumed that the analysis of the danger of initial slides includes an investigation
of the overall stability of the slope. If, on the contrary, a low safety factor is found the
analysis has to be followed by a second one, investigating the danger of further extension of
the initial slide to the rear areas. As the slides which follow the initial slip occur very
rapidly, they can be analysed by a conventional 4 = 0 analysis, and as there is no time for
softening, no reduction in shear strength of the drying crust has to be considered.
As only quick clay slopes are considered in the present treatment, it is assumed that the
remoulding which follows a slide reduces the shear strength of the clay so much that it will
move out of the slide and thus cannot be relied upon as counterweight for the next slide. In
Fig. 62 is illustrated how a slide in a quick clay slope is believed to work backwards. If this
illustration gives a true picture of the conditions, the danger of successive sliding of the slope
can be investigated by considering the stability of one of the single slips.
brook
--+---+- liquidclay withflakes of dryingcrust+ .--intact slope

Pig. 62. Schematical illustration of the course of a slide in a quick clay slope
116 L. BJERRUM

The essential knowledge necessary for the solution of this problem includes the thickness
the unit weight and the average shear strength of the drying crust, the unit weight and the
increase of shear strength with depth of the quick clay. Moreover, the stability will depend
on the inclination of the slope and the depth to rock or firmer layers. Assuming these figures
as known, the stability of one of the single slips in Fig. 62 can be analysed. In order not to
complicate the calculations, a few simplifications have to be made. Firstly, it is
assumed that the unit weights of the drying crust and of the quick clay are equal.
Secondly, the shear strength of the quick clay is assumed to increase linearly with the depth
below the surface of the slope. Finally, the geometry of the problem is simplified to that
shown in Fig. 63, the removal of the lower part of the segment, which was cut away of the
preceding slide, being neglected. The errors introduced by these simplifications are believed
to be small. As regards the last-mentioned simplification, it will lead to results on the unsafe
side ; on the other hand the stabilizing pressure from the clay in the cavity of the preceding
slide is not taken into account.

Symbols :
H=thickness of upper crust
D=depth of quick clay
tan cr=inclination of slope
y=unit weight
yl=submerged unit weight
cD=shear strength of upper
crust

=ratio of shear strength to

effective overburden pressure
necessary for equilibrium

-00 0.2 0.4 0.6 08 LO I.2 /.4 I.6 /.6 2.0

F#

Fig. 63. Value of cjp in quick clay necessary for preventing an involvement of slopes in a
retrograde sliding

The final results of the calculations are given in Fig. 63. As variables the inclination of the
slope and a dimensionless parameter, c&H, expressing the properties of the drying crust are
used. For a great number of combinations of these two parameters the most dangerous
slip circles are found. From the critical circles the ratios of shear strength to effective over-
burden pressure are then derived, which the quick clay may possess in order just to give
equilibrium. The calculations are made with unit weights of the clay equal to 2.0 tons/cu. m
and 1.0 ton/cu. m above and below water respectively. For other values a corresponding
reduction of c/p is necessary (Fig. 63); these values are then plotted as ordinates in Fig. 63.
As will be seen, the calculations are represented without the thickness of the quick clay
 STABILITY OF NATURAL SLOPES IN QUICK CLAY 117
entering into the results. This approach is made as the stability proved to be almost inde-
pendent of the thickness of the clay provided D/H > 1.0. This finding is illustrated in Fig. 64,
which shows the c/e values necessary for equilibrium of a slope with an inclination of 5%. For
each value of cD/yH a number of slip circles to different depths is analysed and the required
c/p is plotted against the depth, D/H. For cD/yH smaller than O-5 the most dangerous slip
circle is found for D/H smaller than 1.0. For cD/yH values above 1.0 the necessary c/p does
not vary much with DJH provided D/H > 1.0. Only small errors on the safe side are thus intro-
duced if the maximum values of c/p are inserted in Fig. 63, the validity of the diagram, of course,
being limited to D/H > 1.0.

H=thickness of upper crust

d=depth of slip circle
tan ix=incIination of slope=S%
hclitwhon of dofit = 5% y=unit weight
yl=submerged unit xreight
cD=shear strength of upper
crust

io of shear strength to
overburden
pressure necessary for

Fig. 64. Relation between

4
equilibrium value of c/p and depth of slip circle in a slope
with 5% inclination

The c/p values necessary to prevent successive retrograde slides have been compared to
the c/p values which are required to secure the “ overall stability” of the slope. Firstly,
Fig. 63 explains how a horizontal slope can be involved in a slide. Secondly, the comparison
shows that a progressive propagation of the slide is most dangerous if the inclination of the
slope is smaller than, e.g., 10%. For steeper slopes a single slip circle (or plane) which includes
the whole slope will lead to higher required values of c/p. But for slopes steeper than lOO,/,
the danger of a progressive course of the slide increases, however, with decreasing shear
strength of the upper crust. Finally, for small depths of the quick clay (D/H < 1.0) the
overall sliding of the upper crust on a plane running parallel to the surface will represent
the most dangerous condition.
However interesting it might be to correlate the results in Fig. 63 with actual slides, this
will probably never be possible. Fig. 63 gives the limiting conditions of a successive sliding
process if an initial slide at the toe of the slope opens the possibilities of the running away
of liquid clay remoulded by the slides. Areas are known which show c/p values lower than
the critical values in Fig 63, but the slopes are stable as no danger of initial slides exists.
In order to give some typical values of the variables in Fig. 63 the slide at Ullensaker ma3
118 L. BJERRUM

be used as an example.* In Ullensaker the upper crust shows a thickness of 5 m and its
average unsoftened shear strength is 4 tonsjsq. m. c&H will be approximately 0.44. The
average inclination of the slope is 3.5%. To this value there corresponds a required c/p,
of 0.16. Now the average unit weight of the clay is I.9 ton/cu. m, which gives a reduced
c/p of O-15. The c/p values found by vane tests vary between 0.09 and 0.12, which is
smaller than the required value. Without postulating that this example proves the reliability
of Fig. 63 it shows that the diagram would have led to correct conclusions if applied to predict
the stability of the slope behind an initial slide.

CONCLUSIONS

As the research on the stability of slopes in quick clay is still in the preliminary stage, no
final conclusions can be drawn. From the investigations the following tentative results can
be mentioned :
(lj A study of Norwegian slides, in quick clay slopes, and especially of the slide at
Ullensaker, December 1953, has demonstrated some characteristic features of
this type of slide. They sometimes occur for no apparent external reasons which
can explain the reduced stability. Very often gentle or even horizontal slopes are
involved in the slide. The slides are accompanied by an extreme displacement
of liquid clay remoulded during the sliding. The slides are characterized by
their retrograde course, an initial slide being followed by a series of slides in the
rear areas.
(2) This type of slide is conditioned by the special properties of marine clay which
have been subjected to leaching. The reduction of the original salt content in
the pore-water resulting from a ground-water movement will lead to an increased
sensitivity and a reduced shear strength of the clay. Consequently a steadily in-
creasing danger of sliding of natural slopes in marine clays has to be considered.
(3) For a prediction of the stability of a natural slope in quick clay a further reduction
in shear strength due to leaching of the clay has to be considered. From a series
of loading tests on quick clay the conclusion is drawn that the shear strength was
mobilized simultaneously along the whole sliding surface, or, in other words,
the failure does not occur progressively.
(4) Another point of importance for the long-term stability of natural slopes is the shear
strength of the stiff fissured clay which forms the upper crust of the marine clays.
Mineralogical investigations have indicated that this crust is partly a result of
weathering. The release of K-ions by weathering increases the activity of
the clay minerals, and, hence, of the liquid limit. By syneresis the K-ions will,
moreover, contribute to the development of a fissured structure of the clay.
Triaxial tests on consolidated samples from the drying crust showed that smaller
values of the undrained shear strength are found if the samples are brought to
failure by decreasing lateral pressures than by increasing axial load. More-
over, it is believed that drained triaxial tests performed with decreasing lateral
pressures result in a softening of the sample which is comparable with that
occurring in nature.
(5) It is a matter of fact that the special type of slides in quick clay cannot be pre-
dicted by a conventional analysis of the “ overall stability ” of the slope. The
results of a theoretical investigation are presented which attempt to take into
account the successive retrograde process of sliding.
* Due to insufficient knowledge of the inclination of the lower part of the slope in Ullensaker an
analysis of the initial slide has not been made.
 STABILITY OF SATURAL SLOPES IN QUICK CLAY 119
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The .\uthor is indebted to his colleagues at the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, Dr

I. Th. Rosenqvist, Messrs 0. Eide, T. Scvaldsen, B. Kjaemsli, K. Flaate, and 0. Kjalseth
for valuable assistance in the preparation of the present Paper. He wishes also to express his
gratitude to Dr G. Holmsen, Geologist at the Geological Survey of Norway, who has con-
tributed much to the understanding of slides in quick clay through careful descriptions of
the major slides which have occurred in Norway since 1920.

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