662

ARTICLE
Use of recycled crushed concrete and Secudrain in capillary barriers
for slope stabilization
H. Rahardjo, V.A. Santoso, E.C. Leong, Y.S. Ng, C.P.H. Tam, and A. Satyanaga

Abstract: A capillary barrier is a two-layer cover system having distinct hydraulic properties to minimize water infiltration into
the underlying soil by utilizing unsaturated soil mechanics principles. In this study, a capillary barrier system was designed as
a cover system for a residual soil slope to maintain stability of the slope by minimizing infiltration during heavy rainfalls in the
tropics. The capillary barrier system (CBS) was constructed using fine sand as the fine-grained layer and recycled crushed
concrete aggregates as the coarse-grained layer. The coarse-grained layer is commonly constructed using gravels or granite chips.
However, due to scarcity of aggregates and in consideration of environmental sustainability, recycled crushed concrete aggre-
gates were used as the coarse-grained layer in this project. The suitability of recycled crushed concrete aggregates as a material
within the coarse-grained layer of a CBS is subject to the hydraulic property requirement. For comparison, another CBS was
constructed using fine sand as the fine-grained layer and a geosynthetic (Secudrain) as the coarse-grained layer. The performance
of each constructed CBS on the residual soil slope was monitored using tensiometers installed at different depths — from 0.6 to
1.8 m below the slope surface — and a rainfall gauge mounted on the slope. An adjacent original slope without the CBS was also
instrumented using tensiometers and piezometers to investigate the performance and effectiveness of the CBS in reducing
rainwater infiltration and maintaining negative pore-water pressures in the slope. Real-time monitoring systems were developed
to examine pore-water pressure, rainfall, and groundwater level in the slopes over a 1 year period. Characteristics of pore-water
pressure distributions in the residual soil slope under a CBS with recycled crushed concrete aggregates and in the original slope
during typical rainfalls are highlighted and compared. The measurement results show that the CBS was effective in minimizing
rainwater infiltration and therefore, maintaining stability of the slope.

Key words: capillary barrier, recycled crushed concrete, geosynthetic, slope stability, infiltration, rain, soil-water characteristic
curve (SWCC), permeability.

Résumé : Une barrière capillaire est un système fait de deux couches ayant des propriétés hydrauliques distinctes, servant à
minimiser l’infiltration d’eau dans le sol sous-jacent à l’aide des principes mécaniques des sols non saturés. Dans cette étude, un
système de barrière capillaire a été conçu comme système de recouvrement pour une pente d’un sol résiduel visant à minimiser
l’infiltration durant les fortes pluies des régions tropicales, et ce, afin de maintenir la stabilité de la pente. Le système de barrière
capillaire (SBC) a été construit avec du sable fin comme couche de matériau fin et des agrégats de béton concassé recyclé comme
couche de matériau grossier. La couche grossière est couramment construite avec des morceaux de granite ou du gravier.
Cependant, en raison de la rareté des agrégats et pour des considérations environnementales, des agrégats de béton concassé
recyclés ont été utilisés dans ce projet comme couche grossière. L’applicabilité des agrégats de béton concassé recyclés en tant que
matériau pour la couche grossière d’un SBC dépend des propriétés hydrauliques requises. Comme comparaison, un autre SBC a été
construit avec du sable fin comme couche fine et un géosynthétique (Secudrain) comme couche grossière. La performance de chaque
SBC construit sur la pente de sol résiduel a été suivie à l’aide de tensiomètres installés à différentes profondeurs — de 0,6 à 1,8 m sous
la surface de la pente — et d’une sonde de précipitation placée sur la pente. Une pente adjacente sans le SBC a aussi été instrumenté
avec des tensiomètres et piézomètres afin d’évaluer la performance et l’efficacité du SBC à réduire l’infiltration d’eau et à maintenir
les pressions interstitielles négatives dans la pente. Des systèmes de suivi en temps réel ont été développés pour mesurer la pression
interstitielle, les précipitations et le niveau phréatique dans les pentes sur une période de 1 an. Les caractéristiques des distributions
des pressions interstitielles dans les pentes sous un SBC avec des agrégats de béton concassé recyclés et dans la pente originale évaluées
durant des précipitations typiques sont présentées et comparées. Les mesures démontrent que le SBC est efficace pour minimiser
l’infiltration d’eau de pluie et ainsi, pour maintenir la stabilité de la pente. [Traduit par la Rédaction]

Mots-clés : barrière capillaire, béton concassé recyclé, géosynthétique, stabilité de pente, infiltration, pluie, courbe de rétention
d’eau (CRE), perméabilité.

Introduction mechanics because these soils are often unsaturated in nature

Rainfall-induced slope failures are a common problem in many
tropical areas — such as in Singapore — that are covered by resid-
ual soils (Pitts 1985; Tan et al. 1987; Brand 1992; Gasmo et al. 2000;
Tsaparas et al. 2002). Tropical residual soils are known to be com-
plex and their behavior does not follow classical saturated soil
with negative pore-water pressures. The negative pore-water pres-
sure contributes additional shear strength to the unsaturated soil,
but it is highly influenced by changes in the flux boundary condi-
tion (i.e., infiltration, evaporation, and transpiration) resulting
from variation in climatic conditions (Fredlund and Rahardjo

Received 28 January 2012. Accepted 20 March 2013.

H. Rahardjo, E.C. Leong, and A. Satyanaga. School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Blk N1, #1B-36, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798.
V.A. Santoso. R.J. Crocker Consultants Pte Ltd., 273 Thomson Road #04-03, Novena Gardens, Singapore 307644.
Y.S. Ng and C.P.H. Tam. Building and Infrastructure Department, Housing and Development Board, HDB Hub 480, Lorong 6, Toa Payoh, Singapore 310480.
Corresponding author: Harianto Rahardjo (e-mail: chrahardjo@ntu.edu.sg).

Can. Geotech. J. 50: 662–673 (2013) dx.doi.org/10.1139/cgj-2012-0035 Published at www.nrcresearchpress.com/cgj on 22 May 2013.
Rahardjo et al.
1993). As rainwater infiltrates into the slope, pore-water pressure
in the slope increases (matric suction decreases), and the addi-
tional shear strength due to matric suction will decrease or even
disappear, causing the slope to be more susceptible to failure (Lim
et al. 1996; Rahardjo et al. 1998; Toll 2001; Cho and Lee 2002;
Rahardjo et al. 2005).
Numerous studies on the impact of heavy rainfall on slope sta-
bility using monitoring devices and numerical modelling have
been carried out by Chipp et al. (1982), Sweeney (1982), Pitts (1985),
Krahn et al. (1989), Fredlund and Rahardjo (1993), Lim et al. (1996),
Rahardjo et al. (1998), Ng et al. (2003, 2008), Li et al. (2005),
Kovacevic et al. (2007), Charles and Bromhead (2008), and Rouainia
et al. (2009). The effect of climate change in Singapore and else-
where on slope stability may be detrimental to some public trans-
port infrastructures (Anderson and Kneale 1980; Leroueil 2001;
Toll 2001; Borga et al. 2002; Brooks et al. 2004; Smethurst et al.
2006; O'Brien 2007; Kilsby et al. 2009).
A capillary barrier is a two-layer cover system for minimizing
infiltration based on unsaturated soil mechanics principles by
using distinctly different hydraulic properties between a fine-
grained layer and a coarse-grained layer of soil. The contrast in
unsaturated hydraulic properties, soil-water characteristic curves
(SWCCs), and permeability functions serves to minimize water
infiltration into the underlying soil. Previous research has indi-
cated the effectiveness of the capillary barrier system (CBS) as a
soil cover in reducing rainfall infiltration (Ross 1990; Steenhuis
et al. 1991; Morel-Seytoux 1993, 1994; Stormont 1996; Morris and
Stormont 1997a, 1997b; Khire et al. 2000; Tami et al. 2004a, 2004b;
Yang et al. 2004b; Krisdani et al. 2006). Rahardjo et al. (2007a,
2007b, 2012a, 2012b) instrumented several residual soil slopes cov-
ered with CBS in Singapore. They concluded that CBS can be used
as a preventive measure for slopes located in tropical areas with
high rainfall intensity such as Singapore. CBS is suitable for pro-
tection of residual slopes with a deep groundwater table because
CBS can be used to maintain the unsaturated condition of the
slope during heavy rainfalls. The unsaturated condition of the soil
will contribute to the shear strength of the soil and hence, main-
tain the stability of the slope during heavy rainfalls. In addition,
CBS with grass — as opposed to shotcrete — contributes to the
green slope environment, and the use of recycled materials to
form CBS layers supports environmental sustainability.
Rahardjo et al. (2007a) carried out parametric studies of three
capillary barrier models and indicated that the contrast in hydrau-
lic properties of fine- and coarse-grained layers can be quantified
through the ratio of the water-entry values of the fine- and coarse-
grained layers, i.e., the ␺w ratio. The results indicate that the
larger the ␺w ratio in a capillary barrier, the more significant the
barrier effect that can be produced and the less likelihood of
water percolation into the coarse-grained layer. It was suggested
to use a material combination with a ␺w ratio greater than 10. Two
other controlling parameters that have to be considered in the
material selection of CBSs, which were also discussed in Rahardjo
et al. (2007a), are (i) the water-entry value, ␺w, of the coarse-
grained layer and (ii) the coefficient of saturated permeability of
the fine-grained layer. It was suggested to use a soil with a low
water-entry value (preferably <1 kPa) as a coarse-grained layer
material to maintain the effectiveness of the CBS for a longer
period of time. This is due to the fact that water will only start to
percolate into the coarse-grained layer when the matric suction at
the fine–coarse interface is equal to the water-entry value of the
coarse-grained layer. The requirement for a relatively high coeffi-
cient of saturated permeability of the fine-grained layer (prefera-
bly >10−5 m/s) is to allow water to flow out from the fine-grained
layer by lateral diversion. It was also recommended to use a non-
cohesive soil within the fine-grained layer to prevent a significant
volume change that can cause shrinkage cracks during dry peri-
ods. A noncohesive soil that commonly has a relatively low resid-
663
ual water content is also necessary to maximize the storage and
transfer capacity of CBS (Aubertin et al. 2009).
In this study, two CBSs were designed as cover systems for a
residual soil slope to minimize infiltration during heavy rainfalls
in the tropics and therefore, to maintain stability of the slope. One
CBS was constructed using fine sand as the fine-grained layer and
recycled crushed concrete aggregates (RCA) as the coarse-grained
layer. The coarse-grained layer is usually constructed using grav-
els or granite chips. Singapore has limited land area and a scarcity
of natural resources. Every year about 2 million t of waste from
construction and demolition in Singapore are recycled and avail-
able for reuse. The Building and Construction Authority and the
National Environmental Agency in Singapore are attempting to
work closely with industries to promote use of recycled materials
in building and construction projects. The objective is to achieve
environmental sustainability and increase environmental aware-
ness. For similar reasons, recycled crushed concrete aggregates
were adopted as the coarse-grained layer in this project. In addi-
tion, recycled concrete aggregates are less expensive than their
virgin counterparts, thereby reducing construction costs.
Another CBS was constructed using fine sand as the fine-
grained layer and a geosynthetic drainage system (Secudrain 131 C
WD 401 131 C), from NAUE GmbH & Co. KG 2009, as the coarse-
grained layer. The coarse particles used in such a layer in a capil-
lary barrier system technically can be replaced with Secudrain
material as long as they meet the minimum ␺w ratio. Secudrains
have been found to have high permeability and provide drain
continuity.
The pore-water pressure change in the slope is modeled and
compared with the field measurements to investigate the suitabil-
ity of recycled crushed concrete aggregates and Secudrains to be
used as the coarse-grained layer of a CBS.
Site description
The geology of Singapore consists of Bukit Timah Granite in the
center and northwestern regions, the sedimentary Jurong Forma-
tion in the western region, and Old Alluvium in the eastern and
northwestern regions.
A slope that has no prior occurrences of slope failure was se-
lected for the construction of the CBS. The slope consisted of soil
from the Old Alluvium. The slope had a height of 8.2 m, a length
of 22.6 m, and a slope angle of 20°. The area of the slope to be
covered with a CBS was about 40 m2 in the middle section of the
slope (Fig. 1). The investigated slope consisted of two different
layers of residual soil, called layer 1 and layer 2 in this paper.
Old Alluvium is a semi-consolidated deposit consisting mainly
of coarse sand and fine pebbles that exist on a base of mainly
granitic and low grade metamorphic rocks (Gobbett and Hutchison
1973; PWD 1976). This Old Alluvium has been previously identified
as a fluvial deposit (Stauffer 1973) of a braided river system. The
material is very heterogeneous in both vertical and horizontal
directions. The soil is a mixture of sand, gravel, silt, and clay. The
majority of Old Alluvium is found to be uncemented clay and sand
mixture with low fines content. Generally, it is a dense material
with its colour varying from white, gray, yellow, and brown to red,
or a mixture of these colours (Ni et al. 2006). In Singapore, the top
of the Old Alluvium has been eroded, but it is found up to an
elevation of 35 m on local hills, over 100 m thick (Gupta et al.
1987), and at 150 m below the present sea level (PWD 1976).
Materials and method
Laboratory tests were carried out to determine saturated and
unsaturated properties of soil, recycled crushed concrete, and
Secudrain within the CBS and original slope. The grain size anal-
yses and classification of soil, recycled crushed concrete, and
Secudrain were determined according to ASTM (1998) D422 and
ASTM (2010) D2487-10, respectively. The SWCC tests were carried
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664 Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 50, 2013

Fig. 1. (a) Schematic diagram of CBS with RCA as the coarse-grained layer and (b) cross section of CBS with RCA as the coarse-grained layer.
(c) Schematic diagram of CBS with Secudrain as the coarse-grained layer and (d) cross section of CBS with Secudrain as the coarse-grained
layer. G.W.T., groundwater table; RL, reduced level.

Table 1. Basic properties of soils investigated.

Soils
Layer 1 Coarse-grained
Description Layer 1 (with lower ks) Layer 2 Fine-grained layer layer (RCA) Secudrain
USCSa SP SP SP SP — —
Specific gravity, Gs 2.66 2.66 2.61 2.65 2.66 —
Water content (%) 21.1 16.8 25.8 — — —
Gravel content (>4.75 mm; %) 3.3 4.1 14.2 0 100 —
Sand (%) 93.5 93.4 84.4 100 0 —
Fines (<0.075 mm; %) 3.2 2.5 1.4 0 0 —
Grain-size distribution
D60 (mm) 1.4 1.5 2.2 0.52 10.6 —
D30 (mm) 0.47 0.55 0.95 0.32 10.3 —
D10 (mm) 0.18 0.23 0.4 0.20 9.5 —
Coefficient of uniformity, Cu 7.78 6.52 5.5 2.60 1.12 —
Coefficient of curvature, Cc 0.88 0.88 1.03 0.98 1.05 —
Dry density, ␳d (Mg/m3) 1.31 1.73 1.5 1.58 1.53 —
Void ratio, e 0.77 0.57 1.02 0.70 0.66 —
Saturated coefficient of permeability, ks (m/s) 8.7×10−5 6.4×10−7 5.1×10−5 2.7×10−4 7.5×10−3 9×10−2
Note: D10, D30, D60 – grain size at which 10%, 30%, and 60%, respectively, of the sample is finer.
aUnified Soil Classification System (USCS) is described in ASTM (2010).

out using Tempe cell apparatus following procedures described in Table 2. Shear strength properties of soils.
ASTM (2008) D6838-02. The details of the SWCC tests under a
drying process for recycled crushed concrete are similar to those Soils
explained by Rahardjo et al. (2010). For low matric suction ((ua – Fine-grained
uw) < 10 kPa, where ua and uw are the pore-air pressure and pore- Description Layer 1 Layer 2 layer RCA
water pressure, respectively) controls, a U-tube manometer was
Unit weight, ␥ (kN/m ) 3 15.5 18.5 18.0 20
used to control water pressure head and the readout from the
Effective cohesion, c= (kPa) 2 5 3.5 0
head difference that reflected the matric suction (Yang et al.
Effective friction angle, ␾= (°) 29 37 44 49
2004a; Indrawan et al. 2006; Rahardjo et al. 2010).
Air-entry value, ␺a (kPa) 1 12 1.4 0.03
The SWCC test under a wetting process was carried out after ␾b (°)
obtaining the drying curve of the SWCC. The air pressure was For 0 < (ua − uw) ≤ 25 kPa 29 37 44 49
decreased from the last air pressure at the end of the drying For (ua − uw) > 25 kPa 26 20 30 49
process of the SWCC. Then, water started to flow into the recycled
Note: ␾b, angle indicating the rate of change in shear strength relative to
material. All procedures were the same as the ones used in the changes in matric suction, (ua − uw).
drying SWCC tests, except the air pressure was decreased instead
of increased after the mass of the recycled material specimen had
reached equilibrium. The air pressure was decreased according to The fine-grained materials used in the first layer of CBS sections 1
the planned steps of matric suction decrement until zero matric (Fig. 1a) and 2 (Fig. 1c) were fine sand. The coarse-grained material
suction was reached. At the end of the wetting SWCC test, the used in the second layer of CBS section 1 was a recycled crushed
water content of the recycled crushed concrete was determined. concrete aggregate. The fine-grained layer was compacted to a rela-
The drying and wetting SWCCs of the Secudrain were obtained tive density (Dr) between 70%–90% or to the required dry density (␳d)
using the capillary rise principle following procedures explained of 1.65 Mg/m3. The coarse-grained layer was compacted to a relative
by Krisdani et al. (2008). density (Dr) between 70%–90% or to the required dry density (␳d) of

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Rahardjo et al. 665

Table 3. Hydraulic properties of the materials used in the capillary barrier system.
Soils
Fine-grained
Description Layer 1 Layer 2 layer RCA Secudrain
Drying curve
Saturated volumetric water content, ␪s 0.25 0.42 0.41 0.47 0.69
Air-entry value, ␺a (kPa) 1 12 1.4 0.03 0.4
Residual matric suction, ␺r (kPa) 9 600 0.07 0.20 1.8
Residual volumetric water content, ␪r 0.11 0.34 0.04 0.13 0
Fredlund and Xing (1994) fitting parameters
a (kPa) 1.55 16.6 1.94 0.05 4.45
n 4.42 1.02 6.30 7.97 2.17
m 0.31 0.19 0.87 0.47 70.69
Wetting curve
Water-entry value, ␺w (kPa) 30 200 3.50 0.22 0.22
Volumetric water content at ␺w, ␪w 0.1 0.33 0.01 0.11 0
Fredlund and Xing (1994) fitting parameters
a (kPa) 3.41 7.47 1.81 0.56 0.18
n 2.20 1.41 3.19 0.21 5.10
m 0.28 0.09 3.74 0.80 5.25

Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of Secudrain: (a) cross section; (b) top view (with permission from NAUE Geosynthetics Limited Publishing (NAUE
GmbH & Co. KG 2009)). (c) Installation of Secudrain in the field.

1.80 Mg/m3. Shear strengths of the CBS materials and residual soils
beneath the CBS were obtained from two types of triaxial tests. The
consolidated undrained triaxial tests with pore-water pressure mea-
surement were carried out according to ASTM (2009) D4767-07 to
obtain the effective cohesion (c=) and the effective angle of internal
friction (␾=) of the CBS materials and residual soils. Meanwhile,
multi-stage consolidated drained unsaturated triaxial tests were per-
formed using a modified triaxial apparatus to obtain an angle indi-
cating the rate of change in shear strength relative to a change in
matric suction (␾b) of the CBS materials and residual soils. A sum-
mary of the basic, shear strength, and hydraulic properties of the
soils used in this study is presented in Tables 1 to 3.
The CBS used a relatively high coefficient of saturated permea-
bility of the fine-grained layer, i.e., 2.7 × 10−5 m/s (>10−5 m/s as
suggested by Rahardjo et al. 2007a). The ␺w ratio for the CBS using
RCA as the coarse-grained layer is 15.9, meeting the criteria sug-
gested by Rahardjo et al. (2007a). The coarse-grained layer mate-
rial has a low water-entry value of 0.22 kPa (<1 kPa).
For CBS with RCA, on top of the residual soil, a 6.5 mm thick
layer of a geosynthetic drainage system (Secudrain) was used as a
separator. Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of the geosynthetic
drainage system, which was a three-layered, three-dimensional,
filter stable, and high compression resistance drainage system
consisting of an extruded wave-shaped monofilament core and
needle-punched nonwoven fully bonded geotextile on both sides.
Maximum tensile strengths of the drainage composite were 11 and
20 kN/m in the horizontal and vertical directions, respectively.
The high void ratio of the drainage core (at least 95%) of the geo-
synthetic ensured a high water discharge capacity for drainage if
a breakthrough were to occur in the CBS. A nonwoven geotextile
TS 80 (TenCate 2011) was used in the capillary barrier as a separa-
tor between the coarse- and fine-grained layers. For the CBS with
Secudrain, the geosynthetic (Secudrain) was also used as a separa-
tor on top of the residual soil and as the coarse-grained layer. For
both sections, perforated drainage pipes (diameter 15 mm) of the
coarse- and the fine-grained layers were wrapped with the nonwo-
ven geotextile TS 20 (TenCate 2011). In both sections, grass was
planted within the top soil layer to prevent the erosion of top soil
during heavy rainfall, whereas the erosion control blanket mat
was placed below the top soil to prevent the erosion of fine-
grained soil during heavy rainfall.
Geocells were used as the confinement for fine sand and recy-
cled crushed concrete aggregates to form the fine- and coarse-
grained layers, respectively. VersiWeb type VW-200-30 (Elmich
2007) standard cellular section iss a net-like grid structure made
from high strength strips of sheet polyethylene. The individual

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666 Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 50, 2013

Fig. 3. Soil-water characteristic curves for (a) fine sand, recycled crushed concrete aggregate, and residual soil for the capillary barrier system
with RCA and (b) fine sand, Secudrain, and residual soil for the capillary barrier system with Secudrain.

cells of the standard VersiWeb are uniform in shape and size Fig. 4. Permeability functions for fine sand, Secudrain, recycled
when expanded. The hole areas within the cell of each VersiWeb crushed concrete aggregate, and residual soil for the capillary
are around two-thirds of the cell areas to allow water to flow barrier system with RCA.
smoothly within the CBS toward the slope direction. The cell di-
mensions were 203 mm length, 244 mm width, 200 mm height,
and 1.2 mm thickness. The cell area was about 248 cm2. The cell
tensile strengths were 18.4 and 19.5 MPa longitudinally and later-
ally, respectively. The size and weight per panel of geocell were
about 15 m2 and 49.3 kg, respectively.
Figures 3 and 4 show the SWCCs and permeability functions,
respectively, for fine sand, recycled crushed concrete aggregates,
and residual soils at Tampines St. 33. The measured SWCCs were
best-fitted by the Fredlund and Xing (1994) equation with the cor-
rection factor taken as 1 as suggested by Leong and Rahardjo (1997).
The best-fitting parameters for the drying SWCC (a, n, and m) of
the residual soil, fine sand, and recycled crushed concrete aggre-
gates are tabulated in Table 3. The Fredlund and Xing (1994) equa-
tion with the correction factor equal to 1 was also used to best-fit
the measured wetting curves of the SWCC for residual soil and
fine sand, while a simple scaling method (Pham et al. 2005) was
used for estimating the wetting curves of the SWCC for the recy-
cled crushed concrete aggregates. The best-fitting parameters for
the wetting SWCC (a, n, and m) used for the numerical analyses for
the residual soil, fine sand, and recycled crushed concrete aggre- Geotextile to separate the coarse- and fine-grained layers was laid,
gates are also given in Table 3. puncturing through the pre-installed J-pins of 115 cm length pen-
The saturated permeabilities for layer 1, layer 2, the fine sand, etrating 74 cm into the ground. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe
and recycled crushed concrete aggregates were determined in the casings were installed to mark the location of tensiometers. Geo-
laboratory as 8.7 × 10−5, 5.1 × 10−5, 2.7 × 10−4, and 7.5 × 10−3 m/s, cells for the fine-grained layer were laid on top of the geotextile.
respectively. Figure 4 shows the estimated permeability func- Fine sand for the fine-grained layer was backfilled and compacted
tions. The saturated permeability for the Secudrain was taken as to the required dry density. Finally, the slope was backfilled and
the specified value of 0.09 m/s (NAUE GmbH & Co. KG 2009). compacted to the slope surface with top soil. Perforated drains for
Hydraulic properties of the materials used in the capillary barrier the fine- and coarse-grained layers of the CBS at the toe of the CBS
system are summarized in Table 3. In addition, geotextiles TS 20 area were installed as shown in Fig. 5.
and TS 80 were specified as having a saturated permeability of The slope surface for the capillary barrier system with Secud-
0.115 and 0.05 m/s (TenCate 2011), respectively. rain was excavated to 360 mm depth below the slope surface as
shown in Fig. 1. Limit boundaries of the study area were also set by
Design and construction sequences of the capillary inserting aluminium impermeable walls and constructing surface
barrier system drains at the crest, sides, and toe of the CBS on trenches. The
The slope surface for the CBS with RCA was excavated to 540 mm Secudrain layer was laid on the trimmed slope surface to provide
depth below the slope surface as shown in Fig. 1. Limit boundaries drainage if a breakthrough were to occur and then another Secud-
of the study area were set by inserting aluminium sheets and rain was laid on top of it as the coarse-grained layer. Geocells were
constructing surface drains at the crest, sides, and toe of the CBS laid over the Secudrain and secured by steel J-pins of 75 cm length
on trenches. The Secudrain layer was laid on the trimmed slope penetrating 54 cm into the ground. The entire geocell area was
surface and then the geocells were laid on top of it — for placing then filled with the fine sand to form the fine-grained layer. Man-
the coarse-grained layer — and secured by steel J-pins of 75 cm ual compaction using a portable soil compactor was conducted on
length penetrating 54 cm into the ground. the fine-grained layer to achieve the desired density. In situ den-
Recycled crushed concrete aggregate for the coarse-grained sity tests were carried out to ensure that each layer had been
layer was backfilled and compacted to the required dry density. compacted to the respective desired densities. Perforated drains

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Rahardjo et al. 667

Fig. 5. Perforated drainage PVC.

Fig. 6. Layout of instrumented slope.

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668
Fig. 7. Groundwater level and daily rainfall versus time.
Fig. 8. Rainfall event on 16–17 July 2010.
for the fine-grained layer of CBS at the toe of the CBS area were
installed also as presented in Fig. 5. The constructed two sections
of the CBS are shown in Fig. 6.
Prior to construction of the CBS in the field, numerical analyses
were carried out to determine the lateral diversion of the CBS with
RCA and CBS with Secudrain. The CBS with RCA was designed
with a thickness of 20 cm for the fine-grained layer and 20 cm for
the coarse-grained layer (RCA), whereas the CBS with Secudrain
was designed with a thickness of 20 cm for the fine-grained layer
and 1.3 cm for the coarse-grained layer (Secudrain). Seepage anal-
yses results showed that the effective lengths of CBS with RCA and
CBS with Secudrain were 10 and 8 m, respectively, which were the
sloping distance from the crest of the capillary barrier to the
location where the infiltrated water stored in the fine-grained
Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 50, 2013
Fig. 9. Rainfall event on 30 July 2010.
layer started to penetrate into the coarse-grained layer (Stormont
1996; Tami et al. 2004b; Aubertin et al. 2009). Therefore, both CBSs
were designed with a length of 8 m from the crest of the slope,
which is equal to or less than the effective length of each CBS, to
avoid breakthrough of rainwater into the coarse-grained layer.
Field instrumentation
Ten tensiometers were installed in the middle of the slope, with
four tensiometers being located on the CBS with RCA for the
coarse-grained layer, three tensiometers on the CBS with Secud-
rain for the coarse-grained layer, and three tensiometers on the
original slope (Fig. 1). In the CBS with RCA for the coarse-grained
layer, the installed tensiometers were labelled TA1, TB1, TC1, and
TD1 with a spacing of 0.5 m and insertion depths of 0.63, 1.18, 1.48,
Published by NRC Research Press
Rahardjo et al.
Fig. 10. Pore-water pressure profile during the rainfall event on 16–17 July 2010 for (a) slope with capillary barrier system using recycled
crushed concrete as the coarse-grained layer; (b) slope with capillary barrier system using Secudrain as the coarse-grained layer; (c) original
slope.
Fig. 11. Pore-water pressure profile during the rainfall event on 30 July 2010 for (a) slope with capillary barrier system using recycled crushed
concrete as the coarse-grained layer; (b) slope with capillary barrier system using Secudrain as the coarse-grained layer; (c) original slope.
and 1.76 m, respectively. In the CBS with Secudrain for the coarse-
grained layer, the installed tensiometers were named TA2, TB2,
and TD2 with a spacing of 0.5 m and insertion depths of 0.61, 1.23,
and 1.81 m, respectively. In the original slope, the installed tensi-
ometers were named TA3, TB3, and TD3 at 0.5 m spacing and
insertion depths of 0.67 m, 1.29 m, and 1.84 m, respectively. The
tensiometers installed along the vertical section of the slope were
assumed sufficient to support the objective of this study, which is
evaluating the performance of a CBS as compared with that of the
original slope. The adjacent original slope without the capillary
barrier system was instrumented with tensiometers and piezom-
eters as a reference to evaluate the performance and effectiveness
of the capillary barrier system in reducing rainwater infiltration
and maintaining negative pore-water pressure in the slope.
Three piezometers were located at the crest, middle, and toe of
the slope to measure the water levels, i.e., piezometer 1, piezom-
eter 2, and piezometer 3, respectively (Fig. 6). A tipping bucket
rainfall gauge to determine the amount of rainfall at the site and
a photovoltaic power supply system comprising one module of a
solar panel and several reserve batteries to store the energy were
installed on the crest of the slope. All transducers from tensiom-
eters, piezometers, and the rain gauge were linked to the same
power supply and data logger to obtain the readings in real time
and were accessible on-line.
Numerical analyses
Two-dimensional seepage analyses were carried out using the
finite element software SEEP/W (GEO-SLOPE International Ltd.
2007a) and slope stability analyses were conducted using Slope/W
(GEO-SLOPE International Ltd. 2007b).
669
Slope geometries and boundary conditions
The boundary conditions applied to the finite element model
are illustrated in Fig. 1. The distance between the slope and the
side of the slope model was set to three times the height of the
slope to avoid the influence of the side boundary conditions. No-
flow boundaries were simulated by assigning a nodal flux, Q, equal
to zero at the bottom and along the sides of the slope model above
the groundwater table. The constant total head, hw, on each side
was applied as the boundary along the sides of the slope model
below the groundwater table. The actual rainfall was applied to
the slope surface as a flux boundary, q. Ponding was not allowed to
occur at the slope surface. This meant that when a flux greater
than the permeability of the soil was applied to the top boundary,
the seepage model would not allow pore-water pressures at the
ground surface greater than 0 kPa to build up. This simulated the
actual field conditions where the excess rainfall at the slope sur-
face is removed as runoff. The initial condition of the slope was
taken based on the position of groundwater table in the field. The
finite element model within the CBS and residual soil layer down
to 5 m below the slope surface had a mesh size of approximately
0.5 m, smaller than elements in other parts of the slope, to obtain
accurate results within the infiltration zone.
Figure 7 shows groundwater levels and daily rainfall versus
time in the monitoring period from 26 May 2010 to 5 January 2011.
Transient seepage analyses were carried out for 48 h based on the
rainfall events on 16–17 July and 30 July 2010. The results were
then compared with the results from the real-time monitoring of
pore-water pressures in the slope with a capillary barrier system
and the original slope. The rainfall events on 16–17 July and 30 July
2010 are presented in Figs. 8 and 9, respectively. The total amounts
of rainfall on 16–17 July and 30 July 2010 were 130.05 mm (heavy
Published by NRC Research Press
670 Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 50, 2013

rainfall) and 21.08 mm (small rainfall), respectively. The maxi- Fig. 12. Water balance of slopes with and without CBS during and
mum rainfall intensities on 16–17 July and 30 July 2010 were 115.82 after rainfall event on 16–17 July 2010.
and 28.96 mm/h, respectively.

Seepage analyses
The pore-water pressure profiles of the CBS with recycled
crushed concrete, CBS with Secudrain, and original slope on 16–
17 July 2010 are presented in Figs. 10a, 10b and 10c, respectively, and
on 30 July 2010 are presented in Figs. 11a, 11b, and 11c, respectively.
The numerical analyses showed a reasonably good agreement in
the trend of the pore-water pressure profiles with those obtained
from the field measurements. The pore-water pressure increased
significantly to positive values after the rainfall events as mea-
sured by the tensiometers in the original slope on 16–17 July and
30 July 2010 (Figs. 10c and 11c, respectively). On the other hand, the
pore-water pressure remained negative in the CBS with recycled
crushed concrete and Secudrain (Figs. 10a, 10b, and 11a, 11b, respec-
tively), indicating that the capillary barrier system reduced the
amount of rainwater infiltrating into deeper depths.
The pore-water pressure at the depth of 1.8 m on the original
slope increased to +9 kPa after 19 h of rainfall on 16–17 July 2010
while the pore-water pressure at the depth of 1.8 m on the CBS
with recycled crushed concrete and Secudrain remained negative
Fig. 13. Factor of safety variation during and after rainfall event on
(–3 kPa) (Fig. 10). A similar trend was also observed in the pore-
16–17 July 2010.
water pressure profile on the CBS with recycled crushed concrete,
the CBS with Secudrain, and on the original slope during rainfall
on 30 July 2010. However, the increment of pore-water pressure on
the original slope during rainfall on 30 July 2010 was not as sig-
nificant as that observed during rainfall on 16–17 July 2010, as the
total amount of rainfall on 30 July 2010 (21.08 mm) was less than
that on 16–17 July 2010 (129.50 mm) (Figs. 6 and 7).
The water balance for the slope with and without a CBS during
rainfall on 16–17 July 2010 obtained from numerical analysis
shown in Fig. 12 indicates that the infiltrated rainwater drained
laterally within the fine-grained layer, as no breakthrough was
observed into the coarse-grained layer and into the residual soil
below the CBS with recycled crushed concrete and Secudrain. On
the other hand, rainwater infiltrated directly into the residual soil
within soil without CBS (original soil) as shown in Fig. 12. The
results of the seepage analyses and field measurements as shown
in Figs. 10 to 12 indicated that both CBS with recycled crushed
concrete aggregates and that with Secudrain as the coarse-grained
layer were effective in minimizing rainwater infiltration and
therefore were able to maintain negative pore-water pressures,
which contributed to the stability of the slope. The presence of
negative pore-water pressure contributed to the shear strength of
Fig. 14. Factor of safety variation during and after rainfall event on
the soil, causing the slope to be less vulnerable to failure. On the
30 July 2010.
other hand, the pore-water pressure under the original slope was
easily affected by rainwater infiltration. Figures 10 and 11 also
point out that positive pore-water pressures had built up to 6.8
kPa at an elevation of 111.6 m, indicating that a lower-permeability
soil layer (6.4 × 10−7 m/s) existed at a depth of 1.5 to 2.1 m from the
slope surface (see Fig. 1).

Slope stability analyses

Stability analyses of the original slope and the CBS with RCA for
the coarse-grained layer and the CBS with Secudrain for the
coarse-grained layer at Tampines were carried out by incorporat-
ing the pore-water pressure measured from 16–17 July and 30 July
2010 to obtain the variation in factor of safety (FoS) at the Tamp-
ines slope using Bishop's simplified method of slices (Wright et al.
1973). Shear strength properties of the soils used in the slope
stability analyses are tabulated in Table 2. Figures 13 and 14 pres-
ent the variations of factor of safety with respect to time during
and after the rainfall. Figure 13 shows that the initial factor of
safety of the original slope was 2.15 and decreased rapidly during
the rainfall until a minimum factor of safety of 1.66 was reached.
The initial factor of safety of the CBS with recycled crushed con-

Published by NRC Research Press

Rahardjo et al. 671

Fig. 15. Pore-water pressure measurement at various depths of (a) slope with capillary barrier system with recycled crushed concrete as the
coarse-grained layer; (b) slope with capillary barrier system with Secudrain as the coarse-grained layer; (c) original slope. (d) Factor of safety
variation and (e) rainfall intensity from 26 May 2010 07:10 to 5 January 2011 17:40.

Published by NRC Research Press

672
crete was 2.41 and decreased slightly to the minimum factor of
safety of 2.39 due to the rainfall. Meanwhile, the initial factor of
safety of the CBS with Secudrain was 2.23 and also decreased
slightly to the minimum factor of safety of 2.21 due to the rainfall.
Figure 14 shows that the initial factor of safety of the original
slope was 2.29 and decreased rapidly during the rainfall to the
minimum factor of safety of 1.85. The initial factor of safety of the
CBS with RCA was 3.00 and decreased slightly to the minimum
factor of safety of 2.97 due to the rainfall. Meanwhile, the initial
factor of safety of the CBS with Secudrain was 2.42 and also de-
creased slightly to the minimum factor of safety of 2.41 due to the
rainfall. Higher negative pore-water pressures before rainfall in
the slope with the capillary barrier system (Figs. 15a and 15b) than
those in the original slope (Fig. 15c) contribute to the higher initial
factor of safety of the slope with the capillary barrier system than
those of the original slope (Fig. 15d). Figure 15d shows the factor of
safety variations in relation to the rainfall events for the period
from 26 May 2010 to 5 January 2011, indicating higher factors of
safety for slopes with capillary barrier systems than those of the
original slope.
Based on the Code of Practice of the Public Utilities Board, Sin-
gapore (PUB 2000), a maximum total amount of rainfall in a day of
533.2 mm should be used in drainage system designs. Therefore,
slope stability analyses using Slope/W for the original slope and
CBS with recycled crushed concrete and Secudrain were also per-
formed for a continuous rainfall intensity of 22.2 mm/h for 1 day
(total amount of rainfall in a day is 533.2 mm).
Figure 16 shows the results of the slope stability analyses. The
original slope has an initial factor of safety of 2.64 and drops to a
marginal factor of safety of 1.07 at an elapsed time of 10 h after the
rainfall starts. The CBS with RCA as the coarse-grained layer has
an initial factor of safety of 2.94 before the rainfall and decreases
to 1.41 at an elapsed time of 24 h after the rainfall starts. The CBS
with Secudrain has an initial factor of safety of 2.91 before the
rainfall and decreases to 1.31 at an elapsed time of 20 h after the
rainfall starts. The analyses illustrate the good performance of
both slopes covered with the CBS during a severe rainfall condi-
tion as compared to the original slope, illustrating the benefits of
a capillary barrier system as part of a slope cover. Nevertheless,
the effectiveness of both slopes covered with a capillary barrier
system reached their limits as the factor of safety drops signifi-
cantly to 1.49 after applying a rainfall intensity of 22.2 mm/h
continuously for 6 h.
Conclusions
Applying basic principles of unsaturated soil mechanics is nec-
essary to design capillary barrier systems. The capillary barrier
effect exists due to the contrast in the coefficient of unsaturated
permeability between the fine- and coarse-grained soil layers. Un-
der unsaturated conditions, the coefficient of permeability of the
coarse-grained layer is lower than that of the fine-grained layer.
The contrast in the hydraulic properties of fine- and coarse-
grained layers is reflected by the difference in their water-entry
values. The effectiveness of the capillary barrier system depends
on the selection of materials, hydrogeological condition of the
slope, and a good drainage system to properly drain the rainwater
from the capillary barrier system.
In this study, a capillary barrier system has been shown to be
effective in minimizing rainwater infiltration into a slope and
therefore maintaining stability of the slope during rainfall. Recy-
cled crushed concrete aggregates and Secudrain were both found
to be suitable, nonconventional, and sustainable alternatives to
be used in place of a natural coarse-grained layer in a capillary
barrier system. The CBS with Secudrain provides the benefit of
reducing the total thickness of a CBS layer without lowering its
performance in minimizing rainwater infiltration into the slope.
Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 50, 2013
Fig. 16. Factor of safety variations for 1 day rainfall intensity at
22.2 mm/h.
Acknowledgements
The work described in this paper was supported by the Housing
and Development Board and Nanyang Technological University,
Singapore. The contribution from Samwoh Pte Ltd in supplying
the recycled concrete aggregate for this study is greatly appreci-
ated.
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Copyright of Canadian Geotechnical Journal is the property of Canadian Science Publishing
and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without
the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or
email articles for individual use.