Seismically induced slope instabilities and the corresponding treatments: the case of a road in the Wenchuan earthquake hit region

On May 12, 2008, a magnitude 8.0 earthquake hit Wenchuan County, Sichuan Province resulted in great loss of life and properties. Besides, abundant landslides and slope failures were triggered in the most seriously hit areas and caused disastrous damages to infrastructures and public facilities. Moreover, abundant unstable slopes caused by the quake have the potential to cause damages for a considerable long period of time. The variety of these slopes and the corresponding treatments are connected with the topographical and geological conditions of the sites. It is decided to document and identify some of these major slope instabilities caused by the earthquake and their treatments. The paper shows the condition of a road in Dujiangyan through in situ explorations. The case history showed significant implications to the reconstruction of the quake-hit regions and future disaster prevention and management works.     

Inversion analysis of the shear strength parameters for a high loess slope in the limit state

It is difficult to obtain reliable shear strength parameters for the stability analysis and evaluation of high loess slopes.Hence,this paper determines slope elements and physical parameter of 79 slopes with heights of[40,120]m based on the measured loess slopes in the Ganquan and Tonghuang subregions of northern Shaanxi Province,China.In the limit state of the loess slope(stability factor Fs is 1.0),a fitting equation for the slope height and width is established.Then,the model is developed by stability analysis software-SLOPE/W,and the comprehensive shear strength parameters corresponding to different slope heights of the high slope in the study area are obtained by inversion using the Morgenstern-Price method.The results show that when the height of the slope increases,the cohesion c increases in the soil,and the internal friction angle j decreases.This change is consistent with the characteristics reflected in the composition and physical properties of the slopes,and the comprehensive strength parametric curves are very similar between the Ganquan subregion and the Tonghuang subregion.A landslide that occurred in Miaodian-zaitou of Jingyang County,Shaanxi Province,is selected to verify this inversion method,and the results show that the calculated shear strength parameters of the inversion are consistent with the measured value of the actual slope.     

Assessment of rock slope stability by probabilistic-based Slope Stability Probability Classification method along highway cut slopes in Adilcevaz-Bitlis (Turkey)

Rock slope stability is of great concern along highway routes as stability problems on cut slopes may cause fatal events as well as loss of property. In rock slope engineering, stability evaluations are commonly performed by means of analytical or numerical analyses, principally considering the factor of safety concept. As a matter of fact, the probabilistic assessment of slope stability is progressively getting popularity due to difficulties in assigning the most appropriate values to design parameters in analytical or numerical methods. Additionally, the effect of heterogeneities in rock masses and discontinuities on the analysis results is minimized through the probabilistic concept. In this study, slope stability of high and steep sedimentary rock cut slopes along a state highway in Adilcevaz-Bitlis (Turkey) was evaluated on the basis of probabilistic approach using the Slope Stability Probability Classification (SSPC) system. The probabilistic assessment indicates major slope stability problems because of discontinuity controlled and discontinuity orientation independent mass movements. Almost all studied cut slopes suffer from orientation-independent stability problems with very low stability probabilities. Additionally, the probability of planar and toppling failures is significantly high with respect to the SSPC system. The stability problems along the investigated rock slopes were also verified by field reconnaissance. Remedial measures such as slope re-design and reinforcement at the studied locations should be taken to prevent hazardous events along the highway. On the other hand, the probabilistic approach may be a useful tool during rock slope engineering to overcome numerous uncertainties when probabilistic and analytic results are compared.     

降雨作用下青石镇政府后山堆积层滑坡渗流与稳定性

以黄冈地区青石镇政府后山堆积层滑坡为例，在分析了其工程地质特征及地质结构特征的基础上，采用有限元法研究了非饱和土瞬态体积含水量及孔隙水压力的分布，采用考虑孔隙水压力的Janbu法分析计算了降雨对堆积层滑坡安全系数的影响。研究结果表明:①降雨入渗导致坡体孔隙水压力升高，滑面抗剪强度降低，安全系数也随之逐渐降低，其中在降雨前期，两侧的抗剪强度下降速率比中部快，而到了后期中部的抗剪强度下降速率明显快于两侧；②安全系数变化表现为前19 d以0.008/d的速率缓慢下降，19~30 d以0.03/d的速率缓慢下降，30 d以后下降速度降低，至36 d之后不再发生变化，其中在0~11 d两侧抗剪强度变化对滑坡整体稳定性变化的贡献比中部大，19~36 d中部抗剪强度变化对滑坡整体稳定性变化的贡献要比两侧大；③降雨入渗过程中，地下水从坡体表层和两侧流向坡体中部，负孔压区面积向中部不断压缩，中部地下水变化受到两侧及上层的制约，体积含水量及孔隙水压力变化相对滞后；④该滑坡的防治重点是做好降雨前期坡体后缘地下水截流以及前缘地下水排泄工作，同时，做好地表排水，减少降雨入渗。      

Prediction for potential landslide zones using seismic amplitude in Liwan gas field,northern South China Sea

The Liwan (Lw) gas field located in the northern slope of the South China Sea (SCS) is extremely complex for its sea-floor topograghy, which is a huge challenge for the safety of subsea facilities. It is economically impractical to obtain parameters for risk assessment of slope stability through a large amount of sampling over the whole field. The linkage between soil shear strength and seabed peak amplitude derived from 2D/3D seismic data is helpful for understanding the regional slope-instability risk. In this paper, the relationships among seabed peak, acoustic impedance and shear strength of shallow soil in the study area were discussed based on statistical analysis results. We obtained a similar relationship to that obtained in other deep-water areas. There is a positive correlation between seabed peak amplitude and acoustic impedance and an exponential relationship between acoustic impedance and shear strength of sediment. The acoustic impedance is the key factor linking the seismic amplitude and shear strength. Infinite slope stability analysis results indicate the areas have a high potential of shallow landslide on slopes exceeding 15° when the thickness of loose sediments exceeds 8 m in the Lw gas field. Our prediction shows that they are mainly located in the heads and walls of submarine canyons.     

Influences of soil moisture and salt content on loess shear strength in the Xining Basin,northeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Moisture and salt content of soil are the two predominant factors influencing its shear strength. This study aims to investigate the effects of these two factors on shear strength behavior of loess in the Xining Basin of Northeast Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, where such geological hazards as soil erosion, landslides collapse and debris flows are widespread due to the highly erodible loess. Salinized loess soil collected from the test site was desalinized through salt-leaching in the laboratory. The desalinized and oven-dried loess samples were also artificially moisturized and salinized in order to examine how soil salinity affects its shear strength at different moisture levels. Soil samples prepared in different ways(moisturizing, salt-leaching, and salinized) were measured to determine soil cohesion and internal friction angle. The results show that salt-leaching up to 18 rounds almost completely removed the salt content and considerably changed the physical components of loess, but the soil type remained unchanged. As salt content increases from 0.00% to 12.00%, both the cohesion and internal friction angle exhibit an initial decrease and then increase with salt content. As moisture content is 12.00%, the salt content threshold value for both cohesion and internal friction angle is identified as 3.00%. As the moisture content rises to 16.0% and 20.00%, the salt content threshold value for cohesion is still 6.00%, but 3.00% for internal friction angle. At these thresholds soil shear strength is the lowest, below which it is inversely related to soil salinity. Beyond the thresholds, however, the relationship is positive. Dissimilar to salinity, soil moisture content exerts an adverse effect on shear strength of loess. The findings of this study can provide a valuable guidance on stabilizing the engineering properties of salinized loess to prevent slope failures during heavy rainfall events.     

Stability of submarine slopes in the northern South China Sea: a numerical approach

Submarine landslides occur frequently on most continental margins. They are effective mechanisms of sediment transfer but also a geological hazard to seafloor installations. In this paper, submarine slope stability is evaluated using a 2D limit equilibrium method. Considerations of slope, sediment, and triggering force on the factor of safety (FOS) were calculated in drained and undrained (Φ=0) cases. Results show that submarine slopes are stable when the slope is <16° under static conditions and without a weak interlayer. With a weak interlayer, slopes are stable at <18° in the drained case and at <9° in the undrained case. Earthquake loading can drastically reduce the shear strength of sediment with increased pore water pressure. The slope became unstable at >13° with earthquake peak ground acceleration (PGA) of 0.5 g; whereas with a weak layer, a PGA of 0.2 g could trigger instability at slopes >10°, and >3° for PGA of 0.5 g. The northern slope of the South China Sea is geomorphologically stable under static conditions. However, because of the possibility of high PGA at the eastern margin of the South China Sea, submarine slides are likely on the Taiwan Bank slope and eastern part of the Dongsha slope. Therefore, submarine slides recognized in seismic profiles on the Taiwan Bank slope would be triggered by an earthquake, the most important factor for triggering submarine slides on the northern slope of the South China Sea. Considering the distribution of PGA, we consider the northern slope of the South China Sea to be stable, excluding the Taiwan Bank slope, which is tectonically active.     

A method combining numerical analysis and limit equilibrium theory to determine potential slip surfaces in soil slopes

This paper describes a precise method combining numerical analysis and limit equilibrium theory to determine potential slip surfaces in soil slopes. In this method, the direction of the critical slip surface at any point in a slope is determined using the Coulomb’s strength principle and the extremum principle based on the ratio of the shear strength to the shear stress at that point. The ratio, which is considered as an analysis index, can be computed once the stress field of the soil slope is obtained. The critical slip direction at any point in the slope must be the tangential direction of a potential slip surface passing through the point. Therefore, starting from a point on the top of the slope surface or on the horizontal segment outside the slope toe, the increment with a small distance into the slope is used to choose another point and the corresponding slip direction at the point is computed. Connecting all the points used in the computation forms a potential slip surface exiting at the starting point. Then the factor of safety for any potential slip surface can be computed using limit equilibrium method like Spencer method. After factors of safety for all the potential slip surfaces are obtained, the minimum one is the factor of safety for the slope and the corresponding potential slip surface is the critical slip surface of the slope. The proposed method does not need to pre-assume the shape of potential slip surfaces. Thus it is suitable for any shape of slip surfaces. Moreover the method is very simple to be applied. Examples are presented in this paper to illustrate the feasibility of the proposed method programmed in ANSYS software by macro commands.     

Influence of non-dimensional strength parameters on the seismic stability of cracked slopes

Cracks in rock or soil slopes influence the stability and durability of the slopes. Seismic forces can trigger slope disasters, particularly in the cracked slopes. Considering the nonlinear characteristics of materials, the more generalized nonlinear failure criterion proposed by Baker is adopted. The influence of non-dimensional strength parameters on the stability of cracked slopes under earthquakes is performed using the upper bound limit analysis. The seismic displacement is calculated by adopting the logarithmic spiral failure surface according to the sliding rigid block model. Based on the existing studies, two methods for the stability analysis of cracked slopes under earthquakes are introduced: the pseudo-static method(with the factor of safety(Fs) as an evaluation index), and the displacement-based method(with the seismic displacement as an evaluation index). The pseudo-static method can only determine the instantaneous stability state of the cracked slope, yet the displacement-based methodreflects the stability variation of cracked slopes during earthquakes. The results indicate that the nondimensional strength parameters affect the factor of safety and seismic displacement of slopes significantly. The non-dimensional strength parameter(n) controlling the curvature of strength function shapes on the slope stability is affected by other parameters. Owing to cracks, the effect of non-dimensional strength parameters on seismic displacement becomes more significant.     

Evaluation of the stability of vegetated slopes according to layout and temporal changes

Vegetation in slopes can effectively improve slope stability.However,it is difficult to estimate the effects of vegetation on slope stability because of variations in plant species and environmental conditions.Moreover,influences of plant growth on slope stability change with time,resulting in changes in the safety factor.This study was conducted to evaluate the stability of vegetated slopes with time and investigate the effects of different layouts of plant species on slope stability.Here,we used a plant growth model and slope stability analysis to build an evaluation model.To accomplish this,one species of tree,shrub and grass was chosen to set six layout patterns.A slope with no vegetation served as a control.The safety factors of the seven slopes were then calculated using the developed evaluation model and differences in the safety factors of slopes were compared and discussed.The slope vegetated with Platycladus orientalis reached the most stable state at the age of 60 years.Shrub slope(Vitex negundo)had the maximum safety factor after 20 years.Overall,the safety factor of vegetated slopes increased from 12.1%to 49.6% compared to the slope with no vegetation.When wind force was considered,the safety factor value of the slope changed from 3.5%to 43.5%.Vegetation mixtures of trees and grasses resulted in the best slope stability.Planting grasses on slopes can improve slope stability of trees to a greater degree than that of slopes with shrubs in the early stage of growth.     

Distribution of debris flows in Glacier National Park,Montana, U.S.A.

The spectacular scenery of Glacier National Park is the result of glacial erosion as well as post-glacial mass wasting processes. Debris flow magnitude and frequency have been established through extensive fieldwork across seven separate drainage basins in the eastern portion of the park. This paper summarizes the investigation of the hypotheses that debris flow distribution in the Glacier National Park, east of the Continental Divide is （a） not random; and Co） concentrated adjacent to the Continental Divide. The location of 2317 debris flows were identified and mapped from sixty-three 1-m resolution Digital Orthophoto Quarter Quadrangles and their spatial distribution was then analyzed using ArcView Spatial Analyst GIS software. The GIS analysis showed that the debris flows are not randomly distributed nor are they concentrated directly adjacent to the Divide. While the Continental Divide provides orographic enhancement of precipitation directly adjacent to the Divide, the debris flows are not concentrated there due to a lack of available weathered regolith. The most recent Little Ice Age glaciation removed the debris directly adjacent to the Divide, and without an adequate debris supply, these steep slopes experience few debris flows. Both abundant water and an adequate debris supply are necessary to initiate slope failure, resulting in a clustering of debris flows at the break in slope where valley walls contact talus slopes. A variety of summer storm and antecedent moisture conditions initiate slope failures in the Glacier National Park, with no distinct meteorological threshold. With over two million visitorsevery year, and millions of dollars of park infrastructure at risk, identifying the hazard of debris flows is essential to future park management plans.     

Slope debris flows in the Wenchuan Earthquake area

Avalanches and landslides, induced by the Wenchuan Earthquake on May 12, 2008, resulted in a lot of disaggregated, solid material on slopes that could be readily mobilized as source material for debris flows. Rainstorms triggered numerous slope debris flows with great damage to highways and rivers over the subsequent two years. Slope debris flows (as opposed to channelized debris flows) are defined as phenomena in which high-concentration mixtures of debris and water flow down slopes for short distances to highways and river banks. Based on field investigations and measurements of 19 slope debris flows, their main characteristics and potential mitigation strategies were studied. High rainfall intensity is the main triggering factor. Critical rainfall intensities for simultaneous occurrence of single, several and numerous slope debris flow events were 20 mm/day, 30mm/day, and 90 mm/day, respectively. Field investigations also revealed that slope debris flows consist of high concentrations of cobbles, boulders and gravel. They are two-phase debris flows. The liquid phase plays the role of lubrication instead of transporting medium. Solid particles collide with each other and consume a lot of energy. The velocities of slope debris flows are very low, and their transport distances are only several tens of meters. Slope debris flows may be controlled by construction of drainage systems and by reforestation.     

基于室内大型剪切试验及工程地质类比法的弃渣场抗剪强度参数综合取值与稳定性研究

目前工程实践中弃渣场抗剪强度参数主要采用工程地质类比法进行取值, 参数误差较大, 有必要采用多种方法对弃渣场抗剪强度参数进行综合取值研究。以某公路弃渣场为工程实例, 通过室内颗分试验确定弃渣场弃渣的颗粒级配, 在此基础上采用室内大型剪切试验及工程地质类比法综合确定该弃渣的抗剪强度参数, 并以此参数计算弃渣体的稳定性。计算结果表明, 弃渣体在天然工况条件下稳定性系数为1.369, 在暴雨工况条件下稳定性系数为1.083, 弃渣场在计算工况条件下处于基本稳定-稳定状态, 与现场巡查及监测结果基本一致。说明该弃渣抗剪强度参数取值比较合理准确, 可为公路弃渣场参数取值提供参考。      

Landslides & debris flows formation from gravelly soil surface erosion and particle losses in Jiangjia Ravine

Gravelly soils are made up of gravel, sand, silt and clay. They are widely used in engineering applications such as rock-fill dams with clay cores, which are the main researches at present. The strength and mechanical properties of the gravelly soils are affected by the content of coarse grain, fine particles, and their adhesive states. These Properties can be verified by laboratory unconsolidated undrained triaxial tests with grain size less than 5 mm and by large scale direct-shear tests with original grain content. Fine particles of the loose gravelly slopes are released under rainfalls, alternated the structures and mechanical properties, even affected the slope stability. There are a series of large scale direct-shear tests with different coarse grain contents to study the influence of fine particles releasing and migration, results showed the strength behavior of the gravelly soils were affected by the coarse grain content （5） and the inflection coarse grain contents. In order to study the erosion features of the gravelly soil slopes on rainfall conditions and the slopes stability alteration, we had carried out one sort of artificial rainfall local and model experiments, the runoff sediment contents were monitored during the experiments. Result showed that the shapes of the slopes surface transformed periodically, runoff sediment contents were divided into five phases according to the experiment phenomena, runoff sediment contents maintained downtrend during the rain time and the downtrend was obviouslyinterpreted by one descend belt no matter the rainfall intensity and the slope angels. Particle size analysis released the deposit on the slope surface lost almost all of the clay, most of the silt and sand after the experiments, this meant the fine particles releasing, migration and accumulation process on condition of rainfall resulted in the instability factor of the slopes even induced landslide or debris flow.     

Debris flow in metropolitan area — 2011 Seoul debris flow

A large number of debris flows occurred simultaneously at around 8:30 to 8:50 a.m. on July 27, 2011, at the center of Seoul, Korea. This area is located in the southern part of Seoul and is a densely populated district. As a result of the debris flow event, 16 people were killed, 30 houses were buried, and 116 houses were damaged around Umyeon Mountain, a relatively small mountain with a height of 312.6 m. Since the debris flow event, field investigations on the initiation and transportation zones of debris flows have been carried out. Rainfall data were collected from the automatic weather stations (AWSs) which are operated by the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). Video files recorded by residents were also acquired and used to analyze the flow characteristics of the debris flow. Field investigation shows that about 40 debris flows occurred around Umyeon Mountain and most of the debris flows were initiated by small slope failures. The effects of the precipitation that triggered the debris flows were analyzed as well. A landslide hazard map which considers slope gradient and aspect, strength of soil, hazard record, rainfall conditions, and vegetation, was constructed and compared with the initiation zones of debris flows.     

Study on the rainfall and aftershock threshold for debris flow of post-earthquake

Due to the special condition of provenance and disaster environment after "5·12" Earthquake, the probability and conditions of the occurrence of gully debris flow change greatly after the event, which make it difficult to prevent disaster effectively. In this study the hydrological model of ground water table in loose sediment is established. According to infinite slope theory, the safety factor of deposits is defined as the ratio of resistance force to driving force. The starting condition of post-earthquake gully debris flow is clearly studied by analyzing the effects of rainfall intensity, seismic strength, slope gradient and mechanical properties on the balance of accumulation body. Then the formulas of rainfall and aftershock threshold for starting of gully debris flow are proposed, and an example is given to illustrate the effect of rainfall, aftershocks and their coupling action on a debris flow. The result shows the critical rainfall intensity decreases as the lateral seismic acceleration and channel gradient increases, while the critical intensity linearly increases as the friction angle increases.     

Numerical investigation on the initiation mechanism of debris-flow under rainfall

Rainfall is an important factor to trigger the debris flow.Numerical simulation on the responses of slopes and the initiation of debris flow under rainfall was processed by using the software FLAC2D based on the soil parameters in Weijia Gully,Beichuan County,Sichuan Province,China.The effects of the slope angle,rainfall intensity,soil parameters on the developments of the stress and pore pressure and deformation of the slope were studied.It indicates that large displacements of the slope are mainly located near the slope toe.With the increase of the rainfall intensity the stability of the slope decreases and so the debris-flow is easy to occur.     

A new approach to plane failure of rock slope stability based on water flow velocity in discontinuities for the Latian dam reservoir landslide

The stability of slopes is always of great concern in the field of rock engineering. The geometry and orientation of pre-existing discontinuities show a larger impact on the behavior of slopes that is often used to describe the measurement of the steepness, incline, gradient, or grade of a straight line. One of the structurally controlled modes of failure in jointed rock slopes is plane failure. There are numerous analytical methods for the rock slope stability including limit equilibrium, stress analysis and stereographic methods. The limiting equilibrium methods for slopes under various conditions against plane failure have been previously proposed by several investigators. However, these methods do not involve water pressure on sliding surfaces assessments due to water velocity and have not yet been validated by case study results. This paper has tried to explore the effects of forces due to water pressure on discontinuity surfaces in plane failure through applying the improved equations. It has studied the effect of water flow velocity on sliding surfaces in safety factor, as well. New equations for considering water velocity (fluid dynamics) are presented. To check the validity of the suggested equations, safety factor for a case study has been determined. Results show that velocity of water flow had significant effect on the amount of safety factor. Also, the suggested equations have higher validity rate compared to the current equations.     

The formation of the Wulipo landslide and the resulting debris flow in Dujiangyan City,China

The Wulipo landslide, triggered by heavy rainfall on July 10, 2013, transformed into debris flow,resulted in the destruction of 12 houses, 44 deaths, and 117 missing. Our systematic investigation has led to the following results and to a new understanding about the formation and evolution process of this hazard. The fundamental factors of the formation of the landslide are a high-steep free surface at the front of the slide mass and the sandstone-mudstone mixed stratum structure of the slope. The inducing factor of the landslide is hydrostatic and hydrodynamic pressure change caused by heavy continuous rainfall. The geological mechanical model of the landslide can be summarized as "instability-translational slide-tension fracture-collapse" and the formation mechanism as "translational landslide induced by heavy rainfall". The total volume of the landslide is 124.6×104 m3, and 16.3% of the sliding mass was dropped down from the cliff and transformed into debris flow during the sliding process, which enlarged 46.7% of the original sliding deposit area. The final accumulation area is found to be 9.2×104 m2. The hazard is a typical example of a disaster chain involving landslide and its induced debris flow. The concealment and disaster chain effect is the main reason for the heavy damage. In future risk assessment, it is suggested to enhance the research onpotential landslide identification for weakly intercalated slopes. By considering the influence of the behaviors of landslide-induced debris flow, the disaster area could be determined more reasonably.     

Debris flows introduced in landslide deposits under rainfall conditions: The case of Wenjiagou gully

Debris flows often occur in landslide deposits during heavy rainstorms. Debris flows are initiated by surface water runoff and unsaturated seepage under rainfall conditions. A physical model based on an infinitely long, uniform and void-rich sediment layer was applied to analyze the triggering of debris-flow introduced in landslide deposits. To determine the initiation condition for rainfall-induced debris flows, we conducted a surface water runoff and saturated-unsaturated seepage numerical program to model rainfall infiltration and runoff on a slope. This program was combined with physical modeling and stability analysis to make certain the initiation condition for rainfall-introduced debris flows. Taking the landslide deposits at Wenjiagou gully as an example, the initiation conditions for debris flow were computed. The results show that increase height of surface-water runoff and the decrease of saturated sediment shear strength of are the main reasons for triggering debris-flows under heavy rainfall conditions. The debris-flow triggering is affected by the depth of surface-water runoff, the slope saturation and shear strength of the sediment.