PRESENTATION ON

STABILITY OF SLOPES
BY

DARSHAN K. MUNDADA

601041

TARUN P. RATHOD

601048

SAMEER A. SETIYA

601059

SWAPNIL P. SURANA
TANMAY L. BAFNA

601060
701310

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF :

Prof. Y. A. KOLEKAR

AKASH

VAYU

AGNI

JAL

AGNI

MOTHER
EARTH.

The whole black earth is oppressed beneath the storm . . .

All the rivers flow in flood, and many hillsides are furrowed
deeply by the torrents, and
They rush to the purple sea from the mountains, roaring
mightily, and
The fields of men are wasted.

- Homer

STABILITY
OF SLOPES

CONTENT
Introduction
Classification of Slopes
Slope Failure
Slope Failure Types
Factors affecting Slope Failures
Landslides
Types of Landslides

SLOPES

Required for railways, roadways, earth dams, levees and

river training works.

The stability of these slopes should be thoroughly

analyzed as their failure may lead to loss of human life
as well as colossal economic loss.

SLOPE
CLASSIFICATION

INFINITE SLOPE
If a slope represents the boundary surface of a semi-infinite
soil mass, and the soil properties for all identical depths
below the surface are constant, it is called an infinite slope.
Such slopes are hypothetical in nature.
In practice if the height of the slope is very large it may be
considered as infinite slope.

FINITE SLOPE
If the slope is of limited extent it is called a finite slope.
Eg : Earth dam, embankments and cuts.
It is the one with a base and a top surface and the
height being limited

SLOPE
FAILURES

What is a Slope Failure ?

A slope failure is a phenomenon in which a
slope collapses abruptly due to weakened selfretainability of the earth under the influence of a
rainfall or an earthquake or any such factor.

Generally, a slope failure

can be defined as a
downward movement of a
large amount of material.
For this reason, slope
failures are also referred
to as MASS MOVEMENTS.

WHERE do slope failures occur ?

Triggered by
Weather events,
Geologic events,
Human modification of the landscape, or
Some interaction of all of the above.
Therefore, slope failures occur nearly everywhere
where slopes exist.
Mountainous regions, hilly regions, and coastlines
have the greatest occurrence of slope failures.
Active tectonic regions are prone to slope failures
triggered by earthquakes or volcanic activity.

WHEN do slope failures occur ?

Any season.
They are more likely to occur in certain seasons if triggered
by weather events such as rain, snow or freezing and thawing
of soil water.
In EARLY SPRING, snow melt can increase pore pressures
in the soil, increasing the risk of slope failures.
During RAINY SEASON, intense or prolonged rainfall can
trigger slope failures.

 Freeze-thaw events, which usually happen during

SPRING AND FALL but also during WARM WINTERS, can
increase the potential for slope failure by expanding and
contracting the water within the soil.
In many locations, both geologic and atmospheric
processes may play a role in the movement of a slope.

TYPES OF SLOPE FAILURES

A. RAPID MOVEMENT
1. Rock fall
2. Slump
3. Rockslide or debris slide
4. Debris flow or mudflow
5. Earthflow
B.SLOW MOVEMENT
1. Creep
2. Solifluction

RAPID
MOVEMEN
T

ROCKFALL
It is the direct downward free fall or bouncing or
rolling of detached pieces of material of any size.

WHY ???
As a result of freeze-thaw or by the loosening action by
plant roots.

WHEN ???
When physical weathering (ice wedging) loosens angular
boulders from rocky cliffs in mountainous terrain.

WHAT HAPPENS ???

The boulders break off and fall downslope producing
an apron of coarse debris (talus) at the base of the slope.

slump
A slump is the downslope movement of material on
a curved (concave-upward) slip surface.

 Involves a mass of soil or other material sliding along a curved,

rotational surface.
Causes the formation of a small, crescent-shaped cliff or
"scarp" at the upslope end.
Slumps are sometimes seen along highways where the soil on the
sides of the road is a little too steep.

ELEMENTS OF A SLUMP
Unconsolidated material breaks away from the top of the slope leaving a
scarp surface.
The slump may break into separate blocks, each with their own scarp
surface.
The toe of the slump overrides structures at base of slope.

ROCKSLIDE OR DEBRIS
SLIDE
Occurs when blocks of rock, or masses of unconsolidated material slide down a slope.

E
H
T

F T IV
O S T
E O C
N M U
O
R
T
E
S
E
D
May be triggered by rain or melting snow, or earthquakes

Rockslides occur where sheets

of rock move downslope on a
planar sliding surface. The
sliding surface is a suitably
oriented bedding plane or a
fracture surface.

Rockslides generate relatively

thin sheets of rock that are
broken into smaller blocks as
they move downslope.

DEBRIS FLOW
OR MUDFLOW
Occurs when there is a relatively
large volume of water present
in a mixture of coarse and/or fine
grained sediment.
Rather than moving downslope
as a coherent mass (slump,
rockslide) the material flows
downhill as a chaotic mixture.
Commonly occur in volcanic areas, where they are called lahars.
Mudflows generally follow established drainage patterns.

MUDFLOW

EARTHFLOW
Earthflows are downslope, viscous flows of saturated, finegrained materials, that move at any speed from slow to fast.

Typically, they can move at speeds from 0.17 to 20 km/h.

Though these are a lot like mudflows, overall they are

slower moving.
Clay, fine sand and silt, and fine-grained are all susceptible
to earthflows.
The velocity of the earthflow depends on how much water
content is in the flow itself : More the water content,
higher is the velocity of earthflow.

WHAT HAPPENS
???
During

periods
of
high
precipitation,
ground
gets
saturated and adds water to the
slope.
Water then increases the porewater pressure and reduces the
shearing
strength
of
the
material and thus EARTHFLOW
takes place.

SLOW
MOVEMEN
T

CREEP
Downhill creep, or commonly just creep, is the slow downward
progression of rock and soil down a low grade slope.

It can also refer to slow deformation of such materials as a

result of prolonged pressure and stress.

FACTORS CAUSING CREEP

1. EXPANSION OF MATERIALS :
Like CLAY - when they are exposed to water.
Clay expands when wet, then contracts after drying.
The expanded clay portion pushes the material downhill and
then the following contraction results in consolidation at the
new offset.

2. VEGETATION :
When a hillside contains many trees, ferns and shrubs their
roots create an interlocking network that can strengthen
unconsolidated material.
They also aid in absorbing the access water in the soil to help
keep the slope stable.
They also however, add to the weight of the slope giving
gravity that much more of a driving force to act on in pushing
the slope downward.
Slopes with the absence of vegetation have a greater chance
of movement.

BENT TREE TRUNK

ILLUSTRATING CREEP.

SOLIFLUCTION

Waterlogged sediment slowly moves downslope over impermeable material.

OCCURANCE - in any climate
- periglacial environment
A TERM OFTEN USED FOR DEPOSITS FORMED UNDER PERIGLACIAL
CONDITIONS IS GELIFLUCTION.

During warm seasonal periods the surface layer melts and literally slides
across the frozen underlayer slowly moving downslope.

This type of mass wasting can occur on slopes as shallow as 0.5 degrees at a
rate of between 0.5 and 15 cm/yr.

SO ARE SOLIFLUCTION AND

SOIL CREEP THE SAME
THING ???
Though they are adhered to the same principle, the difference
between the two is defined by their geographical location of
occurrence.
Solifluction occurs in subpolar climates, usually areas with
permafrost or an underlain frozen layer of soil.
Soil creep, on the other hand, occurs in moderate and temperate
climates

FACTORS
CAUSING SLOPE
FAILURE

1. GRAVITY
2. FRICTION
3. PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THE SLOPE MATERIALS such as
cohesion
4. ANGLE OF REPOSE
5. ADDITION OF EXCESS WATER

GRAVITY can be divided into two components for objects resting on sloping surfaces
1. One component is parallel to the slope (gt)
2. Other is perpendicular to the slope (gp).
On steep slopes (> 45 degrees) the component parallel to the slope will be greatest
and will act to pull objects downhill.
On gentle slopes the component perpendicular to the slope will be greatest and will
act to hold the object in place.
Components of
gravity oriented
parallel (gt) and
perpendicular (gp)
to the slope for
gentle and steep
slopes

However, gravity alone does not determine if the object will move downslope.
A physical trigger is often required to initiate slope failure.

The properties of the surface between the object and

the slope (e.g., friction) and the Physical Properties of the
sliding object itself all contribute to the potential for
mass wasting. The object is more likely to move if Friction
between the object and the slope is reduced. In contrast,
a slope will be less likely to fail if the cohesion between
the grains in the material is increased.

For example, no matter how much dry sand is added to a pile, it can
never form a slope that is steeper than 35 degrees inclination. This
angle is termed the materials Angle of repose. In contrast, by
Addition of water, the cohesion between the sand grains (surface
tension) increases dramatically. Irregularly shaped objects may
form steeper slopes than dry sand; large angular blocks may have an
angle of repose of around 45 degrees. In contrast, spherical
marbles are almost impossible to form into a pile with sloping sides.

The Addition of excess water to a slope may also be

the precursor for a disaster.
Not only does excess water saturate the material and
reduce cohesion between grains but water saturated
pore spaces will support the weight of overlying
material thus reducing the effect of friction.
Finally, the addition of water may promote instability
by adding weight to a slope.

LANDSLIDES

A landslide is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of

ground movement, such as rock falls, deep failure of slopes and
shallow debris flows which can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore
environments.

Although the action of gravity is the primary driving force for a

landslide to occur, the actual landslide often requires a trigger
before being released.

CAUSES FOR LANDSLIDES

NATURAL CAUSES:
1.Groundwater pressure
2. Loss or absence of vertical vegetative structure.
3. Erosion of the toe of a slope
4. Snowmelt, glaciers melting, or heavy rains
5. Earthquakes
6. Liquefaction
7. Volcanic eruptions

HUMAN CAUSES:
1. Vibrations from machinery or traffic
2. Blasting
3. Earthwork
4. The removal of deep-rooted vegetation.
5. Construction, agricultural or forestry activities.

DEBRIS
FLOW

EARTH
FLOW

DEEP-SEATED
LANDSLIDE

TYPES OF
LANDSLIDES

SHALLOW
LANDSLIDE

SHALLOW LANDSLIDE
The sliding surface is located within the soil mantle or
weathered bedrock.

They usually include debris slides, debris flow, and failures of road cut-slopes.

WHERE ???
Shallow landslides can often happen in areas that have slopes with
high permeable soils on top of low permeable bottom soils.

HOW ???
The low permeable, bottom soils trap the water in the shallower, high
permeable soils creating high water pressure in the top soils.
As the top soils are filled with water and become heavy, slopes can
become very unstable and slide over the low permeable bottom
soils.

EXAMPLE :
Say there is a slope with silt and sand as its top soil and bedrock
at its bottom soil.
During an intense rainstorm, the bedrock will keep the rain
trapped in the top soils of silt and sand.
As the topsoil becomes saturated and heavy, it can start to slide
over the bedrock and become a shallow landslide.

DEEP-SEATED LANDSLIDE
The sliding surface is mostly deeply located below the
maximum rooting depth of trees.
Deep-seated landslides usually involve weathered
rock, and/or bedrock and include large slope failure
associated with translational, rotational, or complex
movement.

THANK YOU !!