Professional Documents
Culture Documents
by
Victor Yeung
21 November 2008
Statement of Originality
The work contained in this thesis report is the sole work of the author. Fragments of texts
that’s that were used from other sources have been properly acknowledged and the theories,
results and designs that have been used in this report have been appropriately referenced and
all sources of assistance have been acknowledged.
Victor Yeung
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Statement of Problem 1
1.2 Objective 1
1.3 Structure of Dissertation 1
8.0 Bibliography 88
Landslides are a common natural disaster which take place around the world. They have
claimed many human lives and much damage has occurred from different types of landslides.
Through the last couple of decades, different kinds of landslide preventive measures have
been developed for reducing these hazards. Each preventive measure involves a unique
technique and application benefit. One of the most common slope stabilisation methods is
soil nailing.
The soil nail application has been developed in the last 30 years. This method is growing
rapidly and becoming more popular due to its advantages. Use of the soil nail method for
reinforcing unstable slopes is one of the most favourable solutions in geotechnical
engineering practice. Thus, there would be a lot of benefit for future use which would be
associated with the development of the soil nail application for slope stabilisation.
This project will present the application of soil nail for slope stabilisation. The benefits and
limitations of soil nail and its construction procedures are described. In addition, design
requirements and quality control specifications are explained. Slope stability analysis using
“SLOPE/W” code is demonstrated and a design method of soil nail using Slope/W is
described in detail. Two selected case studies, located in Hong Kong and Australia, are
presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the soil nail system for slope stabilisation.
These case studies present a typical design method used for soil nail walls. A simplified hand
calculation method is compared with the limit equilibrium approach used in Slope/W code.
It should be noted that soil nailing is one of the methods used for stabilising medium size
slopes. Enhancing public education for the landslide hazard is the most desirable way to
prevent human loss and property damage in high landslide risk areas. In this study, some
recommendations regarding increasing public awareness about landslide hazards are
described as well.
Acknowledgements
I wish to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Behzad Fatahi for his inspiring
discussions, without which I would not successfully been able to complete this thesis.
Furthermore, I would like to thank Dr. Behzad Fatahi for his invaluable personal time spent
with me through numerous conversations. He has not only taught me how to approach my
Capstone project; but more importantly, he has provided invaluable insight which will help
me in my journey to be a professional Geotechnical engineer. He has assisted in my
development of a large knowledgebase of geotechnical engineering concepts and some
interesting ideas such as bio-engineering.
I am also thankful to my wife, Maggie Leung. Sharing her Geotechnical experience provided
much support and assistance, both of which have contributed in some way to the journey of
writing this thesis.
Special thanks to my previous employer, Maunsell Geotechnical Services Ltd for the
invaluable assistance and some sample data information.
Special thanks John Marsh for his advice in proof reading and correcting some grammatical
mistake in my thesis.
Lastly, I would like to thank all my friends for their continuing and unconditional support
and assistance.
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
1.0 Introduction
This Capstone project topic is Application of soil nailing for slope stability purpose.
The project involves the literature review for design, analysis, research related to slope
stabilisation methods. This project demonstrates different aspects associated with soil
nail application.
In Australia and Hong Kong there is high risk of slope failures. Some of them are
associated with high risk of hazard for public in densely populated areas. Therefore,
slope investigation and classification are important for the community. Thus, both
cities developed their own landslip risk reduction programs following a similar
independent path, resulting in a large amount of experience gained in dealing with
rainfall triggered landslides in densely populated areas.
1.2 Objective
This project reviews different methods of slope stabilisation. This project presents the
current knowledge and known benefits of soil nail as a slope stabilisation method. In
addition, various factors that may trigger slope failure is discussed. Through the use of
case studies, the design and construction methods of soil nailing is described in this
project.
In this project, Chapter 2 will discuss how the slope instability can affect society, as
well as provide a technical review of the factors that affect the slope instability. This
review discusses the different methods used to reduce these hazards will be discussed.
Furthermore, a discussion follows, noting the wide range of traditional stabilisation
methods available to engineering are presented. This ranges from a simple methods
such as to flatten and drain a slope , to more complex methods, such as anchors and
soil nail, bio-engineering vegetation and the most common practice of methods
involving shotcrete surfaces, masonry facing and so on.
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Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
application for different construction purposes such as deep excavating. The last part
of Chapter 3 notes the advantages for selecting soil nailing as an initiative to
improve slope instability and this was compared to the other methods are described.
Chapter 4 will cover the construction methods and the procedure involved in soil
nailing, including the equipment used, and procedures. Quality control is also an
essential procedure for soil nail construction. This part will present the quality control
criteria in the whole soil nail installation process.
Chapter 5 is about design of the soil nail. Here, the design criteria and principle theory
are presented. In this part, the use of the computer design program ( SLOPE/W with
Morgenstern-price method) is also discussed.
Chapter 6 is about case studies for soil nail application. This section concentrates on
two separate case studies. The first case study investigates a slope in Hong Kong.
The other case study related to application of soil nailing in Australia. Two different
design standard have been used for these case studies. The first case study in Hong
Kong will use Hong Kong GEOguide for design standard and the second case study
Australia Standard AS4678-2002 is used for its design standard. For both case studies,
Slope/W computer software is used for stability analysis. The factor of safety is an
important outcome for the classification of slopes. Hand calculations using Swedish
Method of Slices will also be provided in both case studies.
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Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
Principle Theory
Slope failure is driven by slope slip surface which is caused by gravitational and
seepage forces that push the slip surface and causes slope instability (Ortigao,2004)
According to Abramson (2002), there
here are various types of slope failure which are
driven by slip surfaces,, namely
namely: circular/rotational slip, non-circular
circular slip, translational
slip and compound slip.
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Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
There are many factors which affects the slope stability. According to Ortigao, (2004)
described that one of the main factors is the geometrical changes. This is described as
a change in the gravitational force. The main force responsible for movement is
gravity. Gravity is the internal force that acts on body, pulling mass object in a
direction toward the center of the earth. If the object is on a flat surface then the
gravitational force will act downward. In another words, if the objects is located on the
flat surface it will not move under the gravity force.
However, in the case of a sloping ground, according to Ortigao (2004) described that
the force of gravity can be divided into two vector components, one component is
acting normal to the slope and the other component is acting tangent to the slope. The
slope gains its stability from the strength properties of the soil. These include the shear
strength, frictional resistance and cohesion among the soil particles that make up the
soil mass (Ortigao, 2004). As the applied shear stress which occurs under gravitational
force becomes greater than the combination of forces holding the soil mass on the
slope, the object will move down the slope. In geotechnical engineering, this
movement is called slope failure or landslide.
Thus, this slope movement is favored by steeper slope angles which increase the shear
stresses on the soil. The slope stability is threatened by anything that reduces the shear
strength, such as lowering the cohesion among the particles or lowering the frictional
resistance. The tenancy of slope failure is expressed in terms of the ratio of shear
strength to shear force, which is known as Safety Factor (Cornforth,2005)
If the safety factor becomes less than 1.0, slope failure is expected.
The other factor that causes slope failure is an increase in water pressure. This is
caused by the increase in groundwater level. Consequently, an increase of water
pressure adds an increased internal water force inside the slope. Although water is not
always directly involved as the transporting medium in mass-wasting processes
(Ortigao, 2004), it does play an important role. For exemplary reasons, a sand castle
on the beach may be used. If the sand is dry, it is impossible to build a steep face like a
castle wall. If the sand is wet, vertical wall can be build. If the sand is too wet, then it
flows like a fluid and cannot stay as a wall.
For the case of dry sand, the sand can form a slope with a slope angle relative to the
flat ground that is equal to its Friction angle. The friction angle is the steepest angle at
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Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
which the sand slope can remain stable (Liu ,2008). In this case, the stability of the
sand slope is purely dictated by the frictional contact between the soil grains. In
general, the friction angle increases with increasing grain size. However, different soil
types contain different soil friction angles. This mechanical soil parameter can be
usually obtained from experiments, for example, Triaxial test and direct shear test .
In the partially saturated soil, water particle and the sand particle are interlocked by an
internal suction force between them. This suction force assists in building up apparent
cohesion in cohesionless material. It should be noted that, excessive water will break
the suction force between the soil particles.
The other factor that affects the slope stability is the additional loads (surcharge)
applied on the top of the slope. This external loading can increase the disturbing force
and cause slope instability.
Another reason that affecting slope stability is water pressure. Water pressure is
common on a general slope where a watertable might usually exist. When water
pressure increases, the effective stresses , shear strength decrease and can lead to slope
failure. An increase in the water pressure may be due to many uncertain reasons.
Usually, the most common reasons that cause slope failure relate to water pressure
increases due to elevated rainfall intensity and increases in the water content in slope,
such as water pipe leakage.
These are the main factors that can affect the slope stability. These are also the main
items which one has to focus on when dealing with reducing the presence of slope
instability.
There is another factor that can induce instability to a slope, which is an earthquake.
However this factor is relatively uncommon when compared to the other factors
mentioned above. Slope instability caused by an earthquake only happens during
earthquakes in active earthquake zones, such as in China and Japan. This factor causes
slope displacement and changes the gravity condition of slope material. During the
displacement and change of gravity of slope, the body of slope mass no longer is in a
balance condition, and slope will no longer be in a stable condition.
In many seismic regions of the world, slope displacements caused by earthquakes have
led to disaster situations. Examples of magnitude 7.8 earthquake-induced landslides
are the landslide events in the area of Sichuan in China, which were caused by a major
earth movement event near the belt of Sichuan region in May 2008.
5
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
According to CEDD (2008) & Ortigao, (2004), the causes of slope instability can be
summarised as follows:
Moreover, there are some other non-natural factor cause slope instability:
Removal of vegetation;
Interference with, or changes to, natural drainage;
Modification of slopes by construction of roads, railways, buildings, etc;
Overloading slopes;
Mining and quarrying activities;
Vibrations from heavy traffic, blasting, etc; and
Excavation or displacement of rocks.
6
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
According to J.A.R. Ortigao, 2004 , Landslips can be classified into 3 main types of
landslides; these are described below according to their kinematics of the slide.
7
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
Regardless of the type of landslide failure mode, in some areas of high population
density, a landslip can cause a large disaster. If the landslide is a minor one, it might
cause damage and displacement of a building’s foundation or break the frame structure
of the building. This displacement or settlement can disrupt the building’s structural
stability and cause the building to collapse. In the case of a major landslide flow, a
whole building can be overwhelmed. Usually this type of major flow will have a high
casualty rate if it occurs in a high population density area.
For example, Hong Kong has a unique geological environment which mainly consists
of volcanic rock with a mountainous region and few flat land areas. This scenarios left
many developers with few options, one of which was to build skyscrapers on hillsides.
The cost of land is very high as the developers often need to bulldoze mountains to
carry out site formation and form more flat lands for the construction of the buildings,
which are often over 30 stories. Thus, many of the man-made slopes are very close to
buildings, as this helps to save on the land cost, therefore simultaneously stretching the
profit margin of a lot of land.
At times where land availability is limited, a surplus in population often leads to a city
being overdeveloped. This would elevate the risk of landslide failure, as developers
are left with no choice but to cut back on the slope to form flat land. By doing so, the
new slope would decrease the safety factor, leaving a very steep angle and a lack of
surface protection. As this is becoming a widespread global situation, landslides are
not unusual in urban areas. This is evident with the even that occurred on 7th June
2008, when a series of landslips occurred in Lantau Island due to heavy rainfall. These
serious landslips are mainly located near the main access road of Hong Kong
International Airport. This disaster severely affected the operation of the airport.
8
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
9
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
10
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
You possibly
A simple
Confirmation of risk category by the shire using geotechnical information to confirm or change the regional
submitted to classify the site for soil reactivity. classification plus additional
considered necessary.
Good
controls
11
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
Figure 6 Sau Mau Ping Landslide, Figure 7 Sau Mau Ping Landslide,
(CEDD, 1976) (CEDD,1976)
In 13th Aug 1995, the large Wong Chuk Hang landslide occurred and the landslide
material slipped rapidly down the steep slope and destroyed the seaside shipyards.
Two people died in this landslide (CEDD,2008)
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Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
2.7.2 Australia
According to EMA Disasters Database, 2008, there have been 48 recorded landslide
events which have collectively resulted in the death of 39 people , and 19 casualties
out of the 7,586 victims in Australian landslide history since 1897.
One of Australia’s worst landslides was held in 30th July 1997. A large section of the
steep mountainside below the Alpine Way road collapsed and overwhelmed a section
of the Thredbo Ski Village in NSW. About 1,000 tonnes of landslide material slipped
rapidly down the steep slope and shearing the Carinya lodge off its foundations and
slamming it into the Bimbadeen Lodge. It was recorded that 18 people had fallen
victims in this disaster which also caused multimillion dollars in damage (EMA ,2008)
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Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
14
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
Figure 17 Typical Soil nailing method Figure 18 Typical Soil nailing method
(Maunsell.Geotechnical ltd ,2003) (IECA, 1995)
2.9.2 Bio-Engineering is one of the most innovative technologies for slope
improvements in the world. According to Coppin (1990) described that
Bio-Engineering includes the use of tree roots or plant roots to retain shallow slope
failure. This method has an advantage as it is natural and environmental friendly
(Coppin,1990). However, many factors can influence the effectiveness of
Bio-engineering for slope stabilisation. This method is in an early stage of
development, and needs a period of time for technology proving and development.
15
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
For some loose material slopes such as fill slope, soil nailing is not a suitable
stabilisation method. Some technologies such as soil re-compaction and soil
re-placement are more suitable and are usually applied. Soil re-compaction involves
the excavation of the loose soil, backfilling and re-compacting to improve the friction
angle. However, the soil re-compaction method has some restrictions such as every
backfill and re-compaction has to be carried out in a 300mm thick layer (Geoguide 7,
2008), layer by layer, and every single layer needs an individual soil test for
compaction ratio checking. Moreover, this method is highly influenced by weather
conditions. The soil has to be placed in thinner lifts and requires moisture control for
compaction. As a result, this method will increase the construction cost and period.
The other method is the soil replacement method. This design approach includes using
other materials such as no-fine concrete or gravel to replace the loose soil. Removal of
the original loose soil on the slope is carried out, then forming a slope with a design
slope angle by backfilling with no-fine concrete or gravel. After that, a thin layer of
soil with hydroseeding is applied to the surface as a cover and for landscaping. This
method can reduce the construction period, hence alleviating labour costs and
operation costs which then compare with the soil re-compaction method.
However, these replacement and re-compaction methods are constrained in that the
construction sequence has to be scheduled for the dry season when the groundwater
levels are lower than they were at the time of active landsliding. Alternatively,
temporary groundwater lowering through the use of a raking drain may be needed
prior to, and during construction work.
Figure 21 Figure 22
No-Fine concrete replacement Completed no-fine replacement slope
(Maunsell geotechnical Ltd. ,2005) (After landscaping)
( Maunsell geotechnical Ltd. , 2005)
16
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
Subsurface Drainage
Of all stabilisation methods considered for the prevention of landslides, a reduction of
pore water pressure behind the slope is the most important. According to
Cornforth(2005) described that the subsurface drainage method can reduce the
destabilising hydrostatic and seepage water pressures on the slope as well as the risk of
sliding or flow. For large, unstable slopes, a drainage tunnel can be applied to draw
down the water table and minimise the risk of slope failure. In Hong Kong, the Lung
Fu Shan drainage tunnel and vertical drainage system is under construction. This
drainage tunnel can prevent the failure of a 200m high natural slope which could be
triggered by water pressure. Other subsurface drainage methods include: Drain blanket,
Trenches, Cut-off drains, Horizontal Drains, Relief Drains and Raking Drains.
Stone Columns
Based on Cornforth, (2005) described that this ground improvement method can
increase the average shear resistance of soil along a potential slip surface by replacing
or displacing the in situ soil with a series of closely spaced and large diameter columns
of compacted stone. However, this method requires the use of a boring machine and
material delivery, which would result in an access problem if the slope is inaccessible.
This method is not common use in Hong Kong. Usually, vertical soil nailing can
provide the same results as stone columns.
Shear Piles
According to Cornforth, (2005) described that shear piles are reinforced concrete
cylindrical piles that pass through the slide plant and anchored at lower end stable soils
or bedrock. This shear pile anchorage can provide lateral bearing resistance near the
base of ground movement (Cornforth, 2005). This method is effective for a large
instability zone and can provide the flexibility of selecting an installation location.
However, this method has limitations such as being costly and cannot be installed in
moving landslide.
17
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
Based on Ortigao (2004) described that Soil nailing consists of reinforcing the instable
soil mass by the series of elements called nails to resist tension, bending and shear
forces. These nail elements are usually made of galvanized steel bar and protected by
cement grout. Nails are installed sub-horizontally and closely spaced in a parallel
fashion (usually 1.5m to 2.0m in spacing) into soil mass in a pre-drilled hole to
improve stability of slope.
According to CEDD (2008) described that soil nailing provides pullout resistance
force and tension over their entire length. The angle, length and diameter of soil nails
are dependent on soil condition and design criteria. Usually, soil nails are installed for
permanent slope improvement. Therefore, the corrosion-resistant treatment is similar
to soil anchors and requires galvanizing.
The soil nail system for mechanical stabilisation against the instability force can be
categorised as a limit equilibrium analysis (Abramson,2002). This is a conventional
slope stability calculation method with potential slip surfaces modeled, such as
circular arc slip surface. Abramson,(2002) stated that this potential slip surface model
approximately represents the critical surface of maximum tensile load. Limit
equilibrium analysis can examine the slip surface and others to determine the lowest
factor of safety after the slope is reinforced.
18
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
Soil nailing methods are widely use in geotechnical construction work. Nowadays,
these technologies can be used in Tie-back retailing wall, Temporary support, ground
anchor and Tunneling support. Therefore, soil nailing has a great contribution in
geotechnical construction.
Based on Ortigao (2004) noted that , in the late 60’s, soil nailing developed used in
tunneling shotcrete supporting method. This method used a flexible lining that enabled
soil deformation around the excavation, which had been reinforced by a number of
bolts or nailing. An active zone is formed around the excavation and the lining is
subjected to reduced loading (Ortigao, 2004). This technique is the traditional
tunneling technique method for preventing soil deformation and reducing the
subjected ground pressures of tunnel.
As reported by Ortigao (2004), the first time nailing was used in tunneling
construction work was in 1970 in Brazil. After that, this nailing method is widely used
in France, Canada, Germany, UK and in the USA, among other countries.
The soil nailing for slope stability method is similar to the tunneling support method
(tieback). The difference is they are installed non-tensioned at a slight downward
inclination on slope. Such construction work used soil nailing for slope improvement
work in Versailles (France) for first time in 1972 (Cornforth, 2005). According to
Ortigao (2004) reported that one of the first national guideline publications for soil
nailing was produced in Japan in 1987; the USA has produced national guideline
publications through the Federal Highway Administration on this subject in 1996.
The Geotechnical Engineering Office (GEO) of Hong Kong extensively uses soil
nailing to stabilize thousands of man-made slopes in residual and saprolitic soils and
in 1996 presents its prescriptive design method. CEDD, (2008) mentioned, since 1995,
over ten thousand of such soil nailing structures have been constructed in Hong Kong
through LPM program to stabilize slopes in residual soil.
Regarding the development of the soil nail head, in the early 90’s , an exposed soil nail
head was commonly used in the soil nailing system. With a large size and exposed
head, it was possible to transfer the component of load from the slope face to soil nail.
However, buried soil nail heads are now common, since the late 90’s. Hidden into the
slopes surface and with a small size, the soil nail head (approximate 0.6m-0.8m) is the
main element of the design in soil nailing system. This type of soil nail head can be
19
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
covered by hydroseeding surface on top of soil nail head to provide a natural and
environmentally friendly slope surface.
Soil nail - in general, these are a form of in situ non-tensioned reinforcement, acting
similarly to strip reinforcement (Abramson, 2002). Typically, soil nails usually have a
diameter of 25-32mm. The length and inclination are both dependent on the design
calculation and factor of safety. They are installed in drillholes and bonded into place
with low pressure grout. Stress is transferred from the ground to the nail over its full
length and there is a shear stress reversals as in reinforced earth.
According to Ortigao (2004) described that ,when considering a very steep slope in a
granular or cohesive soil, many factors may influence the soil, causing it to not have
sufficient internal strength to stand at such an angle. Therefore, for the face to remain
stable the force exerted by soil mass sliding must be resisting by a reinforcement
structure. In previous chapters, it has been mentioned that the stability method can be
achieved through the implementation of structural elements (such as skip wall) , or
through the inclusion of reinforcement in the soil (such as soil nail). The aim of the
inclusions is to interact with soil mass in a stabilising manner. An active inclusion is
like a stressed soil anchor , it exerts a force on the soil mass through the tension in
anchor. In the chapter of Principle theory of soil nailing, Abramson (2002) mentioned
that the two zones can be identified, an active zone and a passive zone. The stabilising
manner relies on the soil frictional force between the soil nail surface and soil which is
generated by the surrounding soil mass in passive zone. If the soil mass had to stand at
a very steep angle and had insufficient shear strength, the soil mass would deform.
Therefore, this deformation may exert a force which would act on any structural
element placed in the soil.
Based on Cornforth (2005) described that the main aim of the soil nailing method is
the structural element which is used to resist this deformation force. Hausmann, (1992)
mentioned that Soil nail contains two forces when the soil mass undergoes
deformation. The first is friction between the deformation soil mass and the inclusion.
This interaction length can be termed the “bond length”. The second is derived from
the normal stress which exerted by soil on the inclusion. There are four possible
actions of this force: tension, compression , shear and bending. For general slope,
bending and shear are commonly used in slope soil nail design.
20
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
The soil nail and soil anchor are similar in structure. Both of them are able to take
tension and resist the soil mass sliding as the earth retailing structure. However, they
are two different types of structural. Significant conceptual differences exist, as
described in the following section.
Soil Anchor –Anchor structure for slope stability which is only able to resist tension
forces. The nail or tendon are usually are Prestressed in a high loads. According to Das,
(1990) described that Soil anchor nails contain two parts: Free length and Bonded
length. Free length usually are ungrouted length or un-bonded, and bonded length
usually are grouted or bonded into the soil (Das, 1990). In this type of structure,
tendons are taking the tensile force , which is transmitted from the anchor head to the
anchorage zone. As the tendon is located in the free length, it does not have any grout
protection. The corrosion protection control of tendon is very important for this
reason.
Soil nail- Soil nails involve the rigid reinforcing of a soil mass. These nails can resist
tension, shear forces and bending moment which imposed by slope movement. The
nail inside the soil is fully grouted and usually Non-prestressed and relatively closely
spaced. No force will act on soil nail system until the soil mass failure. Usually soil
nails involve a more simplistic installation technique than soil anchors and are easier
to construct.
3.4.1 Maintenance
Typically, soil anchors need to keep the tensile force in the tendon at a constant level.
Many factors can trigger the prestress loss. Therefore, maintenance of re-prestress
process may be necessary and thus, result in an increase in the overall maintenance
cost. On the other hand, soil nail reinforcement bars inside of the soil are fully
protected by cement grout and are usually non-prestressed. If the reinforcement bar
corrosion protection control keeps the nail in good condition, the soil nail needn’t be
actively maintenaned, hence reducing the maintenance cost.
21
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
In global construction, soil nails are widely used in construction sites as an anchor
system. Not only are soil anchors used as a slope stability retaining structure, but also
for other purposes as follows
Tie- back wall – In this case, the soil nails are used to provide a tension force to
the back of the wall to increase the passive pressure of retaining wall system. It’s
conceptually very similar to geo-synthetic soil nail (Ortigao, 2004). In order to
minimize wall movement and ground settlement, tieback walls are designed to
achieve an efficient earth retaining structure within economical considerations.
Ground Anchor – Using soil nails to provide the tensile force in the ground.
Typically, they are used to prevent the overturning or floatation of structures such
as footing or structures in water.
Deep excavation support - Usually this involves using soil nails as a temporary
measure for deep excavation stabilisation. Similar, to the tie-back wall method, in
deep excavation, vibration sheet pile will be installed for supporting the vertical
cut slope. The deeper the excavation , the higher the active pressure that will be
generated and act on the pile wall. Therefore, structural supporting on upper
portions of the pile are necessary. Soil nails can provide these external tensile
forces to help resist the deformation of pile wall.
Figure 24 Figure 25
Typical tie-back for deep excavation Typical permanent Tie-back wall
(deepexcavation.org , 2008) (Office of Geotechnical, California,
2008)
22
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
Soil nailing presents the following advantages that have be contributed to the
widespread use of this technique in many countries in more recent times.
Adaptability to different soil type : Soil nails can still be used in heterogeneous
ground where boulders or hard rocks may be encountered in the soil slope. Soil
nailing generally is more feasible than other techniques. This is because it
involves only small-diameter drilling for the installation of the inclusions.
Flexibility : Soil nailing retaining structures are more flexible than classical
cast-in-place reinforced concrete retaining structures. Soil nails can be
incorporated with other earth retaining system such as Tie-back wall, Skill wall
etc. Also soil nails can limit the deformation or settlement in the vicinity of
existing structures such as a foundation (Cornforth, 2005). This characteristic of
soil nailing can help to provide economical retaining structures on unstable
slopes.
Reinforcement redundancy: Based on Ortigao (2004) stated that, if any one soil
nail becomes overstressed for any reason, it will not cause failure of the slope. It
will redistribute the overstress to the adjoining nails system.
23
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
Although soil nails are widely use for slope stability, there are some limitations
regarding the application of soil nail.
Unsuitable soil: Cohesionless soil slopes are not suitable for soil nails for
increasing slope stability. This is because during the drilling of the hole, the
un-grouted hole may collapse. Usually, casing drilling may be applied during the
drilling process.
Groundwater: Soil nailing has to occur above groundwater level. When soil nail
holes are drilled, the drilled hole may collapse because hole surfacing soil is
saturated or is filled with water. Therefore, a drilled hole cannot support itself and
in result the hole will collapse. Furthermore, when the soil nails are being grouted,
groundwater inside the drilled hole may affect the water/cement ratio of the
cement grout. This may affect the grout quality and reduce the cement grout
strain capabilities.
Utilities: soil nails are drilled inside the slope. Behind of slope may contain
utilities such as buried water pipes, underground cables and drainage systems.
There are some limitations that state that soil nails must have a safe distance
between soil nails and these utilities. Therefore, a soil nail must change its
inclination or length or spacing to achieve this distance.
Rock base slope: Some cut slope contain only few meters of top soil. During site
investigation the deep layer soil type or a large boulder may be undetected (which
would be possible with ground investigation, indicating it’s importance). When
drilling the soil nail holes and the rock layer is reached, dust and stone powder
may affect the environment and public health.
24
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
Figure 28 Figure 29
Steel plate and Steel nuts Typical soil nail head reinforcement
25
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
Some special equipment is using in soil nail construction. The following details
describe the essential equipment involved in soil nail construction work.
26
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
This section will discuss some of the more practical aspects of soil nailing
construction and some of the various techniques available for soil nail installation.
Preparation work:
Erect and setup the working platform.
Setup all necessary equipment
Fix the centralisers and grout tube on the steel reinforcement.
Drilling process:
Use air wash drilling machine or coring machine to drill the hole for the soil nail
(Hole diameter approximate 100mm to 150mm)
Grouting process:
Use grouting machine to mix the cement and water to a designed water/cement
ratio. Bleeding test must be carried out in this stage.
Grouting the soil nail from bottom to top with a suitable grout pressure.
Flow cone test must be carried out during the grouting process.
Testing process:
Random proving tests must be carried out after 3 to 7 days of the grouting
process to prove the soil nail can withstand the acceptance load.
27
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
4.4.2 Drilling
The drilling rig is the equipment for drilling the soil nail drill hole. Before starting the
drilling process, the inclination and angle of drill mast should be checked to ensure
that they are the same as the design specified angle. Moreover, the drilling bit also
needs to meet the diameter requirement according the specification. Usually, most soil
nail drilling uses a drill rig machine due to its easy delivery and simple maintenance
schedule. Some of them use a small hydraulic and mobile platform. But this
equipment is very expensive for operation, especially if the site is not accessible or the
space of working area is not available for drilling rig. Coring machines are also
suitable for coring the soil nail hole. Traditional drilling rigs are powered by
compressed air which is provided by an air compressor machine. Compressed air has
two functions in the drilling rig. One is as a power source to drive the rotation of the
drill bit and push the drilling mast inward into the slope. The other function is when
the drilling rig is operating; the compressed air can force the soil debris out of the hole.
The drilled hole diameter usually should be in the range of 100mm to 150mm,
depending on the size of the soil nail steel bar. In some case, an iron casing is provided
when the soil property is loose dense and the drilled hole collapses easily.
Un-grouted drill holes in soil should be kept open only for short periods of time.
According to (CEDD GS vol2 section 7, 1992) standard, un-grouted drill holes should
not kept open for four days and for only 24 hours according to the Australian Standard.
The longer the hole is left open, the greater the risk of collapse of drilled hole. If the
hole is collapsed and unable for soil nail installation, a re-drill of the holes is
necessary.
28
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
Table 3 Other drilling method for soil nail (Elias & Juran , 1991)
Drill
Drill rig Type
(Pneumatic
Augers
hammers
available)
Mechanical Hydraulic rotary
auger methods for
Sectional Rock,
Yes Yes 100-300 Mechanical (Air drilling competent
Hollow-Stem Augers soil, drag
support) soils or weathered
rock.
Pneumatic rotary
methods for
Button,
Air track
29
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
4.4.4 Grouting
30
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
Figure 39 Typical buried soil nail head Figure 40 Shotcreting soil nail head
31
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
Figure 41 Typical detail of soil nail and soil nail head (Hong Kong CEDD standard drawing, 2008 )
32
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
According to CEDD General Specification vol 2 (1992) and Australia standard R64
(2007), The main specifications in soil nail installation work are briefly summarised
as following:
The tolerances on drilled hole diameters are not in excess of 10mm with
minimum thickness of grout cover being 30mm at all locations. (R64, 2007)
The depth of the drilled hole shall not be in excess of 100mm of the designed
depth(CEDD GS Vol2, 1992)
Maximum offset to the marked location not excess 100mm vertically and
300mm horizontally. (CEDD GS Vol2, 1992)
The spacing of the centralisers shall not be excess 1.5m c/c in Hong Kong
(CEDD GS Vol2, 1992) standard and 2m c/c in the Australian standard.
Soil nail installation and grouting shall be carried out within 24 hours after
the holes are drilled (Australian standard), or four days after the holes are
drilled (Hong Kong standard) (CEDD GS Vol2, 1992)
Water used in grouting shall be clean and free from oil, acids, alkali, organic
or vegetable matter and from any ingredients harmful to steel or cement grout.
Water temperature used in grout shall be measured at mixer and shall not be
less than 5OC and not more than 27 OC (CEDD GS Vol2, 1992)
The Grout shall be used as soon as possible after mixing and within 30
minutes of adding cement. (CEDD GS Vol2, 1992)
33
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
34
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
Figure 45 Typical section of flow cone test equipment (ASTM C939, 2002)
35
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
36
Figure 46 Typical sample record sheet for Bleeding Test and Flow Cone Test
( Maunsell Geotechnical services Ltd , 2008 )
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
37
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
Acceptance criteria
1. Measured displacement stabilises under the maximum test load
2. The test result graph tension load VS displacement are within the range of
acceptance range. (CEDD GS vol2, 1995)
Pull out test on soil nails are taken up to failure in soil. Therefore, This test also can
find out the soil geometry of failure friction.
The failure friction (qs) is calculated by Eq. (4.1)
where D = soil nail hole diameter, Lb= bonded length , Tf= Failure tension load
38
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
Figure 51 Typical sample data sheet for Pull out test (Maunsell Geotechnical services Ltd , 2008)
39
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
40
Figure 52 Typical sample plotting sheet for pull out test (Maunsell Geotechnical services Ltd ,2008)
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
Proofing Test
The method and equipment is similar to the pull-out test but the proofing test is not a
destroyable test method. The proofing test is used to ascertain the function of soil nail
and prove the soil nail conditions have not changed after construction. This test
indicates that the completed soil nail can safely withstand the design loads without
any excessive movement or long term creep over its service life.
This test is a single cycle test in which the load is applied in increments to a test load.
According to CEDD General Specification vol.2, 1992 and Australia standard
R64(2007), the design test load should be 150% of the design load capacity and rate
of load application shall be in range of 3-5kN/min (same as pull out test). At the
maximum test load, the period of observation shall be 60 min for displacement
measurement and elongation measurement.
41
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
42
Figure 54 Typical sample plotting sheet for Proving test (Maunsell Geotechnical services Ltd ,2008)
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
43
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
cannot be used with permanent soil nails. This method is commonly used for
temporary nails.
44
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
There are three typical of FOS definitions due to different type of analysis method
τf
FOS =
τ required (Total Stress) Eq (5.1)
Resisting moment
FOS =
Overturning moment
R ∫τ fds
FOS =
Wx Eq (5.3)
45
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
τf × L × R
FOS =
W χ + PS − Pw1d − Pw 2 b Eq (5.4)
Figure 58
Circular slip model (Liu.(2008)
τf × L × R
FOS =
Wχ Eq (5.5)
χ =Horizontal distance between circle center , and O = center of the sliding mass
However , Liu.(2008) mentioned that in some case , when Φu>0, this method is not
suitable for analysis in this situation because it is more complicated. Therefore, the
method of slices shall be used when Φ is not equal to zero.
46
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
∑
!( . ∝ . ∅ )
total stress analysis : F ∑
Eq (5.6)
! .∝
∑
!( ". ∝ #$ . ∅" )
Effective stress analysis : F ∑
Eq( 5.7)
! .∝
7
6
4
3
1
1
This method does have several advantages such as different soil layers, water
pressure and surcharges can be readily taken into account in the calculations. The
distribution of forces around the failure surface is defined and the solution is in
equilibrium for the assumed interslice behaviour. However, according to Krahn,
(2004) described that this method is only the simplistic method for hand calculations,
as the interslice forces are ignored. The slice weight is only resolved into forces
which are parallel and perpendicular to the slice base. Therefore, slope analysis may
be not accurate and not the most efficient in soil nail design calculation. In
47
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
In the procedure of soil nail design, slope parameter will be applied according to
critical section of the slope. If the slope has different critical criteria, then the design
will contain different critical sections of design. Thus, the slope will be separated into
different zones in terms of soil nail parameters.
In soil nail design, based on Hausmann (1992) and MGSL Ltd (2006) the following
equations are noted.
48
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
[ β (fcu)1/2 ] × p × (d - 4) × Le / SF Eq (5.9)
49
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
Morgenstern-Price’s method
this method was developed and improved by Morgenstern and Price (1965, 1967).
According to Ortigao (2004) introduced that the essence of the method is to divide
the sliding mass into a relatively small number of linear sections or wedges which are
vertical-sided in the conventional way. Within each of these sections, Krahn (2004)
explained that interslice forces are considered and the conditions of force equilibrium
can be satisfied taking directions normal and parallel to slip surface. Compared with
other method, Morgenstern-Price’s method is the closest to the equilibrium approach.
Therefore, this method will be used in soil nail design in order to form an economic
and efficiently design .
50
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
In soil nail calculation and SLOPE/W, soil properties and conditions are the essential
components for both of these calculations. Therefore, site investigation and visual
inspection are needed for design data collection purposes.
Site investigation:
Boreholes - Rotary drilling methods are commonly used in slope site investigation.
Through the soil data logging, a description of the soil and properties
such as soil type, colour, consistency and soil structure are determined.
This also can provide an un-disturbed sample for a triaxial test. Ground
water levels can also be measured in the boreholes recorded.
In-situ test – A standard penetration test or cone penetration test is used to define the
relative density of the soil and relative strength. Other in-situ test such
as vane shear test and pressuremeter test may be used which vary
depending on the soil type and data collection.
Laboratory test – Tri-axial tests are more commonly used in ground investigation
which determine the soil friction angle value and cohesive value.
Moisture content tests are commonly used in Australia which can
provide an easy and economical method to estimate the soil type and
property through common practice.
Visual inspection:
Slope geometry - Slope height and slope angle should be measured and this data
can be used to model the slope profile in SLOPE/W and soil nail
design.
Other data - Such as surcharge, utilities, slope surface seepage and tension
cracks etc. These uncertain data can influence the accuracy of the
design and affect the design assumption.
51
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
4. If the analysis is not satisfactory in terms of the required FOS, use trial and error
method to determine the failure-resisting force until the slope analysis is
satisfactory the required FOS.
5. Use soil nail calculation methods are used to determine the size of steel bar,
inclination angle and horizontal and vertical spacing required, the bond length and
size of the soil nail head. Also, check the maximum allowable tensile force, max.
allowable bond stress and total force mobilised which needs to met the FOS
requirements. Use a trial and error method to determine the most efficient design.
6. Input the designed parameter of soil nail into SLOPE/W software to re-analyse
the most critical of factory of safety.
52
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
Introduction
This part of the case study will represent a sample of soil nail application for slope
stability improvement. Slope/W software is used as well as the soil nail calculation
method to briefly design the soil nail. The first part of the analysis will choose one of
Hong Kong Cut slope which is of a high Consequence-to-life Category (Cat 1) . The
other part of case study will choose one of Australia Cut slope which also is of a high
risk category of Consequence-to-life. Because the type of soil properties in the two
geological different areas vary, Case study (Hong Kong) will use Geoguide standard
and Case study (Australia) will use Australia Standard AS 4678-2002.
Category group 3
Consequence-to-life Category 2
Middle risk
Crest facility - Un-development green belt
Toe facility - road with heavy vehicular or pedestrian
traffic density
Category group 2b
Consequence-to-life Category 2
Middle risk
Crest facility – Main Access road
Toe facility - indoor games or sport hall
Category group 2a
Consequence-to-life Category 1
High risk
53
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
Slope Background
Site description
This cut slope is located at east of Shek Kip Mei Sports Centre. The slope is about
80m long with a maximum height of 12m. This slope has divided into two portions,
an upper portion and lower portion which are separated by a berm. The slope angle in
upper portion is approximate 60o and lower portion is approximate 55o. The slope is
covered with a vegetation surface which provided a minor surface improvement. The
crest facility is low a traffic road which is the main access of the sports centre. The
toe facility is an indoor sport hall name Shek Kip Mei Park Sports Centre which is
located approximately 5m away from the slope toe.
Visual Inspection
The site inspection on the caption slope was carried out in July 2008. During site
observation, no seepage or leakage was observed on the slope or surrounding area.
The slope has been divided into two batters by a one meter wide berm. The slope is
covered with a vegetation surface and no surface erosion has occurred. The slope
appears to be in good condition and no adverse signs of distress were observed.
Surface channels were found at the berm and toe of slope. The drainage condition
appears to be in good condition.
Ground Investigation
During the desk study stage, there were three previous ground investigations which
were carried out. One in 1984 , one in 1993 and the other in 2005. This previous
records are open to the public, as it is able to be accessed at the CEDD Geotechnical
Information Unit Library. Combining these investigation records, we got a total of 6
bore holes relative the slope. According to these records, the borehole log had
indicated that the slope was composed of completely decomposed granite and highly
decomposed granite base on CEDD Geoguide 5 standard. The location of boreholes
and borehole log records are shown in appendix A
54
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
Laboratory test
During the desk study stage, there are previous laboratory tests which have been
carried out in 2005 by Gold Ram Engineering and Development Limited. These
previous laboratory test reports are open to the public which can collect in CEDD
Geotechnical Information Unit Library, in order to obtain soil parameters for further
stability assessment and identify the material from ground investigation work. These
previous laboratory tests contained information regarding particle size distribution
and single stage tri-axial compression tests under undrained conditions.
From the result of particle size distribution, the result showed that the completely
decomposed granite in the vicinity of the slope was solely composed of sandy
materials.
From the single-stage triaxial compression tests under undrained conditions. The p’-q
plot for completely decomposed granite was generated according to the previous test
result which carried out in 2005. The triaxial test results from previous laboratory
tests are shown in Appendix B
Critical section
According to the site inspection, the minimum distance between slope toe and toe
facility had a uniform spacing of around 5 meters and the slope angle has a uniform
value of approximately 55-60 degrees. Therefore, the critical section is controlled by
the maximum height of 12m. The critical section plan is shown in figure 1.
Ground conditions
According to the previous borehole log record, From DH1 and DH2, completely
decomposed granite (CDG) was found at around 0.04m below the ground. Thus,
CDG was found immediately on the slope. The thickness of CDG layer is 14.79m at
DH1 and 6.77m at DH2. In the borehole log record, completely decomposed granite
is described as extremely weak, brownish yellow, occasionally reddish yellow and
brown spotted grey and brown, completely decomposed medium grained granite
(silty fine to coarse sand with some angular to subangular fine to medium gravel of
granite and quartz) base on Geoguide standard.
Groundwater condition
According to the borehole record, DH1, DH2, DH3 noted that no groundwater was
observed. Therefore, the design groundwater table adopted for this slope stability
analysis is to be estimated to be at one-third of the slope height to represent the
assumed 1 in 10 year design groundwater table.
55
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
The shear strength parameters adopted in the stability analysis for the caption slope
are shown as follows:
500
450
400
350
300
q (kPa)
250
200 DH1
150 DH3
100
50
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
P' (kPa)
Design assumptions
Based on CEDD Geoguide 1 , the ground water table is assumed as a 1 in
10 year rainfall intensity case and the groundwater table is assumed to be at
1/3 of the slope height.
The surcharge of the crest access road is assumed to be a 20kPa uniform
load.
Because of a minor highly decomposed granite (HDG) soil layer at the
bottom of CDG, c’ and φ’ are assumed to be 5 and 42 respectively
56
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
57
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
58
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
The minimum FOS of slip surface is generated under Morgenstern and Price analysis
using SLOPE/W software. The soil layer distribution is made up by previous
borehole log records DH1, DH2, and BH6. Other assumptions are according to
design assumptions. All design assumptions and soil properties are according to
CEDD Geoguide 7 (2008) standards.
59
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
According to the Morgenstern and Price analysis using SLOPE/W software, critical
slip surface plates are generated and the circular arc, centre and radius are computed.
In order to compare the FOS with Morgenstern and Price analysis, hand calculation
for the method of slices is also carried out to present the basic theory of slope stability
analysis for the same slip.
This method has assumed that the slip wedge is divided by vertical planes into a
series of slices of a certain width. The base of each slice is assumed to be a straight
line. For any slice the inclination of base to horizontal is α. In order to make the result
more accurate and consistent with mechanics, the slope will be divided into 30 slices
and the arc length and inclination angle of each slice is measured. On the other hand,
because the ground water table is below the slip surface, no pore water pressure will
affect the slope and the boundary water force can be ignored in the method of slices
equation.
N T
60
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
The following table lists the results of the hand calculation method and compares
with Slope/W calculation results using Morgenstern and Price analysis.
From the table 6.3, the FOS is not consistent. There is about an 18% difference
between each method. It is because in the Method of Slices all interslice forces are
ignored. Also, this method is only for c’=0. Therefore, some errors may occur in this
analysis. According to Krahn, (2004) described that, usually the error arrange is
within the range 5-20% compare with Morgenstern and Price method.
61
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
Σ 381.90 306.22
62
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
At the beginning of the soil nail design procedure, we need to estimate the different
shapes of the slip surface. This is because if we use the minimum FOS (0.986) to
design the soil nail, the reinforced slope may have another shape of slip surface for
which the FOS is smaller than 1.4. For example, if the slip no. 1 FOS is smaller than
1 and the slope is not safe, after installing the soil nail with the bond length is just
passing through the slip surface of slip no. 1, after that analysis the reinforced slope
of slip 1 and the FOS will rise to meet the requirement. The slip 1 seems safe.
However, the soil nail may not be contributing a resisting force to slip no. 2,3,4,5.
Therefore the overall slope will still not be safe. Therefore, the slope will typically be
distributed over 5 different shapes of slip surface and analysed for all of the FOS
values (Slope/W FOS analysis data shown in Appendix C )
63
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
The position of the soil nail is estimated according the slope profile and slope
parameters. A 2m horizontal and vertical spacing with a staggered format is
recommended. The first row of soil nails is 2m from ground and third row of soil nail
is 1m above the berm. Therefore, 5 rows of soil nails are formed uniformly over the
12m slope height.
Estimated design
In the preliminary design, soil nail length is estimated as 8m in length for Row A to
Row E. However, when checking for shear failure of the adjacent ground (Bond
stress between soil and grout), Row A and Row B do not satisfy the safety
requirements. Therefore, the bar length is finally changed to 12m to satisfy the shear
failure adjacent ground checking.
64
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
The soil property and soil profile remain as previously modeled. Three rows of 8m
soil nails and two rows of 12m soil nail at inclination 15o are added in SLOPE/W
slope profile. Bond length and forces are predicted and applied. The minimum FOS
of 5 nos slip surface is generated under the Morgenstern and Price analysis using
SLOPE/W software.
Slip no.1 introduces some errors during Morgenstern and price analysis. The FOS of
slip no.1 cannot be generated in this method. The reason for this problem is the row B
soil nail design resisting force is too large and causes a force which pushes the soil
mass upward towards the berm. However, from the data sheet in Appendix C the FOS
for slip no. 1 calculated by ordinary method the FOS is 3.084. Therefore, FOS for slip
no. 1 generated by Morgenstern and price analysis is ignored in this case.
65
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
Figure 68
FOS comparison
This part investigates the tensile strength of the bar, bond failure between grout &
steel bar and bond failure between grout & soil. This step is an essential part of the
design to avoid the failure of grout and soil bonding and failure of steel bar and grout
bonding.
Design Parameters
Soil Type = CDG , C’=5kPa , γ=20kN/m3 , φ ' = 38ο
Drill Hole diameter = 0.1m
Soil Nail inclination angle = 15o
Unit weight of water = 9.81kN/m3
67
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
Table 14 Bond Failure between Grout and Steel Bar calculation spreadsheet
Max.
Bar Bar Size Horizontal Free Bond Force per Force
Level Allowable Tmax > Tr
Row No. Length (d) Spacing length La length Le m Width Required
(mPD) Force
(m) (mm) (m) (m) (m) F (kN)
Tr (kN) Tmax (kN)
Row E 58.8 8.0 25 2.0 4.70 3.30 8.00 16.00 205.26 O.K.
Row D 56.8 8.0 25 2.0 4.20 3.80 15.00 30.00 236.36 O.K.
Row C 54.8 8.0 25 2.0 3.70 4.30 20.00 40.00 267.46 O.K.
Row B 52.8 12.0 32 2.0 3.80 8.20 50.00 100.00 680.06 O.K.
Row A 50.8 12.0 32 2.0 2.30 9.70 55.00 110.00 804.46 O.K.
Part C - Shear Failure of Adjacent Ground (Bond Failure between Grout and soil)
Resisting Zone - for soil nail design
Mobilisation Force, π D c' + 2 D Kα
Tf = (π α σv' tanφ φ) × Le
Inclination Factor, Kα α / 90) (1 - Kοο) = 1 - (α
α = 1 - (α α / 90) (sinφ
φ)
68
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
6.1.6 Summary
In this case
ase study assessment, the caption slope was in an unstable state in its initial
condition before
ore adding soil nail
nail. The minimum FOS using SLOPE/W software under
Morgenstern and Price
rice analysis is 0.986
0.986. This is a smaller than the require FOS 1.4
(According to CEDD Geoguide 7 standard ,2008). After applying ing the soil nails, the
FOS of the slope is upgrade
upgraded to a minimum of 1.529 which has been increased to
meet the slope stability requirement
requirements.
69
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
Introduction
In Australia, some cut slopes may be discovered near some railway tracks or on a
highway road side area. These cut slopes usually formed when highways and
railways are constructed. Some of them are sandstone based original cut slope. Due to
the soil property of sandstone, there is a lower landslide hazard in sandstone cut slope.
However, some of them consist of weak sandstone, silt clay slope, silt sand slope etc.
When these soil properties are in a slope which is formed to a steep angle, there may
be a high risk of slope failure. In this case study in Australia, a sample of a silt clay
slope is presented for demonstration using soil nail for slope stability purpose.
This slope is located at Sydney suburban area - Hurstville, which is on the lllawarra
line railway side cut slope. The toe facility is a railway and the crest facility is
moderate use traffic road. However, if the slope failure, the railway services may be
required to stop, or in the worst case this could cause a train derailment. This may
cause a loss of human life, as well as substantial economic losses.
Category group 1b
Consequence-to-life Category 1
High risk
Slope Background
The selected slope is a soil cut slope which is located at the side of a railway track
(S33o57’54.91”, E151o05’40.62”). According to background information from a
previous information search (SRC, 2008), the caption slope was formed since 1902
70
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
Site description
This cut slope is located at north of Railway lllawarra line. The
slope is about 50m long with a maximum height of 6m which
according to GPS height record. This slope toe contains a 1.5m high
solid pile wall. The slope has two different slope angles. The slope
angle in upper portion is approximate 45o and lower portion is
approximate 50 o. The slope is covered with vegetation and the
surface is in good condition. The crest facility consists of a moderate vehicular
trafficked road about 3m away from the slope crest. The toe facility is a railway line
which located adjacent to the slope toe.
Visual Inspection
The site inspection on the caption slope was carried out in October 2008. During the
site observation, no seepage or leakage was observed on the slope or surrounding area.
The slope is covered with a vegetation surface and no surface erosion occurred. The
slope appears to be in good condition and no adverse signs of distress were observed.
No surface channels were found around the slope. A 1.2m high solid pile wall was
observed at toe of the slope.
Site Investigation
Because there was no previous study relative the caption slope, no previous ground
investigation record was able to be collected for this case study. All soil layers and
soil types are according the assumption under Geo standard AS4678-2002. The soil
type identification is under the field excavation test. According to the inspection of
excavated disturbed soil sample at slope toe and at top of the slope, the slope surface
is loose sand material and about 0.01 m depth is the in-situ original soil. The soil
sample is classified as silty clay. (Classification guide shown in Appendix D) The
sample collection location is shown in figure 78.
Figure 73 Silty clay at slope toe Figure 74 Silty clay at slope crest
71
Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
Penetrometer test
In order to provide more precise soil property data, a penetrometer in-situ test was
taken on site. The equipment used in this field test was Pocket Penetrometer. The
pocket penetrometer is a device used by geotechnical engineers to estimate
unconfined compressive strengths of in situ soils.
The pocket penetrometer is a spring-loaded penetrometer. The spring is calibrated
against unconfined compressive strength (typically measured in kg/cm2). The mark at
which the indicator is located is taken as the unconfined compressive strength of the
soil.
This Penetrometer test was taken with the data from 10 relative soil layers. An
average value of 10 samples was determined and provided an estimated soil
properties. The collected data is shown in following table.
Table 19 Hand penetrometer test results
Reading kg/cm2 1 kg/cm2 = 100kPa
Test no1 - 2.9kg/cm2 290 kPa
Test no2 - 3.2kg/cm2 320 kPa
Test no3 - 2.5kg/cm2 250 kPa
Test no4 - 3.0kg/cm2 300 kPa
2
Test no5 - 2.8kg/cm 280 kPa
2
Test no6 - 2.5kg/cm 250 kPa
2
Test no7 - 2.4kg/cm 240 kPa
2
Test no8 - 3.2kg/cm 320 kPa
Test no9 - 2.7kg/cm2 270 kPa
2
Test no10 - 2.3kg/cm 230 kPa
2
From this data, the average value is 2.75 kg/cm . From relative analysis, the cohesion
value of soil will be high.
Due to a lack of more accurate borehole log information and soil laboratory data, And
due to conservative reasons, this case study will use the assumption under standard
AS4678-2002 table D4 to predict the typical soil property under the soil type
identification
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Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
Critical section
According to the site inspection, the minimum distance between slope toe and toe
facility is of a uniform spacing of approximately 0 meters and the slope angle on the
surface is uniformly approximate at 45-50 degree. Therefore, the critical section is
controlled by the maximum height of 6m with solider pile wall. The critical section
plan is shown in figure 6.11.
Ground condition
According the site investigation, the soil composition of the slope toe and crest under
few centimeters is a silty clay material. Therefore, under these parameters, it is
assumed that the soil type for the slope from top to bottom is also a silty clay layer.
According to the Australian geological property, it is assumed that the bedrock is a
sandstone base.
Groundwater condition
According to site inspection noted that no groundwater and seepage was observed.
Therefore, design groundwater table adopted for slope stability analysis is to be
estimated at one-third of the slope height to represent the assumed 1 in 50 year design
groundwater table in Australia and water pipe leakage at slope crest.
Therefore, the shear strength parameters adopted in stability analysis for the caption
slope are as following list:
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Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
Design assumptions
The ground water table is assumed as a 1 in 10 year rainfall intensity and
the groundwater table is assumed to be at 1/3 of the slope height.
The surcharge of the crest traffic road is assuming 20kPa uniform loading.
The slope is assumed to consist of one layer of silty clay soil.
Caption slope
Section A-A
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Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
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Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
The minimum FOS of slip surface is generated under Morgenstern and Price analysis
using SLOPE/W software. The soil layer distribution are made up of soil type
estimation from practical experience . All design assumptions and soil properties are
based on Australia Standard AS 4678-2002 Table D1 and Table D4.
The critical slip surfaces are generated under automatic grid and radius generation.
Because sliding may occur along any number of possible surfaces, computer
generation numbers of slip to find out minimum FOS are recommended. The
minimum Factor of safety (FOS) at section A-A obtained are as following table:
In the result, the minimum FOS for soil slope at section A-A does not meet the
minimum requirement of 1.5 for the caption slope. Therefore, further slope stability
improvement work is necessary.
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Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
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Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
The following table lists the results of the hand calculations and compares with the
Slope/W calculation using Morgenstern and Price analysis.
From the table, the FOS is not consistent. There is about a 38% difference between
the two methods. This is because in the Method of slices all of the interslice forces
are ignored. Also, this method is only for c’=0. Therefore, some errors may occur in
this analysis. Usually the error is within the range 5-20% compare with Morgenstern
and Price method.
Angle
Slice No Arc Length Weight Cos α Sin α N=W*cos(α) T=W*sin(α) N*tan(Φ)
α
F= Σ(N)*tan(φ)/ΣT=w*sin(α))= 0.639406
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Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
At the beginning of soil nail design procedure, we need to estimate the different
shape of the slip surface to analyse the FOS. This is because if we use the minimum
FOS (1.031) to design the soil nail, the reinforced slope may have another shape of
slip surface which the FOS is smaller than 1.5. For example, if the slip no. 1 FOS is
smaller than 1 and the slope is not safe, after installing the soil nails with the bond
length being just enough to pass through the slip surface of slip no. 1, after that
analysis the reinforced slope of slip 1 and the FOS will rise to meet the requirement.
The slip 1 seems safe. However, the soil nail may not be contributing a resisting force
to slip no. 2,3,4. The slope will still not be safe. Therefore, the slope will be
distributed into 4 typical different shapes of slip surface and all will be analysed in
terms of their FOS. From the analysis, the FOS for slips 1,2,3 and 4 do not satisfy the
FOS requirement of 1.5. Therefore, the soil nail must pass through slip 4 for ensue
that slip 1,2,3,4 all of them are in resisting by soil nail. ( Slope/W FOS data sheet
shown in Appendix E )
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Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
The position of the soil nail is estimated according the slope profile and slope
parameters. A 1.5m horizontal and vertical spacing with a staggered format is
recommended. The first row of soil nails is 1m from the ground and third row of soil
nails is 1m high from slope crest. Therefore, 3 rows of soil nails are formed
uniformly in 5m slope height.
Estimated design
In the preliminary design, soil nail lengths are estimated to be 8m length for Row A
to Row C. However, in checking of Shear Failure of Adjacent Ground, all of the rows
from A to B are not satisfy the requirement. Therefore, the bar length is adjusted to
12m to satisfy the shear failure adjacent ground checking.
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Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
The soil property and soil profiles remain as previously modeled. Three rows of 12m
soil nail at inclination 15o are added in SLOPE/W slope profile. Bond length and
forces are predicted. The minimum FOS of 4 nos slip surface is generated under
Morgenstern and Price analysis using SLOPE/W software.
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Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
In order to calculation of soil nail parameter details, we need to use a trial and error
method to find out the nail bar size
size, nail length, bond length,, inclination,
inclination spacing and
required resisting force. It is recommended to use an EXCEL spreadsheet to compare
the other parameters and to ensure that the most suitable design is achieved.
achieved
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Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
This part aims to check the bar and grout bond and tensile strength of steel bar, which
is an essential part of checking of soil nail design to avoid the failure of steel bar and
failure of the bar and grout bonding.
Design Parameters
Soil Type = Silty Clay , C’=5kPa , γ=18kN/m3 , φ ' = 25ο
Drill Hole diameter = 0.1m
Soil Nail inclination angle = 15o
Unit weight of water = 9.81 kN/m3
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Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
Table 29 Bond Failure between Grout and Steel Bar calculation spreadsheet
Max.
Bar Bar Size Horizontal Free Bond Force per Force
Level Allowable Tmax > Tr
Row No. Length (d) Spacing length La length Le m Width Required
(mPD) Force
(m) (mm) (m) (m) (m) F (kN)
Tr (kN) Tmax (kN)
Row C 74.0 12.0 25 1.5 1.97 10.03 18.00 27.00 623.87 O.K.
Row B 72.5 12.0 25 1.5 2.20 9.80 25.00 37.5 609.56 O.K.
Row A 71.0 12.0 25 1.5 1.84 10.16 35.00 52.5 631.96 O.K.
Part C - Shear Failure of Adjacent Ground (Bond Failure between Grout and soil)
Silty Clay
α = 0.93
Kα
π D c' + 2 D Kα
Tf =(π α σv' tanφ
φ) × Le = ( 1.571 + 0.087 σ’v
σ ) × Le Eq(5.10)
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Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
6.1.6 Summary
In this second case study assessment, the caption slope in its initial condition before
adding the soil nail is un-stab
stable. The minimum FOS using SLOPE/W software under
the Morgenstern and Pricerice analysis is 1.031. This is smaller than the required
require FOS of
1.5 for slope stability. After
fter the application of the soil nails, the FOS of the slope was
upgraded to minimum 1.5009 which meets the requirement.
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Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
7.0 Conclusions
Soil nail construction has been shown to be a simple technology and does not need
complex machines. Therefore, this method can provide a lower construction period
and can distribute more resources to stabilise other instable slopes.
In conclusion of the two case studies, two slopes are located at two different
geological areas. However, it was shown that the soil nail application can be used in
these two different cases. Compared which other new technologies such as
Bio-engineering, these two case studies have demonstrated that soil nailing is a
diverse method that can be applied to any type of soil, in a variety of climates and
with any slope angle. Furthermore, using software to analyse the slope is much more
accurate than hand calculations and this is the most commonly used method for slope
analysis. From the result generated by Slope/W , we can find the different of FOS
values before adding soil nails and after adding soil nails. This shows that soil nails
can upgrade the FOS for stability purposes and that all parameters of soil nails are
designable. That means that the design of soil nails can result in a higher level of
efficiency that just using a standardized design.
The city is growing and more and more new technologies for slope stability methods
are developing. However, the soil nail method can provide some unique aspects over
some other methods such as reliability and designability. Therefore, the soil nail
method may not be discontinued in the future. The more innovate design of soil nails
may combine with other new technologies such as use soil nails for slip prevention
measures and be covered with Geotexile or mulching systems for surface erosion and
shallow slide preventive measures. From these innovative technologies, There will be
more and more slope stability methods combined with soil nail technology and
Bio-Engineering technology in the future.
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Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
7.2 Recommendations
It should be noted that soil nailing is one of the main methods used for stabilising
medium sized slopes. Enhancing public education for the landslide hazard is the most
desirable way for preventing human loss and property damage in high landslide risk
areas. Some recommendations on increasing public awareness about landslide hazard
are described as well.
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Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
8.0 Bibliography
CHENG LIU. JACK B. EVETT. (2008). “ Soils and Foundations”. 8th edn.
Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) “Manuals, Guides and R &
D Reports”, viewed 21th September 2008 – 5th October 2008,
< http://www.cedd.gov.hk/eng/publications/manuals/index.htm >.
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Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
Ground investigation report (2005), “Drill hole record”, Gold Ram Engineering
and Development Limited, Hong Kong.
Ground investigation report (1993), “Drill hole record”, Vibro Limited. , Hong
Kong.
Hong Kong Slope safety website, “Slope information system”, viewed 11th September
2008 , < http://hkss.cedd.gov.hk/hkss/eng/whatsnew/index.htm >.
JOHN KRAHN. (2004). “Stability modelling with SLOPE/W” First Edn Revision 1 ,
GEO-SLOPE/W International, Ltd. , Canada. , pt. 7-57.
M.R.HAUSMANN. (1992). “ Soil and rock anchorage, rock bolting, soil nailing &
dowelling “.
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Application of Soil Nailing for slope stability purpose
List of Appendices
90