1976 9 Reprinted from the Proceedings of the Specialty Conference on Rock Engineering for Foundations and Slopes ASCE Boulder, Coforado/Angust 15-18. 1976 NOPPLING OF ROCK SLOPE: Richard £. Goodnan,* . ASCH, and John W. Bray? ABSTRACT Toppling is a mode of failure of slopes cut in rock masses with regularly spaced layers or foliation. 1+ occurs under gravity alone when the layers are inclined into the hill but can occur even when the layers dip towards the ex- cavation if load is transferzed from potentially sliding blocks above; the latter is a case of ‘secondary toppling. Toppling is common in slates and schists in open pits and in natural slopes, but it also occurs in steeply dipping thin- bedded sediments, in columaar-jointed volcanics, and in regularly-jointed granitics. A number of axamples of top- ples of different types ere discussed in this paver, and a limit equilibrium analysis is examined for the special case Of block toppling on A stepped paso: the product of tnis analysis is the required support force at the toe of the slope to achieve a svecified factor of safety. A simple ki~ nematic test on the xtersographic projection is alo sug- gested. INTRODUCTION Topphing Woppling” is a failure mede of slopes involving overturning of interacting columns. In rock, such columns ace formed by regular bedding planes, cleavage, or joints which strike parallel to the slope eres: and dip into the rock mage; this contraste with the structure of slides in which the controlling discontinuities dip into the open space. YToppling mechanisms also operate in sot rocks and lprofessor, Department of Civil Engineering, University of California, Berkeley 2senior Lecturer, Royal School of Mines, Imperial College, Londen, England 201202 ROCK ENGINEERING aoile with vertical or backward-inclined tension cracks. Since folding is well known as a deformational mechanism in layered rocks, and overturning is recognized as a fundamen- tal failure mode for dams and retaining walls, it is sur- prising that folding and overturning were not until recent- ly recognized widely in rock slopes. Such failures prove to be widespread in many different kinds of rock masses. Slope toppling doos not usually produce high velocities, like some rock slides, but, if uncontrolled, retrogressive fail- ure can encompass a large volume of rock, with deep tension cracks, and considerable rock breakage. Failure begins in the toe region when the slope 1s deevened or undernined by now excavation or erosion. ‘The material braaks az it cones. down and accumulates a3 a talus, mantling and, apparently, obscuring the mode of failure. Failure can he violent. Classes of Topples There are several kinds of failure nechaniexs invol- ving overturning of columns. In rocks with one preferred discontinuity system, oriented to present a rock slope with semicontinuous cantilever beats, flexural-toppling can occur, a8 shown in Figure la. Continuous columns break in flexure as they bend forward. Thinner layers transfer load into thicker ones. Sliding, undermining, or erosion of the toe lets the failure begin and it retrogresses backwards, with wide, deep tension cracks. The lower portion of the slope is Covered with disoriented and disordered blocks. The progress Of cracking and bending ends only when the line of tension cracks intercepts the crest of the slope. ‘The outward novenent of each cantilever produces interlayer sliding (flexural slip) and a portion of the upper surface of each bed is exposed in a series of back facing scarps (obsequent scarps). As one ascends the slope, he is con- fronted with exposed lower surfaces of overhanging beds. Deiliing will not discover a seat of sliding, for there is none; it is hard to say where the base of the disturbance lies. for change is gradual. Water levels will vary great- ly ftom one drill hole to another since there may be little or no hydraulic communication across the cantilevers. Flexurai-toppling occurs most notably in slates, phyllites, and schists. Block toppling, depicted in Figure 1b, occurs where the individual columns are divided by widely spaced joints. ‘The tee of the slope, with short columns, receives load from overturning, longer coiunns above. ‘This thrusts the te columns forward, permitting further toppling. ‘The base of the disturbed mass is better defined than in the case of flexural toppling; it consists of a stairway generally rising from one layer to the next, The steps of this stair- way are formed by cross-joints, which occupy the positions of primary flexural cracks in flexural-topples. Consequent~ ly, new rock breakage in flexure occurs much less markedly than in flexural-topples. Interblock caves occur through out the disturbed zone; water will not be found high within203 ROCK TOPPLING. -purrédoa eanxets 297g (@ tburtddoa yooTq (4 {BuyTédoy PeanxsT] (# :s9[Gdoa Fo sesseTo vowCg -T STUHOL 20 SaSvT2 sORAOD204 ROCK ENGINEERING she topple due to the openness of the whole joint aystan. Thick-hedded sedimentary rocks such as limestones and sand= stones, aS well as columnar jointed volcanics axnibit plock-toppling f2ilures. Block-Elexure-toppling, depicte@ in Figure le, is characterized by psendo-continuous flexure of long columns through accumalated motions along numerous cross joints, Sliding is distributed along several joint surfaces in the toe, while sliding ané overturning occur in close associa tion through the rest of the mass. Sliding occurs because accumulated overturning steepens the cross joints. ‘There are fewer edge-to-face contacts than in blook-toppling but still onovgh to create a loosened, highly open character within the disturbed zone. Interbedded sandstone and shale, interbedded chert and shale, and thin-bedded lime- stone, exhibit block-flexure-toppling. Secondary toppling Overturning as a behavior mode may be excited by another, independent chenomenon where overturning would otherwise bo unlikely to occur. Figure 2 shows several ex- amples of such secondary toppling modes. As a consaquence OE a block slide, on a bedding plane, for example, a s1ide- head-topple may Sccur ag joint blocks overturn into the new Void at the slide head. (Figure 2a}. A slanp confined to soils above a steeply dipping layered rock can cause slide- base-toppling, as shown in Figure 2b. This occurs oy vir— fae Gf the shear force of the slunp acting alomy the top of the rock. S1ide-base-toppling may arise only atter slide movement because of continuous drag, or it may precede and trigger slide novenent. Similarly, drag of broken rock being drawn off by cave mining can initiate secondary top pling, as in the case diccusced by Heslop (1972). These nodes'are similar to the flexurel deformation of steeply dipping layered rocks on steep nillsides underneath down- vard creeping regolith; “gravity creap" of this typo can occur even where the layers dip downslope. Such creep may be termed crees-topsling. Pigize Je Portraye toppling in the tos of a rock slide as a result of load transmitted from the slide. ‘This slide-toe-toppling is like a two block mechanism in which the active" Fogien is a slide and the passive region is a potentially toppling mass. The slide-toe-toople resembles an overturning retaining wall. In Figure 2e, the two block system exists by virtue of a tault causing sudden dip re- versal. The fault gouge is squeczed into the tension cracks. and out onto the slope. A tight syncline can also set the stage for a slide-toe-topple. The formation of new tension cracks above steew slopes may liberate potentially toppling blosks. Such tension crack toppling can arise in chalk, :n volcanic ash, in highly weathered rocks, in damp sands, and in stiff clays. Figure 2d depicts toppling tension cracks in a stream bank several metere high. A similar mode oxista205 ROCK TOPPLING sAeyradoa yoes9 uoTsUaY (p HBuyTddca vor SpFLs (2 sbuytados Seq SEFTS (G 'SUTTEGO] peoy BPTIS (B *eepom fuTTsdes Lzepuosag 2206 ROCK ENGINEERING Where the toe of a sliding soil or rock mass overhangs a elitf, calves off and falls. BASIC RELATTONSHIPS Consider a single block resting initially on a plane inclined a degrees above horizontal (igure 3a). The block has widtn ax, height y, and woight W, and it develops shear and normal reactions along its base equal to W sin a and Wcos a. such a block will not slide if tan a < y, where y ie the coefficient of friction. If it begins tS topple, it will do so about the lower corner so the reactions at the limit of oguiliprium of overturning will act through the lower corner. Thus limiting equilibriun, under weight alone, 1s reached when the weight acts axactly through the block's lower corner; i.e., the block can not topple if y/Sx < cot a. The criteria for sliding and toppling of a Single block are superimposed in Figure 3, after Kock and Bray (1974) and Ashby (1971). ‘In a potentially toppiing rock slope, colunng inter- act with one another and there are more degrees of freedom than in the simple example of Figure 3. However, a condi= tion for toppling of contacting columns can be obtained from the kinematic necessity for flexural slip prior to large mass movement. As shown in Figure 4, the state of Stress in the rock slope is uniaxial, with’s] parallel to the slope face. Wen the layers slip past each other, oy must be inelinéa at ¢ with she normal to layers, where ¢ is the angle of friction of layer surfaces. 1f 9 is the Slope angle, and a is the angle af the normal ta @tscon- tinuities {both with respect to horizontal), then, as shown in Figure 4b, the condition for interlayer slip is D> o40 a Equation (1) provides a useful kinematic test for toppling mechaniana, which can be applied together with tests for sliding modes to plan cuts in regulerly layered zuck wasses. The eguation shows that for toppling failare to be possible, a < © -$, and this means that the pole to a xogular discontinuity set must be outside a great circle ¢ degrees below the rock cut (Figure 4c). Since the strike of the discontinuities must be approximately parallel to the strike of the cut slope, this test should be applied only close to the bearing of the dip of the slope; accordingly in Figure Je the region considered to pass the test oF equation (1) has been bounded by vertical snall circtes 10° from the dip of the cut slope. Toppling is kinenati- cally possible for the given cut slope only for sets of discontinuities whose poles plot within the ruled area. As in the caso of sliding modes, the value of e kinematic test is in predicting potentially troublesome cases. Whether or207 ROCK TOPPLING (Tet) Agusy tease} SurLsdor pu BupTIs x07 BTIEIGTD pasodzadns ( SUPAPUTT UF YTS ( FSUBfd POUFTOUy Ue uo yPOTT eToUTS e 403 EFAOyTEO GUTPITS pus BuyuaNaeAD (eu61'AvHR ONE 20H WLLIW)ONTIgdOL vw ONICITS Od YEIBLIND OsOMENS (a os @ iss erezt “We SNTIIAOL S04 _NOLIsOd OMIA NE IOI (0ROCK ENGINEERING 208 senoy 943 uo 3593 OTIRESETY | cpaayp drTs pe sascamas (e suctavafosd ayudesboore3s Traxcjuos ‘oxoude tay taq1s seavyaeae 0g WOTATPEDS (4 fBdoTS yoO1 Ba LY SUOTA ibuTLddoy sapanaad Yous ‘SETS TRAMKOTZ zy UOTATPUCO OTACUDETH erp ao 4-00 z (081 - e901 4S HAA WBLN, HOE NOLONGD sao 08 HL Swougshad GIS GRY SaBSaKl3 (® aROCK TOPPLING 209 not toppling will occur on a kinematically admissable act depends on the neight of the cut, the thickness of the layers, the flexural gtrongth of the rock, the regularity and spacing of cross joints, the degree of development of Iatoral release joints or tribucary valleys perpendicular to the strike of the layers, and other specific system Properties. Some of these factors can be considered analy- tically. ANALYSTS OF TOPPLING MODES lethoas ropoling failures are readily produced in physical models and in fact it is hard to avoid at least secondary toppling when more than one set of joints is present. Barton (1971), Ashby (1971), Hofmann (1972) and others stu— Gist toppling slopes in static, physical models, These fethode can bo tedicua bat specitic design problems can be treated realistically and strengthening measures, if re- Guired, can be tricd out at reduced scale, Toppling is dery easily simlascd in base friction models vhich allow Study of some of the parameters of interest if the éric- {ion coofficient 1 can be duplicated, Ashby (1971), Bax- mett (1974), Soto (1974), Whyte (1973), and Goodman (1973, 1975). all of the classes of toppling failure described earlier can be studied by physical models, Moreover, as toppling is basically a two dimensional okenoxenon, tuo Ainensional models ate sufficient. Pigure 5 shows nodels ef toppled oleped in tilted ana base friction nodels. ‘Numerical modelo of tuo typos can be used as well. rime explicit finite difference methods can follow the jarge deformations of block toppling ané block flexure toppling modes from an initial equilibrium to failure. Cundall (1976) demonstrated this convincingly with computer Graphica. ‘the finite elerent ‘nethod has perhaps greeter Sapability to handle the flewural topsling mode, wherein the rock folunns saffer deformation and failure and accor~ Gingly can not be considered to be rigid. A new progran Gritten by Mazo Hittinges af Dexkelay, combining gcd Bending elenents with joint elenents, is being cehugged for Flexural toppling problens. Ashby (171), Ayrne (1974), Burman (1571) and Hammett (1974) also studied toppling of rock slopes using nunerical methods. Block toppling can be analysed by Limit eqo!libriun nethode. If the base ie flat, the analysis proves compli- cated, with blocks sliding or overturnins both wehill and Sowahill and tension oracks opening both fron che top and fron the bottom. In some cases, multiple tension cracks form next co each other in block fans, ‘The variations of topaling moses on a plane base can be appreciated by exper jmenting with books on an incompletely filled sholf (Figure @). tn tho special case of block-toppling on a cositively Stepped base, tho variations are fewer and analysis is210 ROCK ENGINEERING a oy 5. Models showing toppling failure: a) A tilted block-nodel: fron Hofmann (1972), b) A base friction sodelr photo by 1. Kuykendall.ROCK TOPPLING aud 6. ‘Teppling of books on a shelf. fairly straight forward. LIMIT EQUILIBRIUM ANALYSIS OF TOPPLING ON A STEPPED BASE Consider the regular system of blocks shown in Pi- gure 7 in which a slope at angle ? is excavated in a rock mass with layers dipping at 90-a. ‘The base is stepped up— ward with overall inclination @." tha constants a), aj, and b shown in the figure are given by 1 7 8x tan (8-0) ax tana ay b = ax tan (6-0) Blocks are numbered from the toe upward. In this idealized model, the hoight of block » in a position below the orest of the slope is iy 7 B(@\-b) Gah while above the crest Yn 7 Une 7 TB (3b) (1t is useful to consider @ system with regular geonetry but, in practice, lese regular systems can be analyzed212 ROCK ENGINEERING Model for initirg equiai~ briun analysis of ton on a stepped Base. without added difficulty once their geometric parancters are defined.) In the top of the slope, whore blocks are relatively short, yy / Ax < cot a and blocks are stable unless 1 > % However, "in the latter cace, all blocks slide and further analysis is oot necessary. “Below the stable zone, the blocks tend to topple, being restrained from doing so by the nocmal force transnitted upward from each lower block and the shear forces on the sides of the columns. Pro- ceeding down the slope, as blocks become shorter tha toe region is reached wheréin again yq/ Sx < cot w and a block will not topple under its own weight. However, toe blocks may still topple under the normal load transmitted from the toppling zone above. Thus both sliding and toppling must be examined within the toe region. the minimu force on the downslope side of block 1 required to prevent both top- pling and siding will be negative 4f the slope is stable, positive if the slope is- unstable, or zero if the slope is exactly at limiting equilibrium. to find the friction co- efficient required for limiting equilibrium one can iterate on the choice of y to tind a valua making the reqaired toc force come to zero. In practise, iteration usually pro- duces an oscillating series. If the friction cocificient is known, and the slope is found to be unstable, a support force can be calculated to provide equilibrium.ROCK TOPPLING 23 Figure 8 shows the conditions for sliding and toppling in block n, The forces on block n include: Wp, the weight of the block; Pp and Qn, representing the normal and shear forces acting on the upper side of block n at height: My: Pha and Qno1 representing the normal and shear forces act- ing on the lower side of block n at height tq: and %, and Sq representing the normal and shear forces on the base of block n at distance Kn above the lower corner. Tf block n ie tending to topple, the pointe of application of all forces are known, as shown in Figure Ba. Below the crest: moe y, For the crest block: a and above the crest (for an irregular block array, values of Yq, In, and My can be determined graprically-) Since the sides of toppling blocks are slipping past one another, the shear forces on the block sides are determined by the normal forces and friction ecefficient: There are three unknowns: Pn-1+ Rnr and Sq and the problem is Geterminate. To prevent £op= pling; a force Pnai,_ is required: wax) + (H,/2) (yy Sima ~ S co8 a) () 2, nel, t i, If toppling proves critical for block n, Ry 2 Wy COs a - LLP, 6) and 8, =, sino - (Py 4 ~ BA) 7) with the conditions that: R, > 0 (a) ana Isl7 Roe @ It is assumed that the cocfficient of friction, y, along the base of blocks is the same as between blocks. The analy- tic may be easily modified to allow for independent values of Us214 ROCK ENGINEERING lone for toppling and for sliding of the nth block. a. candies:ROCK TOPPLING 215 If Sy < 0, the leading corner of block n tends to slide up- hint” “xt'will sllae dato the riser of tho stepped base if Sn < Ry us mobilizing a force to take the excess base shear. rf block n tends to slide, the aide forces Q, aze not known nor are their points of application, Assuning Py. Qn, and Nn were known from the previous celeuiation step, there are five new Unknowns: foress Un-t, Pp-1, and By, and dis~ Sances fn and Ky (Figure §). ‘Though the problem is Indeter~ inate, Pn.j,g required to prevent sliding of block n can be determined {F an asaumption is made about the magnitude of Qn-i:, Ef we assume that Q,-] =i Py) then the normal force regilired to prevent aliding Sf blecs'n is W(t cos a = sin a) Pag * Pp ae) nots 7 Fa Toe Ry ds given by (6) vith P,_; , in place of Phy n=l: It should be noted that the above assumption has ne efFect on the problem as regards the values of forces within the toppling zone, the condition for limiting equi Librium, computation of support force, etc., and identical results would be obtained adopting any other reasonable assumption regarding forces in the sliding zone. TE P.1,¢ > Pyoz.s block n tends to topple and Py = P, a-tptt For analysis of the next block, set P, = P,_) and proceed. If both P._, , and Pi, are negative, the slope is stable. To determine y required for equilibrium, reduce and start again at tho highest block. If Py.) is positive for block 1, the slope is unstable. Start again with a larger value of u, oF compute a supsort force to achieve stability. In the exanples below, 3 cable has pean in- stalled through block 1 at a distance Ly above its base; the cable is inclined degrees below horizontal, and an- chored a safe distance below the base. The tension in this cable required to prevent toppling of block 1 is and Sy o, = 1/2) sina yy seowa + ax) + Py (yy ~ Hox) ay £0 EE CO Ta OY while the tension in the cable to prevent sliding of block lis Py (leu?) = was cos @ = Bin a) s usin [a + 8) + cos (a + 4) (123 1, These equations show that Ty and Ts are theoretically mini wun when 5 = -3, and 6 =$-u respectively. The actual value of 3 will depend on practical considerations. The tension to be installed is the greater of T, and T_. Then216 ROCK ENGINEERING the normal and shear force at the base of block 1 are respectively: be) # sin (a + 8) +, coma aay FoRek.Mesancw TOs 8 eample 1 ~ ainiting equizipeiun ot a toppling slope.27 ROCK TOPPLING suly we ae eee eee SOOO ssei"y EIGEN SEI, SLT Uso eee ssei'o Teer | ctLOLe © stee | Hrseoe = Stscae 2 eT ett otk ——~ —earo sreste | pteaeF Tweet | Dvnee = Trsuee TT Loreto zso'0Pr6stC Truvah SzeMR OELOZ = Sutae gx worse aesrd GEIS GLEE OTLEY Tron = Cuucee Love Z tH 2 Ses'0 aUsetO'ELAS © A'DSGY OST eves ewe we E oes'a E'eREE —BOGEe THEOL HrGOHT= © Trace ete Te ee q Tero Oryore = aEeeD © avozBZ—TOSTE- = Ltoeee «ete a cero S eee E'UNBLUTHEEL OGLE TBEGT cE SLR OOF ot ‘ e1S'0 Orbs ORES LoweR | R*ODE- “STS E EEO LL oes-0 | arsecz Ety9s Steet ctnese- = gteec: week oes zero suste reese o owe toe ome et == sv certo 0 ° ot oor at mews eso set ate o ° er ovr st uso wos 88 6 0 ° vo Fat POR uss as y 4g sug Bey Uy RE ssec-o=t ~ eT oTduem - 1 arayeROCK ENGINEERING 28 pss-o | LIOR © GTTvop | Prosty Dery L889 > oro oe ot osero G'LTeT Leu creerr © heetyErSORE Of BBO ONTGEIS —ps9-0 @r9zoT—-S*0TUE Or SUBY—SCOY NOEL eT T nett osero g'sebz © HuMLE © BOTS E*OEOG Bones «TESTE rot erarnzibesz © Drupse ovsiSs Sr 8rR Osis See s . 9950 ETSRe | STPELS © ETOBFS «—BTOEZY © ETORDS «GT we're x pesto Tretor Eshes | HTeeSr THERE PTCGSh Cee COreT = cev'dizDTe © wOLESBTSETD © GropETatstTF kee wee earn arsazs "ton: © Trex BeOS tse EOE Ow ° Tero B'9ESE TOO, EBEST eH eAOST «SESE ORR F aesto stone = Evw989 GES eUeE- ER ew TE sTS"D c*esez Homes © Ste6Z_ GSS SEG ez. _. tes°D S*LSb 30°, (j) > 0.577). Tn example la, wis set as 0.7855. Py3 is then eqoal to 0 and P12 calculated as the greater of Py2,4 and P12,g given by (5) and (10) respectively. As shown’in Tabla 1; Pyz,, turns out to be the larger until a value of n =3, wheredpon Pp-1,s5 remains larger. Thos blocks 4 through 13 constitute the potentially toppling zone and blocks 1 Lo 3 constitute a gliding zona. Tha force required to prevent sliding in block 1 tends te zero and the slope is very close to the limit of equilibrium. The installed tension required to stabilize block 1 is 0.5 k Newtons, as compared with the maximum value of P (in block 5) equal to 4836 k Newtons (all the force calculations assume a meter of slope crest length) In contrast, when the friction coefficient, u, is 0.650, example lb, there are 4 blocks in the toe region, as shown’in Table 2.’ The required tension in a supporting ca- ble, installed horizontally througa block 1, is 2013 k New tons iper meter length of slope crest). This is not « large number, demonstrating that support of the "keystone" is renarkably effective in increasing the degree of stabi- lity. Conversely, removal or weakening of the keystone for a slope near failure can have dire consequences, ultimately extending very far frow the point of disturbance. The sup- port force required to stabilize the slope corresponding to revoval of the Firat 1 toe blocks can, of course, be calcu- lated with equations (11) and (12), substituting Pp4, for Phe 1° wow that the distribution of P forces nas been Ge- fined in the tovpling region, the forces Ry and $y on the bases of colurns can be calculated using (6) and (7): and assuming Op] -12_-1, Bn and Sq can also be calculated by these equations for the sliding region. Tables 1 and 2, and Figure 3 show distribution of forces for both examples throughout the slope. Conditions (8) and (8) are satisfied everywhere. This is not the case in the next example. Tn example 2(Pigure 10 and Table 3), a 105.6 m high cut on a 60° slope is comprised of 13 blocks with a = 20° and 8 = 45*. The distribution of block heights, which is not exactly as given by (Ja) and (3b) is listed’ in Table 3. with the friction angle of 0.393, blocks 11, 12, and 13 ere stable and only block 1 tends to’ slide (even through the first 5 blocks have Yq/dx < cot a). The required cable220 ROCK ENGINEERING Lo. Example 2 - Linizing equitinriun analysis, bE a topeling slope.221 ROCK TOPPLING rene ree, DHEOTS_—EGE'OSTLEZ —O"SLOD.aBeZa. ° eo rR oT ee ee ee mr ore of > ezerre e165 SERRE U'ERDE —RrapeEOTEROR oT est ¢ " euecro | erezetwcbrey | Toeese = prseer | Tresse 'TT oz ort T grote rreost | z'srrs | ptet | L06st ert ce ees @ —-anor"o | P90GT reETg STURT S8sOT Lot ve ow 9 1 gorse eraatee'steeensetTovres we re wore aoc Srylwe © wrvoBe © ETTTG | Br0gT~ vse se spe 8 coro "pede LeRGS SPT Th6be eer oe ore 6 gorero arvere ttuGTA ° ° ero VE ocr ot ~~ ob8e "6. LrOteT, OT HOES o o a ge ez art 1 wuayis opera ovtzet.cresce ° ° em wt oger oat operto erTts Btw ° 2 ae so ots eT wen EUS ca “ee ty eer coat = 7 oTdaexa - € eTaWE22 ROCK ENGINEERING tension to secure block 1, and consequently to secure the whole slope, is 4945 kN. In block 2, however, the ratio Of Sp to Ry is ~1.6, meaning that this block tends to slide uphill as it overturns; block 2 sould bump into the next riser along the base and mobilize the additional required base force. THE FACTOR OF SAFETY FOR LIMITING EQUILIBRIUM ANALYSIS The factor of safety for toppling can be defined by dividing the friction coefficient believed to apply to the rock layers (i, saizapje) by the friction coefficient re- quired for equilibrium with the given support force 7 required) * available PS. = 5 "required as) If, for example, the best estimate of the friction coefficicnt is 0.800 for the rock layer surfaces sliding on each other, the factor of safsty in example 1A, with the 0.5 K Nowton support force in block 1, is 0.806/0.7855 = 1,02. With the support force of 2013'k Newtons in example 1B, the factor of safety is increased to 0.800/0.650 1.23, Probability of safety can also be introduced, with the same relarionship to factor of safcty as discussed by Goodman (1975). Ones a column overturns by a small amount, the fric~ tion required to sustain it from turning further increases. Thas, a slope just at limiting equilibriun is meta-stable. However, a rotation equal to 2(2 - a) will convert the edge-to-face contacts along the sides of the columns into continuous face contacts. Accordingly, the friction co- efficient required to prevent further rotation will drop sharply, possibly even below that required for an initial equilibrium. The choice of safety factor, therefore, de- pends on whether or not some deformation can be tolerated. Many of the natural toppling failures visited in the Field displayed full face-to-face contacts in the lower portions, suggestive that motion had ended when this condition had been restored.ROCK TOPPLING 223 EXAMPLES OF TOPPLINC FAILURE & fox examples of toppling failures are discussed in published literature. Zischinsky (1965) described ancient flexural-tooples of schist, vhyllites, and amphibolites in che Austrian Alps. Zaruba and Menci (1988) showed two ancient slide-head-topples in Ceeckoolovakia.* In one, a Slurp in horizontal, Cretaceous, clayey maris initiated block-flexural-toppling above the head seazp, along verti- cal joints in the overlying sandstone. Tn the second ex- ample, ¢liding of large sandstone blocks down the dip of the widerlying claystone created a graben at the head, into which toppled 50 moter nigh sandstone columns detined by persistent joints. aruba and Mencl also give exenples of blige-bsse-toppling and creep-toppling. Heslop (1974) described toppling of schists, cherts, ané serpentinites in the nanging wall of 2 caving mine in Swaziland. Uoderground mining by longwall shrinkage stop~ ing and sub-level caving of a steeply dipping orebocy has produced subsidence by flexural-toppling. Plexurat slip as observes underground on the shear surface forming the sides of columns. In-situ stresses were measured and the major principal stress waa devermined to be directed per- pendicularly to the columns. Bukahousty, Sodrigues, and Cedrun (1874) described a block-toppling ailure which occurred on bedding in line- stone, wari, and sandstone ("flysch deposits") in a Spanish highway cut. The beds dipped 56° into the hillsice which was cut at 45° to a depth of 35 meters. Flexural slip was obeerved on bedding planes and wide tension cracks deve- Toped as far as 30 meters behind the crest of the cut slope. ‘The slose was stabilized by cutting it back to 34°, so as to be nornal to the bedding; this increased the cat height to 35 meters. Along the Nozth Devon seacoast, Englend, a series of Carboniferous age sandstone and shale layers has exper- ienced a nuaber of toppling failures. One of these was described by de Freitas and Watters (1973) and others are discussed by Baynes (1975). Most cf the North Devon cases are block-flexure-tcpples While in several instances syn- clinal folds sct up Slide-toc-topples. Several topples are Intermediate between the three classes as sandstones pre~ sent numerous cross joints while the nore compliant shales tolerate considerable bending. Se cliff erosion, aided by softening of the shales, triggers tos failure, initiating overturning of the strata above. Figure 11 shows several examples of topples on the North Devon coast. In Figure 12, the slope angles and dips have been plotted for ten North Devon toppling failures as well as for five safo “pages 178 and 187; pages 6, 35, and 36.224 ROCK ENGINEERING cl examples of biook flexure topples in North Gevon: a} South of Kay! Land Quay (st. Cathorine's Tor #1" of Baynes, 12751; >») Just south of Martiand Quay: ©} Moreh oF Rare and Quay @) Detail in the toe rogion of a topple west of Clovelly. weROCK TOPPLING 228 eo a)226 ROCK ENGINEERING PLANE OF VORA TO LAYERS (=) = 90 76) 50 4030" 2010 [STABLE SLOPE. [TOPPLED suo @| SLOPE ANGLE (@) 010 2 30 40 80 60 70 80 00 DIP ANGLE 18) 12. Plot of slope angle versus dip of che etrata for toppled and stable elepes along the North Devon Coast. slopes in the same formation. faynes (1975) determined the friction angle of saw-cut sandstone surfaces in these rocks to be 26° while the residual friction angle of unsheared sandstone surfaces was found to be 31%. Equation (1) with 9 equal to 30° is represented by a line on igure 14, pro- ducing a surprisingly Successful division petwoen safe and unsafe loses. A large, post-glacial tension-erack-topgle in South East Wales was also described by de Freitas and Watters. This occurred in flat-lying Carkoniferous sandstonos and shales 40 meters thick overlying a coal seam. a rock block of perhaps 40,000 cubic meters was partially under mined by @ slide of softened shales in the toe of the bluff below the coal seam. The block then overturned through 20° and slid downvards.| In 1967, a somewhat similar class of topple oecurred about one year after excavation of a 20 me- ter deep building foundation in Dallas, Texas. An eight: neter high block of Austin chalk, resting on Eagleford shale, and bounded by a tensicn crack § £0 6 meters behind the face, toppled forward about 3°, undermining a part of a downtown street. water pressure accumulating in the ten- sion crack may have been a factor in that case. Slate and schist aro especially prone to toppling failures because well developed cleavage or schistocity isROCK TOPPLING 207 (a) 13. B flexural topste of slate in Dnorwic guazry, K. wales: a) Viewed fron above iphoto Dy Bvert Koek); >) Yiewea fron eelow.28 ROCK ENGINEERING often stcesly inclined. Several sizable topples in slate occur in Cottonwood Canyon, near Salt Lake City. Topples up to 200,000 cubic meters in volume can be found in the fishnu Schist near Clear Creek, in the Grand Canyon, Ari- zona; flexural toppling occurs in’ the grané Canyon where the achistocity dips steeply into the hillside while slide— toe-toppling occurs where the schistocity dips toward the ereek bottom, In each case, lateral release of the top- pling mass was permitted by erosion of tributary valleys perpendicular to the strike. De Freitas and Watters desoriked a natural topple ever 1000 meters long in schists and more massive metamor- phic rocks (granulites) at Glea Pean, Scotland. ‘The schis~ tocity is inclined 80° into the hillside and the surface averages 45¢ in its lower half, flattening above. The basos and tops of columns are formed by continuous joints inclined about 38° towards the valley. A block roughly 200 meters long has slid along these joints at the toe of the slope and the columns above rotated forward through 30°; toppling colunns developed numerous obsequent scarps, sone of which traverse the entire width of the topple. Te Glen Pean topple is estimated to encompass some 30 million cubic meters. The authors presumed it resulted from valley deepening by an advancing glacier, followed by renoval of toe support as a conseguence of glacial retreat. Large flexural topples occur in slate quarries of North Wales. Figure 132 shows a topple in Dnorwic quarry on steeply plunging slaty cleavage. the wide, deep tension crack of this topple continues beyond its lateral boun- daries all the way to the distant ridge: surface or under- ground excavation in the toe of that ridge (off the photo to the right} could thus trigger an even laraer topple. Figure 13b is a view of the topple from below, showin the back face of the tension crack and the overturned slate colutns. The destruction of leading columns by flexural cracking is also evident. It can he appreciated that per~ sons unfamiliar with this xode of failure might choose to refer to this cliff as "talus* and to the failure mode as "rock falls." Sone features of topples in Penn aynn quar- ry, North Wales, are shown in Figure 14, Rotated columns at the head of 4 large tension crack are shown in Figure ida. Below the scarp, the columns are broken and resemble a talus. Figure 14 shows a wide tension crack at the head of a devoloping topple. Individual topples involve rock volunes of up to 50,000 cubic meters. Since the strike of the slaty Gleavage parallels the long dimensions of the quarry, there are many instances of toppling. According to quarryman Ted Oliver, the formation of tension cracks gives anple warning of the toppling failure to come and the accelerated rock movement occurs over a minimum period of four hours.* Figure 14c shows obsequent scarps up to ‘the Welsh cuarrymen refer to these topples as "toflu dros ei drolud" meaning "toppling over the foot.ROCK TOPPLING 229 1 meter in height on a toppling bench. igure 15 shows part of the wall of a limestone quarry about 120 meters deep, near Philadelphia. The quarry was being ased for water supply and a water treat- ment plant, seen at the top of Figure 15a, had been in- stalled at the quarry's edge, Water was lifted into the plant by means of four wells with submersible turbine pumps intercepting a tunnel at the foot of the slope. Those wore destroyed in a failure which extends up to 14 meters behind the original face. The thin-bedded Elbrook Limestone under the plant, forming this wall of the quare ry, contacts the wore massive Ledger dolomite about 25 metere below the crest. The beds strike parallel to the wall and dig 53° to 57° into the face. Twelve, and then three days before the failure, there were episcdes of un- usually high turbidity and after the faglure several new sink holes appeared. Two boreholes drilled within the cracked zone intersected the water table at a depth of 31 moters--still 33 meters above the level of water in the quarry lake. Figure 15b shcws the stepped surface across the layers, which resembles that of new flexural cracking. Slight bending of one layer, and cantilever support of the lay overburden by tha top-rost layer can also be seen. These features a11 point towards toppling as the failures mode in this case. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS Topoling of rock layers is an important mode of potential failure which must not be overlooked. Tt can involve a large volute of rock in serious deformationa far distans fron a slope face, e.g. up to four times the slope height. Toppling is distinct from conventional s1i- ding modes in that there la no single, basal sliding sur- face; however, sliding must occur ainaltaneously with over- turning between the calunns as well as at the bases of blocks in the toe region. Toppling of rock slopes is ac- companied by distinctive geonorohic features which make it possible to identify it as tho applicable mochanisa in nost cases. ‘These inclade cbseguent scarps, deep tension cracks, flexural cracking, ané normal fault typo flexural slip. ‘Moreover, as opposed to sliding, displacenents aze greater at the ¢lope crsst and chow forward rotation. Nevertheless, toppling has been appreciated as a relevant mode of bohavior only rather recently and relatively few cases have been published. ‘The authors have begua a world- wide inguiry for additional cases and would welcome infor mation on new examples. The catalogue of experiences now includes toppling failures in California, Arizona, Utah, Texas, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Manitoba, British Colusbia, Ontario, Guatemala, Colombia, Britain, Sweden, Ttely, Spain, Czeckoslovakia, Austria, ‘Swaziland, Australia and China. ‘Those failuros involve shate, sandstone, slate,ROCK ENGINEERINGROCK TOPPLING 231 te) 14. Topping in Pena Rynn slate quarry, N. Wales: a} Rotated solums at the nead and broken celums belov; b) a tension crack; ¢) Obsequent scazps on a toppling bench.232 ROCK ENGINEERING i oy 15. Slope fatlure in the wall of 2 limestone quarry being used for water supply: @) Note contact of thin-bedded and thick~bedded 'b) Close up of upper part of slope suggests topplingROCK TOPPLING 233 schist, amphibolite, granitics, serpentinite, Limestone, and volcanics. Topsling is cspecially important in steep slopes in layéred or foliated rock. Thus it is particu Jariy important in quarries and open pit mines but signifi- cant toppling failures also occur in netuzal slopes. Top- pling can be combined with sliding modes in a variety of ways, as indicated by the discussion of "secondary toppling nodes" and it relates not only to slopes but to structural foundations and underground openings. Suffice it to say that our undorstanding and appreciation of this behavioral node is but in its infaney. ACKNONLEDGEMBNTS. We wish to thank Mr. M. de Freitas and De, Evert Hook for guiding us to localities of toppling failures in Great Britain. 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