Stability of Tips and Spoil Heaps

The stability of tips
and spoil heaps

ALAN W. B I S H O P
1. Introduction
THE PROBLEM OF THE STABILITY of tips and spoil heaps was brought to public
attention with dramatic force in 1966 by the disaster at Aberfan, when a slide involving
only some I40 000 yd 3 of colliery rubbish resulted in the loss of 144 lives, 116 those of
children mostly between the ages of 7 and 10. N o t only to the public, but also to most
professional engineers and geologists--even to those concerned with mining--it came as
a problem to which they had given little, if any, serious attention; though the discussion
on Knox's 1927 paper to the South Wales Institute of Engineers suggests that there was
local awareness of the problem of tip stability.
This lack of attention is perhaps surprising when we look at the scale of the problem of
the disposal of waste from mining, from industrial processes and power generation, and
from domestic sources (Table 1). The total quantity is about 120 million tons per a n n u m
within the United Kingdom, of which the largest contribution, nearly 60 million tons,
comes from the mining of coal. It is of interest to note that the quantity of colliery waste
has risen from 7 million tons in 1930 to 60 million tons in 1970 as a result of mechanization,
although the overall quantity of coat produced has decreased.t It is also very significant
that of the 60 million tons, about 5 million tons are in the form of slurry or railings.
If tipped in the form of a cone with slopes at the angle of repose, the solid colliery waste
would form annually a heap nearly 900 feet high and 2200 feet in diameter. Alternatively
it would form about 65 tips equal in size to the largest of the conical Maclane tips at
Aberfan.
Clearly the handling and disposal of mining, industrial and domestic waste is an
engineering operation of major significance and is comparable in magnitude with the
earth-moving operations for dams and motorways in the United Kingdom. 1 However,
if, as is currently the case for economic and other reasons 2 the bulk of this waste is
disposed of in the form of tips and spoil heaps, 3 one may well question whether these
fills involve engineering or geological considerations which differ in any way from those
associated with earth and rockfills for road and railway embankments, for water-retaining
structures, and for other engineering purposes.
* Prof. A. W. BISHOP,Department of Civil Engineering, Imperial College, London S.W.7.

t From 200 million tons per annum to 140 million tons per annum (McKechnie Thomson and Rodin
1972).
1 Estimates based on figures from the Department of the Environment.
2 The reasons for not using underground storage of colliery waste are given in Appendix E of the
Report of the Aberfan Tribunal.
a In this country, tailings lagoons are included within the legal definition of tips (Mines & Quarries
Act 1969) but make the minor contribution to disposal of waste. In the U.S.A. however, they form the
major method of disposal (Casagrande & McIver 1970).
Q. Jl Engng Geol. Vol. 6, 1973, pp. 335-376, 31 figs. Printed in Great Britain.
A. IV. Bishop
TABLE I" Annual production of major waste products compared with annual output of fill
for engineering works
Approx. quantities
Source in million Comments
tonnes/year
Coal mining (1970) 60 This consists of 55 million tonnes of coarse discard and
5 million tonnes of slurry and tailings. The total annual
output of discard in 1930 (before mechanization) was
7 million tonnes. Existing stock is 3000 million tonnes, x.2
China clay extraction 21.5 This consists of 10 million tonnes of quartz sand, 10
million tonnes of rock and overburden and 1.5 million
tonnes of micaceous waste. Existing stock is greater than
125 million tonnes. 2
Slate quarrying 1.4 Existing stock is greater than 300 million tonnes. 2
Pulverized fuel ash 10 This figure includes 2 million tonnes of 'furnace bottom
(PFA) ash'. The utilization of PFA was 60 ~ of the output in
1970-71.2
Industrial waste 11 This excludes colliery waste and PFA from power stations.
Of the quantity quoted 10 million tonnes is stated to be
relatively inert. 2
Domestic waste 14 This quantity is taken from reference, a A figure of 17

million tonnes is given in reference. 2
Total c. 118
Earth fill for road works c.200 The quantity of fill not won from local borrow areas
included in this total was 14.5 million tonnes (1968). 4
References:
1 McKecknie-Thomson and Rodin (1972). 2 Gutt (1972). a Ashby (1971).
4 Based on data provided by D.O.E.
Notes:
(a) Other mining activities currently produce only limited quantities of waste, for example, tin and
fluorspar 0.75 and 0-35 million tonnes/year respectively.2
(b) Blastfurnace slag from the manufacture of iron (9 million tonnes/year) is completely utilized for
aggregate, roadstone, etc; and steel slag (4 million tonnes/year) is largely utilized. 2
I t w o u l d a p p e a r t h a t in m o s t respects the p r o b l e m s are i d e n t i c a l , b u t w i t h t w o quali-

fications. T h e first q u a l i f i c a t i o n is t h a t , u n l i k e fills f o r e n g i n e e r i n g p u r p o s e s , m o s t m i n i n g
waste was placed, u n t i l recently, w i t h o u t c o m p a c t i o n . S l u r r y a n d tailings in settling
l a g o o n s are likewise in a s i m i l a r l o o s e state o f p a c k i n g . T h e r e is t h u s a risk t h a t a n y slip
o f a tip o r b r e a c h o f a tailings l a g o o n m a y d e v e l o p i n t o a flow slide. R o t a t i o n a l slips a l o n e
m a y cause d a m a g e to services a n d p r o p e r t y , b u t s e l d o m i n v o l v e loss o f life. It is t h e
s u b s e q u e n t d e v e l o p m e n t i n t o a flow slide w h i c h h a s b e e n r e s p o n s i b l 6 in e a c h case w h e r e a
336
The stability o f tips and spoil heaps
disaster has occurred, at Aberfan in 1966 with colliery waste and at Jupille in 1961 with
fly-ash.
This is a problem not unknown to civil engineers since the failure during construction
of the hydraulic fill of the Fort Peck D a m in 1938 (Table 2), with the loss of 80 lives.
TABLE 2: Some notable flow slides
Site Material References
Fort Peck Dam (1938) Sand Casagrande, 1965, 1971.

Coastal sites in Zeeland Sand: fine, uniform Koppejan et al., 1948.
Norwegian Fjords Sand: fine, uniform Terzaghi, 1957; Bjerrum, 1971a.
Mississippi River banks Sand: medium and fine, Hvorslev, 1950; Casagrande, 1971.
uniform
Cilfynydd Common (1939) Colliery waste, well graded

Bishop, Hutchinson, Penman & Evans, 1969.
Aberfan (1944) Colliery waste, well graded
Jupille (1961) Fly ash, well graded Calembert & Dantinne, 1964; Calembert,
1969.
Blackpool (1967) Sand residue, well graded Private communication, E.C.L.P. & Co. Ltd.
Cholwichtown (1968) Sand residue, well graded Private communication, E.C.L.P. & Co. Ltd.
Derbyshire Quarry waste, well graded Private communication, Hargreaves.
However, the Fort Peck'flowslide (Casagrande 1965, 1971), together with the coastal
flowslides in the Dutch province of Zealand (Koppejan et al. 1948) and the flowslides in
the Norwegian fjords (Terzaghi 1957; Bjerrum 1971a) and on the Mississippi (Hvorslev
1950; Casagrande 1971) established a close association in the minds of engineers between
flow-slides and fine sand, or fine sand and coarse silt, in a loose saturated state.
That flowslides could occur in coarser materials was less well-known and was reported
in only one text book on mining engineering (Sinclair 1963). But, as the Aberfan Inquiry
revealed, such unpublished information as existed on this aspect of the problem related
mainly to earlier slides at Aberfan or in the near vicinity (for example, the Cilfynydd
Common flowslide referred to by Sinclair). I will deal with this subject in a later section.
The second of the qualifications to be made to the suggestion that tips and spoil heaps
are just like any other engineering fills is that colliery waste (and domestic rubbish) often
contains a sufficiently high content of carbonaceous material to be susceptible to ignition.
However, it appears that the risk of spontaneous combustion can be largely eliminated, in
the case of typical colliery waste in the United Kingdom at least, if the material is well-
compacted in layers, with a consequent reduction in both the percentage of air voids and
the permeability to air and water (Tanfield 1971; NCB Technical Handbook 1970;
McKechnie Thomson & Rodin 1972). This has made possible recent developments in the
use of unburnt colliery waste in the construction of road embankments and in such
construction works as the apron and terminal area of the Pegwell Bay Hoverport (Tanfield
1971). When we develop a better appreciation of our material resources we may realise
that most spoil is an asset, but happens to be in the wrong place at a time when transport
337
A. W. Bishop
costs are high. Recent studies in the mechanical properties of the sand 'waste' from the
production of China clay point to a similar conclusion.
2. The influence of soil properties on the mode of failure

Most text books on Soil Mechanics are content to determine the potential failure surface
and the stress conditions at the point when limiting equilibrium has been reached. Few
consider what happens after rupture has commenced and yet it is the behaviour of the slip
at this stage which is crucial from the point of view of public safety. A notable exception is
the textbook Soil Mechanics in Engineering Practice by Terzaghi & Peck (1967), from
which I take their Figure 49.11 (Fig. 1). 4
You will note that in type (a) slide failure is described as taking several hours and that
the soil mass above the slip surface remains relatively intact. In contrast type (b) slide
occupies only a few minutes and involves much more extensive toe disturbance (Terzaghi
& Peck quote 300 feet in one example) and general disintegration of the sliding mass. It
is of interest to note also that Terzaghi & Peck associate type (b) with a rise in pore
pressure in a cohesionless layer.
There is also evidence to suggest that the magnitude and speed of the immediate
post-failure displacement of the type of slip which Terzaghi & Peck term a 'plain gravity
slide' depends on soil type and stress history, and also on the change in stress system
leading to rupture. In two recent examples, the failure of the London Clay cliff at Warden
Point (Isle of Sheppey) subject to active erosion by the sea and the failure of borrow pit
'-. (a) Plain q r a v i t y slide
--~ (b) F a i l u r e by spreading

~'-. (few minutes.)
Silt layers
F~G. 1. Cross-section through typical slide in varved clay:

a. If pore water pressure in silt layers is inconsequential.
b. If pore water pressure in silt layers is almost equal to overburden pressure.
4 Skempton & Hutchinson (1969) consider movements during, and post, failure for the case of clay
slopes.
338
The stability of tips and spoil heaps
slopes in the Lias Clay at Empingham Reservoir during excavation, the duration of the
post-failure displacement was a matter of minutes rather than hours.
The most obvious soil parameter with which to relate post-rupture behaviour is the
brittleness index which I proposed in 1967 (Bishop 1967). This is defined in Fig. 2 and can
be applied both to drained and to undrained conditions.
-rf - - ~ r
Drained I n = (1)
-rf
where-r is the resistance to shear on the sliding surface for a given value of effective
normal stress, the suffixesfand r relating to the failure (peak) and residual states.
Undrained I s = (cu)1-(c,~)~ (2)

(c,,) ,
where cu denotes the apparent cohesion, the suffixes f and r relating to the peak and
residual states, for the case when ~ = 0.
In Tables 3, 4, 5 and 6 the values of the brittleness index are given for some typical soils,
for colliery waste and for rockfill. In Table 3 the drained strength characteristics are given
Failure
'rf
Shear
stress
T .~esidual
'Tr
7
Deformation
(natural scale)
Failure
s
Shear
stress
- ~ ' ~ Tf//._ Residual
T
~._i ..... Tr
Deformation
(,log, scale)
FIO. 2. Definition of brittleness index IB.
339
~, ~ o
9 ~
&
"d
~,~.~- ~ o ~ ~o~ o
eq
2,
~ 0 0 0 0 ~ 0 o 0 ~ ~
t~
:3 ~~~ ~ ~ ~ 0
"~ 0
'~'~-~ "~'~.~ ....... ~ "~

~
,-.,
6~ oo
~~ " ~~ 8 666 666 o
0 0o o .~
t'~ r
.< ,~, .~ .~
.-. =
o
[--,
~
[...,
=-
~~ o
. ~ ~
.s ~ ~ ~
.- = g s
~N~u
8 8 N ~
340
for materials which in their initial state are classified as cohesionless. For sands composed
of rotund particles of relatively hard minerals the residual state in the low stress range may
be identified with the critical state, which was defined by Hvorslev (1937) as 'a condition
9 under which continued flow does not cause further changes in the shearing resistance
and void ratio'. However, for rock fills and colliery waste continuous particle degradation
occurs with strain even at relatively low stresses, and in the case of mudstones and shales
the 'residual material' may be a fine grained cohesive material of measurable plasticity
(Table 3).
This was first observed during the investigation into the Abert~m Disaster (Bishop,
Hutchinson, Penman & Evans 1969). In this case tip material (from Tip 7) containing on
the average only 10 per cent of material passing the 200 sieve and giving a peak value o f ~ '
of 39.5 ~ in drained triaxial tests on 4 in dia samples degraded to a cohesive material with
a plasticity index of 16 and a residual value of if' of 17~---1889~ on the lower section of the
slip surface. In this area a displacement on the slip surface of at least 70 feet was estimated.
Recent attempts to reproduce this phenomenon in the laboratory in the ring shear
apparatus 5 using material passing the No. 7 sieve (from one of the older tips, Tip 2) have
reduced the value of ~' from a peak value 6 of 37 ~ for the cohesionless material to 20 ~ for
the cohesive material, but only after a relative displacement of one sixth of a mile (Fig. 3).
The larger displacement required to approach but not fully to achieve the field value
suggests either a difference in material properties or an additional agency in the field,
such as chemical weathering resulting from the presence of pyrites. 7 The decrease in ~' is
nevertheless very large when compared with the published behaviour of sands and other
granular materials.
This decrease also raises the question of the brittleness of other rockfill materials. If the
difference between the peak and residual strength in cohesionless soils is attributed solely
to the effects of dilatancy, which is probably a good approximation for sands at low stresses
(Taylor 1948; Bishop 1950), we can obtain a value ~'r by extrapolating from the results of
a series of drained tests at different densities or stresses (Fig. 4). However, for the Silurian
mudstone rockfill, the form of the relationship changes (Fig. 5). With higher stresses and
greater particle degradation ~'cv drops from 40 ~ to 35 ~ It is therefore of interest to note
that, for the fines sieved from the same Silurian mudstone, Lewin & Burland (1970)
obtained a value of ff'cv of 26.4 ~ The material passed the 52 sieve and 31 per cent was less
than 0.002 mm in size, the plasticity index being 11.
The ultimate 'residual' value for the mudstone may well be less than 26.4 ~ since crushed
shale from Aberfan with 100 per cent less than 0.002 mm and a plasticity index of 4.4
gave a very similar value of 26.7 ~ (Bishop et aL 1969). Drained tests on normally consoli-
dated samples of the mudstone fines by Lewin (1970) show a significant tendency for a
fall-off in strength after the peak value has been reached9
The values of brittleness index given in Table 3 suggest that under drained conditions
the brittleness of some rockfills and rock debris such as colliery waste may be very much
6 A detailed description of the ring shear apparatus used for these tests is given by Bishop, Green,
Garga et al. (1971).
e From triaxial tests on samples 12 inches in diameter and 24 inches in height of loosely placed material
passing the 2-in sieve.
In cold tips chemical weathering in the body of a heap would appear to be unlikely (Taylor & Spears
1972). Aberfan, however, was a warm tip.
341
6a'~G
A. W. Bishop
0"8 I
I~ING SHEAR TESTS
0-7 ABERFAN TIP2 DIIT~.No7 sieve-- 35 ~
Nominal O-n'fl4.Spsi ~ IOOkN/m 2
O'b . . . . .
30 ~
O'S
T 25 ~
on' 0 . 4
: : Light compaction 2o ~
Heavy compaction
0"3
iS ~
0"2
i0 ~
0-I S~
0"001 o.01 o.I I I0 lOOm
0 I I I I I I 0
0"01 o.I 1.0 I0 IOO IOOO ins I0000
Change Displocemant
-O'OS
in
-0.I0 = m
tb, ickness
--O.IS
ins
-- 0 - 2 0
l~o. 3. Stress deformation results from drained ring shear tests on colliery waste from
Aberfan Tip No. 2.
42
/
-"- p'f4OOOpsi"l ~ . J
"@ o.il= i OOO psi .f
38: (r.il= i 0 0 p s i j ~ /
o/
pl'4OOOpsi /
0~3'= IOO ps i-----~

Constant cell pressureDvaryinq porosity
o 4"diam x 8"high "1
Fro. 4.
4"diam x 8ahiqh J. o - f ~ , 4 O p s i ~
~'=5OOpsi Lubricated ends The relationship between ~'I and
C~3'-99Opsi Constant porosity~varying cell pressure
rate of volume change
'
/ 30 ,.itial*y ,oos.l 'l"diamx
Initially denseJ 3"high
I
p'denotes cell pressure,at which sample
was plreshearedI tO induce a veryidense stalte de1
2B
--0-4 --0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0'.6 0.8 l.o at failure from drained tests on
Rate of volume change at failure -I'dA~"V)/dE:"~f
- -v-- saturated Ham River sand (tests by
Green & Skinner, 1964-66).
342
....... 52~
50 ~
o,y
/
40"
~,0
~ ?,o
4C
,oi;I,/,~
FIG. 5. ~/~140
-44 ~ eo /"
The relationship between ~ and ~ 4O lo
the rate of v o l u m e change
42 ~
~o.%.
IOO
SILURIAN MUDSTONE
dez
40% "o,ss D
at failure for drained tests on ~,47 D Cradin9 d
saturated rockfill: Silurian m u d - t'47
a 12" A 4
stone f r o m Llyn Brianne. N u m b e r s ..... :~oT,47
d e n o t e values of a'8 in psi (data ~] 12 # Sp Ib
,#
f r o m T o m b s , 1969). D denotes 9 IT E 4
]00
sample diameter; d denotes maxi- ~ o III
m u m equivalent particle size. ,,, 3b ...... ? i~ F 8
iii
& IT c ib
500
9 3~ llSOO
500
[]
I .
--0-1 o o.I 0.2 O-3
4
I
Load Transducer records
, increments
~u 3 14--ins
,'?. ''
O.17$ecs
;2
o
9- r
I
c --
O 5 IO 15 o
Axial strain I~
PIG. 6.
Stress-strain curve for stress

controlled consolidated un-
9 4 _ _
---- ~ ~ ,,,..~.-
drained test on saturated loose
:I
-o3 S Banding sand, for e~o = 4kg/cm 2
(data from Castro, 1969).
;z
,,? i
A. W. Bishop
greater than that of other cohesionless fills. This is of direct relevance to the mode of
failure of man-made tips, and possibly to slides in rock debris of geological origin.
The limited data on the brittleness index of cohesionless materials under undrained
conditions are summarized in Table 4. It is probable that only the stress-controlled tests
carried out by Castro 0969) under Professor A. Casagrande's direction at Harvard give a
realistic indication of the undrained residual strength of a cohesionless material, and that
this is associated with the high rate of shearing (for example 18 per cent axial compression
in 0.17 seconds (Fig. 6)) which is permitted to occur during the collapse stage.
A typical stress-strain and pore pressure plot is given in Fig. 6 and clearly indicates that
the very high value of the brittleness index of the very loose samples is associated with an
almost complete transfer, in the residual state, of the total normal stress on to the pore
fluid.
In most problems relating to the stability of tips or of natural strata the cohesionless
material will have been subjected to a considerable shear stress under drained conditions
before the final undrained shearing. The additional shear stress required to cause failure
under undrained conditions may then be extremely small, as illustrated by the stress path
in Fig. 7. The additional strain will likewise be very small (Fig. 7). This is confirmed by
the results of Castro's tests (Figs. 8a & b), which also show the decrease in additional
undrained shear stress required to cause failure as the previously mobilized drained stress
I000
I I I I
psi
Test Nail
6000 Effective consolidation pressure c r ~ ' = g b O p s i /
/
kNIm 2 oTr= 184Opsi /
/.
Initial porosit 7 = 4b'7~ /
Approximate limitin 9 porosities 38~ 6 48~
/
/
4500 /
/
/
/ / i.---CUndrained shear)/--&~=20"l ~
/ I., b ~ . . . . . . O ' 6 ~ 3 ~ - - - - " ' - - ~ .O~
3000 .~. . I 2.0 3 ~ . . . , ~ . ~ strr
I S00
0 200 400 600 800 I000 1200 1400psi 1600
I I I
O I 500 3OOO 4500 6OOO 7500 9OOO IOSOO kN/m 'I
Fla. 7. Stress path for an anisotropically consolidated undrained test on saturated Ham
River sand at a high stress level (data from Bishop, Webb & Skinner, 1965).
344
The stabiBty of tips and spoil heaps
ratio is increased. A review of Castro's data suggests that the value of brittleness index
may also be greater for anisotropically consolidated samples.
Where the change in shear stress under undrained conditions involves a change in the
direction of the principal stresses (for example, base failure in a short-term excavation in a
normally consolidated slurry lagoon) the peak undrained strength may be extremely low
and may be less than the stress difference during the consolidation stage (Table 4 and Fig.
9).
In the test illustrated in Fig. 9 the sample of saturated loose sand was consolidated under
a vertical effective stress a'v of 90-0 lb/in 2 and a lateral effective stress '/tt of 49.5 lb/in 2
b
FIG. 8a. Stress-strain curves for stress-
l controlled anisotropically consolidated
From ptak to 26~ strain O-15 to O-25secs undrained tests on saturated loose Banding
~ 4
.Q- sand, e'3o = 4 k g / c m 2 (data from Castro,
1969).
2~
.2_,,w 2 ! !
O
I' "-!
IO 15 20
i.
25
I
30 35
Axial strain, Ej~
E b
2' 4 ..... _~.___. t-/
2 FIG. 8b.
e~
Stress paths for anisotropically consoli-

~ o I l dated undrained tests on saturated loose
Banding sand (data from Castro, 1969).
/
/
/
/
/
E /
u
/ r
/
/ S J I
/
/
i-
=1 ,.J
/
...,/
e--
'7
h'
ca,) i
/
/
/
/
1 7
O 2 3 4 5 6
Effective normal stress, kq/cm 2
7,r~o 345
A. W. Bishop
9 ~
,Z~,.O
ooo O0
0 0
b.u u165
~",.-~'~" kOOX
,"~eqr CxlCq
.~ ~
o o o o o o o
r~
. ,..~
to
7,
o o
o o o o o "~ [I
o o o oo ~ ~
N~N ~.5
o o
o o
o o
~ 0 ~
0 0
~ .~ .~,
,,,,,,
~o
346
giving a ratio cr'n/cr'v of 0"55, a little above the value of K0 which corresponds to zero
lateral yield. Thus at the end of consolidation under conditions approximating to those in
a normally consolidated sediment (point A in Fig. 9), the m a x i m u m shear stress sustained
by the sample was 8 9 1 6 2 20"2 lb/in 2. When caused to fail under undrained
conditions by a reduction in the vertical stress, the sample followed the effective stress
1 t
path ABC, failing at point B at a shear stress ~(cr n ~'v) = 4.7 lb/in 2 at an axial strain of
only 0.5 per cent. Brittle failure then ensued, the undrained strength dropping to 1.2 lb]in 2
40
From compress;on tests

3O /
~H'--a-~' ' -- 200
2
..i"
J
20 /
psi
IO / /
i/
qb'=ll"5 ~ I 1
-- IOO
extension / ~ . . _ _ ~ _ ~
/ iB
Change in a x i a l s t r a i n
, , under
I
0.5 "[~.~ ~ u n d r a i n e d conditions
n ,_,.4 ~....~ I t I / o
O0 I0 20 30 4 0 -"-,,.so 16o 70 8 90 IOOpsi
I I ~ l I. al
bOOkN/m z
-IOO
-'~
-20
o'ff denotes vertical (axial) effective stress
/",4 O~
A
Consolidated
r
"H = O ' 5 5
o-~' denotes h o r i z o n t a l <'radial) effective stress a'-~;
-30
' I I I .I e~=0"789 I I -2OO
FIG. 9.
"u
The effect of change in the direction of the
u principal stresses on the stress path for an
or, anisotropically consolidated undrained
test on saturated loose Ham River sand
(test by Reades, 1971).
,- 4
/
.a 2 "-------
O- = D~1%
0 5 I0 15 ,20
A x i a l strain 6%
"4
16
-....
I
Fro. 10.
The effect of initial relative density on the
shape of the stress-strain curves of
consolidated undrained tests on saturated
Banding sand (data from Castro, 1969).
347
A. W. Bishop
at point C as the axial strain increased. Had the strain rate been permitted to rise after
failure, as in Castro's tests, the strength at C might well have been lower, and the brittle-
ness index higher than the value of 75 per cent observed in the controlled rate of strain
test.
In Fig. 10 the influence of initial relative density on the shape of the stress-strain curve
is illustrated. It is clear that at low stresses a high undrained brittleness index is associated
only with low relative densities, a fact which is of the utmost importance in the safe
management of tips and lagoons.
The data in Table 4 are limited to sands of natural origin. Similar data from tests on
typical lagoon materials and on colliery waste would do much to complete our information
on the risk of flow slides in both new deposits and those in which the effects of ageing have
occurred.
In Table 5 values of the brittleness index of cohesive soils under drained conditions are
summarized. The highest values are obtained for small, virtually intact, samples of heavily
overconsolidated plastic clay tested at low normal stresses. Samples large enough to
include the fissured structure typical of such clays in nature give a lower peak drained
strength (for example, Marsland 1971) and a brittleness index not exceeding 70 per cent
(Bishop et al. 1971).
Boulder clay, though insensitive to remoulding (Skempton & Bishop 1954) and thus not
dependent for any significant contribution to its strength from cementation bonds,
nevertheless shows a drained brittleness index of 34 per cent at low stresses. This is
associated, in part at least, with the fact that the samples dilate during drained shear in
the low stress range, the dilatancy being a consequence of overconsolidation.
The lowest values of the brittleness index for drained cohesive soils are for remoulded
soils of low plasticity, normally or lightly overconsolidated, for which values around 5 per
cent are obtained. This is in contrast to normally consolidated remoulded or slurried
samples of medium or high plasticity (for example, London Clay), for which values of
18 of 50-60 per cent are obtained. However, a low plasticity index is not in itself a guarantee
of a low brittleness index. Test data from Conlon (1966) suggest that some undisturbed
soils of low plasticity may have strong cohesive bonds in the low stress range, while
material recently consolidated to much higher stresses might give values of IB little greater
than zero (Fig. 11 and Table 5).
In Table 6 values are given for the brittleness index of cohesive soils under undrained
conditions. Two difficulties arise in defining brittleness under field conditions for the first
group of heavily overconsolidated fissured soils. Firstly the peak strength drops very
markedly with increase in sample size. In the weathered zone samples large enough to
reproduce the low peak strength representative of field conditions may on remoulding
increase in strength by a factor of 3 or more (Table 6, and Bishop & Little 1967). Tests in
the ring shear apparatus at Imperial College show that, for Blue London Clay, the
undrained residual strength is about 57 per cent of the peak remoulded strength, almost
irrespective of strength or water content, provided that the total normal stress is large
enough to ensure positive pore water pressure throughout the test (Bishop et al. 1973).
On this basis the residual strength would be greater than the nominal undrained peak
strength, and the soil would be strain-hardening. However--and this is the second
difficulty--the magnitude of the total normal stress to ensure positive pore pressures in
the remoulded and residual states is very large (see Bishop 1971a). A lower total stress
would imply the existence of a negative pore pressure across a rupture surface, which not
348
o
e~
o
.,..,
,,i...a
,tZ
o,..~
~ ~ oo ~ oo
oo ~ ~ oo
o
, .,..,
'B
AA
,A
9 9 9 ~ 9 9 9
vv t~
~'~
.=.
~,..~
t"q
"r.
;,4
~::1o
o
o o O - o=
o o ~ ~o
349
A. W. Bishop
only appears to the author to be improbable, but is not supported by the limited data
available (see discussion by Bishop 1971a). Even at higher total normal stresses it appears
that at ordinary rates of testing, and probably under many field conditions, the pore
pressure in the thin slip zone after failure is largely determined by that in the relatively
intact material immediately adjacent to it on either side 8 thus making the link between
remoulded strength and undrained residual strength less direct.
The group of cohesive soils with the highest undrained brittleness index are the very
sensitive, generally normally consolidated clays, of which the Norwegian quick clays are
the outstanding example (Table 6). At the other end of the scale come the boulder clays,
with a sensitivity close to unity and an undrained brittleness index approximating to zero.
The overall picture of soils and tip materials presented by Tables 3, 4, 5 and 6 suggests
that they are predominantly strain-softening or brittle. The brittleness index may be zero
in the exceptional cases of boulder clay or till under undrained conditions or loose sand or
loose hard rock spoil under drained conditions, but more generally has substantial
~ - IOOO
--140
psi / kNlrn z
/
-- 120 - _ _
- 800
--I00 '- /
- 600
--:80
/ ":~ 400
- 200
20
20 0 20 40 60 80 I00 120 140 160 IBO 200 220 240

t. Tension I Compression I I I I I psi
9 _ , I I
200 0 200 400 b00 800 IO00 1200 1400 1600
kN/m z
FIG. 11. Strength - - effective normal stress relationships for undisturbed samples of
Toulnustouc clay tested under drained conditions (data from Conlon, 1966).
8 If this principle is also applied to normally consolidated soils in which the pore pressure in the
sheared zone will in general be greater than that in the adjacent material, the relationship between
undrained brittleness index and sensitivity proposed by Bishop (1971a)"
IB= 1 - xl00~
may over-estimate the undrained brittleness index of undisturbed days. There are currently little experi-
mental data in this area, but the high rate of strain associated with brittle failures may limit the re-
distribution of pore pressure in the case of the more brittle or more sensitive soils.
350
The stabiBty of tips and spoil heaps
o -~ ' ~
o
oo
~~ 0
o
o
oo t ~
>
Oq~ eqeq
o
9 o . ~
0
o
O0 9 ~
N
oooo
~
.,.q .,i
0
r t~ r r r ~-~ r
~ ~
m 0
oO"~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ o~
N O...~
,-~ = - - "~
_ . . ~ =~ ~ o ~ ~ o ~
N ~o.~e
o 0 ~
2;o ~,
351
A. IV. Bishop
positive values. The highest values are found in very loose saturated sands and quick
clays 9 (of very low plasticity) under undrained conditions, and under drained conditions
in materials in which the contribution to shear strength from cohesion is large compared
with the effective normal stresses operating at failure.
In the next section we shall examine how these facts can be correlated with the observed
failure mechanisms. I will not limit these examples to tips or railings lagoons but will
include other engineering works or natural slides where they illustrate relevant principles.
3. Some modes of failure of tips, slurry lagoons and other fills

When failure occurs in a relatively uniform fill or natural stratum under either drained or
undrained conditions, the failure generally approximates to a cylindrical surface (Fig.
12a, b). 1~ The formation of an identifiable slip surface is in itself an indication that the
soil is strain-softening and the distance travelled when rupture takes place is related to
the brittleness index, though it is also a function of the geometry of the slipping mass,
the topography of the ground in front of it, and of the scale of the problem.
In determining the brittleness index an additional problem also arises, which I touched
on in 1971 in a note on progressive failure (Bishop 1971b). The change in strength
consequent on a small displacement may be considered either on a drained or undrained
basis. If the undrained increase in strength is smaller than the drained increase, then the
final stages of an initially 'drained' slip may occur under undrained conditions, as will the
post rupture displacement. The undrained brittleness is then the relevant parameter. This
is probably the case at Aberfan (Bishop et al. 1969), in various other flowslides and in
quick clay slides such as that at Furre in Norway (Bjerrum & Kenney 1967).
A further factor is also involved in the magnitude of the post-rupture displacement. A
preliminary study of post-rupture dynamics by Dr P R Vaughan indicates that more needs
to be known about the influence of rate of displacement on the magnitude of the un-
drained residual strength. For a plastic clay it is well-known that the remoulded strength
increases with increase in rate of shear. In contrast the data from Castro's tests on sand
suggest that for cohesionless materials the residual strength at high rates of shear may be
less than at the speeds used in conventional controlled rate of strain tests. This is clearly a
field for further experimental investigation and until more information is available only
qualitative comments are appropriate on the magnitude of post-rupture displacements.
The following examples illustrate the range of behaviour from the non-brittle on the one
hand to the flowslide on the other.
(a) Muirhead Dam:

This is an example of a fill of almost saturated boulder clay with an undrained brittle-
ness approaching zero. The fill bulged laterally (Fig. 13a) when its height reached 70 feet.
Current work suggests that quick clays may well be predominantly composed of 'inactive' rotund
minerals like quartz and feldspar, with very little clay mineral content (Gillot 1971).
lo This point is illustrated by two examples of failure in natural strata; at Lodalen in a lightly over-
consolidated non-fissured clay of low plasticity under long-term (drained) conditions, and at Gothenburg
harbour under short-term (undrained) conditions in a normally consolidated clay. Examples of rupture
surfaces in fill and tipped material are given in subsequent paragraphs, but tend to be more complex
where major discontinuities in material properties occur, as in Figs. 16a, 16b and 17. To represent a three-
dimensional rupture surface by a single section is in itself a further approximation, but one which is
likely to lead to an error of only 0-10 per cent in the determination of mobilized shear strength (Kenney
1956).
352
\
F--I'O5 !,o~ \, Actual slip circle
F I,O1 ~--._V ~ \ ,--
7~.A\~\ /safety factor 1,O7
/L "\\ ~ ' - , /
/ \ ~.\ ~-.. Critical slip circle
./ \./\,',~,~.,'~.><~-,ofety facto, ,.00
/ f\ / ~-.b\
30 - / I ,, I ~ - ~ - ~ I00
/ I ', 4 812 Ibm
m Ft
/ / . -:7 o . 7S
20 -
ured
pressure 50
I0 I I/i- "~ ~_J.5~~ --'ZI-------- i

25
4 ._..~I" ~ ~ j~ ~urves of equal pore pressure
8 -'- /" -/11
0 - I 0 ~ / / 0 lO 20 3OFt
14 ~ ---" 0 2 4 b B lOre
Fx~. 12a. Long teryn failure in a cut at Lodalen (after Sevaldson, 1956).
FI6. 12b.
Quay wall failure at Gothenburg Harbom', 1916 (after Skempton,
1946).
.o~e of rotation
. file after slip

Profile. after/ d r e d q i n q / / ,-~
Soft clay
~ ~ ~ " o so , oo ~
......... ..... 9 ; L : ~ "^ o is 3am
....~.:...~.-', :~ ....;' " Rock surface
-x v-.:,*.Y.,~v / A Y " A y/
353
A. W. Bishop
Crack 6~wide near top

20•1•
i f I Crock
/
/--
18 q Layer added
. this level D
'-- . . . . -. . . . D Max deformations
b 34laD
Cross section of embankment I O O ' n o r t h of c u l v e r t

0 25 50 75 IOOFt
L I . I , I I
I I I I
O IO 20 30111
FIG. 13a. Failure of the boulder clay fill, Muirhead Dam (after Banks, 1948).
F1o. 13b. Failure of the boulder clay fill, Muirhead D a m (after Banks, 1948).
36 II I I l" '1 t I I II t I I " '1

I I i
I i I 0.75
I NO mmaterial a d d e d to bank --~"l i J No m a t e r i a l added to bank
~
I_
1 I
"~24
E
!Y 0-50
J'l
O
E
~ _ ~ "11--'------"
=12
0 i i
,,,,i
---0-25
"F. m a t e r i a l added
0 II
I I
.•lS#of
I I
0
IS 20 25 3O 5 I0 IS 20 25 30 4 9 14 19 24 29 ~
September October November
I! 1 1 I I" t I I I I I
t::
I I I'
I I .111
I
i I l,.,
0-25
I I I
_ 6
I ,I I
I I I
I
w
]i j ..I 1 I |
> O O
IS 20 30 4 9 14 19 24 29
Sapte111be r October November
Averaqe movements of observation poin?s E and F
354
When an extra layer was added, a small additional lateral displacement occurred and
terminated after a period of some weeks (Fig. 13b). N o immediate hazard to life or even
construction plant was involved.
1
- -
Marl
0 I0 20 30 4OFt
.J I I J I I l
0 S IOrn
1~o. 14. Failure of a bauxite dump at Newport (after Skempton & Golder, 1948).
40 30 20 I0 0 I0 m
80
I I I I I I 20
Faot
I
m
L o c a t i o n of Geonor
60
field vane test run f S 3 0 4525 li, S2S
after failure ///i~'--~_~_
40
Fill
Ata ted i / " IO
20
cla,clav \ .... "~oC-tlll ,11 x---Oriqinol rq ound surface/
--' \ i7t
" tl before
/i
Soft ~,-//~ II ~ i Legend
clay ... ~ J b-~'efo,e failure
After II After failure
";::fS o n d'-'s h'(:.: 7" ). II ...... Rotated section
-20 - ;..:) .:.:.,.. )l
Note :-After failure cross section
measured SOft south of c i n t e r l l n e
m
--10
-40 I I I I I I J I I
140 120 I00 80 60 40 20 0 20 4.0 6 0 Feet
FIG. 15. Failure of test fill, P o r t s m o u t h , New Hampshire (after Ladd. 1972).
355
A. W. Bishop
The index properties of the clay were LL = 42-6, PL = 17.8, PI = 24.8, clay fraction
19 per cent, average water content = c. 21 per cent and average undrained strength -
c. 11 lb/in 2. A full description is given by Banks (1948).
(b) Bauxite Dump at Newport:

This is an example of a foundation failure in soft clay beneath a granular fill (Fig. 14).
The undrained brittleness index of the soft blue clay was probably between 80 and 90
per cent. The failure was consequent on relatively rapid tipping and was deep-seated and
non-catastrophic, though the extensive heave at the toe (about 3 feet maximum over a
width of over 35 feet) could have damaged permanent installations and plant.
(c) Test Fill, Portsmouth, New Hampshire:

This is a further example of a foundation failure in a soft clay (Fig. 15). Typical
properties of the grey silty clay beneath the drying crust are given by Ladd (1972) as:
Undrained shear strength (field vane) = 250 _+50 psf
Remoulded shear strength = 25 + 5 psf
Natural water content (w) = 50_+ 5%
Liquid limit (wL) = 35_+ 5%
Plastic limit (wp) = 20_+ 2%
Liquidity index = 1.8_+0-5
The sensitivity of the clay is thus 10 and the undrained brittleness index probably in excess
of 90 per cent. Since the liquidity index = ( w - wp)/(wL- we) is so much greater than unity
it is perhaps surprising that the observed sensitivity was not greater than 10. The value of
r quoted for the sand fill is 41 ~ which is considerably in excess of the probable residual
value of c.33 ~ giving a drained brittleness index of c.25 per cent.
The failure, which occurred at night and was unobserved, was described as 'massive',
and probaly occurred very rapidly. The crest dropped 10 feet from its final level of 21-5
feet above ground level and the fill and foundation rotated almost as an intact body
(Fig. 15). Ladd observes that measured deformation and pore pressure data did not
indicate that a large failure was to occur within a few hours after placing the last lift of fill.
(d) Waste Quartzite Dumps on Witwatersrand Gold Fields:

These are examples of foundation failure in stiff clay beneath an extensive granular fill,
in which the brittleness of the fill as well as of the foundation would have a significant
influence. For the first Vlakfontein slide (Fig. 16a) the crest settlement was 20 feet in a
rockfill approximately 170 feet from crest to toe, an amount very similar to the pre-
collapse settlement at Tip 7 at Aberfan. A second slide took place about two years later
(Fig. 16b), but in contrast to Aberfan, the failure surface through the waste rock did not
follow the same path. It is thus significant that r = 41 ~ is given by Blight (1969) for the
loose rock waste (12 in size down to dust), while for silt size particles of quartzite rock
Blight (1970) gives r between 31 ~ and 44 ~ and suggests that 35 ~ is a representative value
(personal communication). Clearly the drained brittleness index of the rock spoil is low,
probably c.20 per cent, while at Aberfan it is about 60 per cent (Table 3).
It is also clear that the undrained brittleness index of the stiff-fissured foundation clay
is low, since the mobilized shear strength at failure (about 12 lb/in 2 for the first slide) is
356
O
Stiff intact brown clayey
3ft sand wind deposit
Stiff fissured yellow silty
clay ferruqinized from 3to
I O f t residual weath=red Points on failure surface
shale reworked by or pre-failure profile
termites actually located)marked 9
15ft
I ] S t i f f intact laminated
2 0 0 -- yellow and red clayey
6O
silt. Residual weathered q
Feet /
I~'-----'~ shale Probable profile / / 0 - - - - - - - - - - 7 - ] m
160
40
120
Profile after ~ ~ P_re.sumed . / "Nk

80
fai lure / J:r
20
40 ~/" /" ~,/ Presumed oriqinal
Cla "
5 Shale - -
Ib
(Rock) = 39 ~
Shear strength O
required for . = IIO Iblft J
stability(F=l) 14 ~ ' ' ' ~ . = 41~
T psi ~ -"~X , 9 y l, ----- IO51blft s
ir
IO
55 60 65
Inclination of failure
surface 0coR
FIo. 16a. Details of first Vlakfontein slide (after Blight, 1969).
Fro. 16b. Comparison of first and second slides at Vlakfontein (after Blight, 1969).
200-- --6O
Feet m
Tippinq face ~_
Dec 1967 ~ ~ --4S
150-
Subsidiary failure ~ / ~/ /F'/
IOO- su,faces shown by. / ~ / ~" / H / --30
,o,,o~..,oc,, ~ ~ \ C o ~ o ~/.~o,,o,. zoo.
50-- --IS
O-- . / / / / //~, .... ,,. , , ,, ~ .... . ...... .. . . . . ,. / / / / / / / / / .

--O
9 ,:,~ ,~, ...... ~ , . . . . . . . . .
J
Rote of advance
5SFtlYear
357
A. W. Bishop
less than the remoulded strength 11 (19-26 lb/in2). It is in this respect similar to the Blue
London Clay from Wraysbury (Table 6) where the field strength calculated from a slip
was rather less than the peak strength for vertical 12-inch diameter triaxial specimens,
which was itself only 31 per cent of the remoulded strength. The Wraysbury slip showed a
5-ft toe movement, but was in the low effective stress range.
A second rockspoil tip on a softer foundation (about 7.5 lb/in 2 in undrained shear,
though with a similar high remoulded strength of 14-26 lb/in2), is illustrated in Fig. 17.
It shows even more clearly the 'boot shaped' profile noted at b o t h Tip 5 and Tip 7 at
Aberfan. In this case the failures came at closer intervals (about four per year) and
appeared to result in relatively small crest movements. As the rate of advance of the tipping
face was high (55 and 70 feet per year in the two cases respectively) and the coefficient of
consolidation low (1.5 and 2 ft 2 per year in the laboratory) Blight considers an undrained
foundation analysis to be justified.
In both cases a low brittleness index and limited post-failure movements were associated.
(e) Limestone waste slide, Derbyshire:

In contrast to the regular but limited rock spoil slides on the Witwatersrand gold fields,
one tip of limestone waste (from about three inches down in size) became more mobile
(Fig. 18a). Figure 18b shows a plan and sections of the slide. A relatively thin layer
slipped from a face of the 150-ft tip on sloping ground, leaving a stable 40 ~ face behind,
Points on failure surface o r

prefailure profile actually
Stiff slickensided yellow-
/ocated marked 9
brown sandy clay. Nodular Probable profile
200
-- ~.~ lime above 9ft ferruqinized before foilure~---___~--------- - 6o
- 1~I from b to 9ft lacustrine ///~~ --'~'~/~-~' m
160
_-'+"b\l
" 1: l Stiff to hard //
.7 . . . . . /
/ -- 40
120 - !~:--t qrey weathered Profile after ~ vresum L.oliure/~.
- I :],hale failure ~ su~f~ "~,//<~.\
$O
- / -~
- PIrched water- 20
40
,:;:/- _ _
. ,,, /7/-/7-2
Shale -- 0
Water table
at-bft II 9
Shear strength
required for 4~ (1~ock)=390
stability (F=I) 9 O Y ,, =llOiblftS
T psi 7 qb . =41"
9 y . =lOSIb/ft 3
S
55 bO b5
Ihclination of failure
surface oc~
FIG. 17. Details of landslide in waste quartzite dumps on the Witwatersrand Gold Fields,
South Africa.
tl The remoulded strength was deduced from vane tests and may therefore approximate more closely
to the undrained residual strength than to the peak strength of a fully remoulded clay sample.
358
and travelled as a flowslide some 600 feet. The momentum carried some of the material
uphill where it was deflected by rising ground (Fig. 18b). The formation underlying the
tip was well-drained limestone.
Figures 18a-d show the extent and character of the slide. It was clearly a potentially
dangerous occurrence, and one may well ask why it should happen when the conditions
for a classical flow slide (i.e. full saturation) were most unlikely to be satisfied.
The waste is reported as having included not only cobble-sized limestone, but also some
clay and waste quick lime. However, it generally stood at 40 ~ to a height of approximately
150 feet. Two observations may be relevant. The first (and this is illustrated later in
relation to colliery waste by Fig. 22k) is that the initial density of loosely placed rock
spoil containing fines is very sensitive to placement moisture content, as is also the
subsequent decrease in volume on wetting or saturation. Moist rock spoil may have an
initial density (weight of dry material per unit volume) less than either completely dry or
very wet spoil. Secondly, the capillary tension in moist rock spoil containing fines can
result in a significant 'apparent cohesion'--and thus a significant brittleness index--in
the very low stress range, which is relevant to a shallow slip.
These two factors could explain a slip having considerable momentum in a material in
which shear strain would lead to a substantial decrease in volume, sufficient to transfer
part of the total normal stress temporarily on to the air partly filling the void space.
However, due to the compressibility of air it is conjectural whether a sufficient temporary
transfer of stress could occur to give the slip the mobility indicated by Figs. 18a-d.
PLAN OF LFIP
A-A
B-B
FIG. 18b. Plan'and sections of flowslide of limestone waste, Derbyshire.

359-
A. IV. Bishop
An alternative explanation has been put forward by Shreve (1966, 1968a, b) for the very
extensive slides which follow large rockfalls, in which the widely graded rock debris is
assumed to override and compress a cushion of trapped air on which it travels with
relatively little friction. Due to the rapid rate of loss of compressed air through the moving
mass these slides are of necessity of short duration, but the high velocities permitted by
the low coefficient of friction (minimum velocities in the range 65-210 mph are estimated
by Shreve (1968a) for six large scale slides) are compatible with the observed travel of
the flowslides and with their ability to climb rising ground in their path to considerable
elevations.
As this mechanism may be one factor in flowslides resulting from the failure of very
high tip faces (and more especially of quarry faces), it is of interest to consider a specific
case in more detail.
(f) The Blackhawk landslide:

The Blackhawk landslide originated as a huge rockfall from the summit of the Black-
hawk Mountain in South California. It is described by Shreve (1968a, b) and referred to by
Casagrande (1971).
The slipped material consists of some 400 million cubic yards of marble breccia forming
a lobe 5 miles in length, 2 miles in width and varying in thickness from 30 to 100 feet
(Fig. 19). The elevation of the toe of the slide is 3100 feet above datum, and of its head
4500 feet. The present summit level of Blackhawk Mountain is 6800 feet. The final surface
of the slipped material averages about 2 ~ over the last 3 miles. The mean particle size near
the upper surface of the slipped material is about 1 inch in diameter.
The pre-historic rockfall leading to the slide is considered by Shreve to have resulted
from undercutting of the resistant marble summit by erosion. Shreve estimates that after
falling some 2000 feet, the rock debris was deflected into the air at a speed between 120 and
170 mph and trapped sufficient air for air-layer lubrication to occur. Assuming a 'launch-
ing' speed of 170 mph and negligible drag, the leading edge would travel down the slope
to its present position 5 miles away in approximately 80 seconds, accelerating to a maxi-
mum speed of about 270 mph. Shreve (1968b) considers that the rate of loss of trapped
air through widely graded rock debris is not incompatible with a slide of this duration.
Shreve takes the view that the debris slid bodily on the air layer at its base rather than
flowed as a fluidized gas suspension of solid particles, and supports this view by reference
to a transported wedge of sandstone debris underlying the leading edge of the slide, which
must have been carried with it for 4 miles, and by reference to the high speed involved.
A minimum speed of 75 mph may be inferred from the fact that it overtopped a 200-ft
hill. This is supported by estimates based on eyewitness accounts of two similar but smaller
slides of debris following rockfalls, at Elm, Switzerland in 1881 (estimated speed 110 mph)
and at Frank, Alberta in 1903 (estimated speed 90 mph).
A marked feature of these slides is the raised lateral ridge which bounds the sides of the
slide, where rapid stabilization occurs due to loss of air. The centre of the flow is still free
to thin out as the toe of the slide moves onwards. This feature is not necessarily linked
with air-layer lubrication and is noted in flowslides in sand and fly-ash (sections i and j).
However, air-layer lubrication (as distinct from fluidization) does appear to require a
lower permeability in the basal layer of the sliding mass (Shreve 1968a, b). It is postulated
that this can be accounted for by scraped-up sandstone in the Blackhawk slide, by soil and
mud at the Elm and Frank slides, and by snow beneath the Sherman side (Fig. 20). This
360
last slide was triggered by the Alaska earthquake of 1964, and involved some 40 million
cubic yards of rock debris, the slide being 2.7 miles in length, 2 miles in width and
10-20 feet in thickness (Shreve 1966).
The picture of an air-layer retained by an admixture of material scraped up from the
ground (or snow) from which the air-layer is separating the moving mass is not entirely
self-consistent. It is improbable that the air-layer is continuous, and it may well have a
substantial content of airborne debris. The stability of an extensive carpet of debris fully
supported by a continuous unzoned cushion of air is most questionable.
(g) Colliery waste tipmCilfynydd Common (Abercynon):

Turning now to the failure of tips consisting of the softer rocks, we have the tip slide at
Cilfynydd Common only a few miles south of Aberfan in December 1939. A rotational
slip in coarse discard, mainly shale and coal, probably triggered by a rise in pore pressure
at the base, turned into a flowslide which would have been as destructive as that at
Aberfan in 1966 had buildings, or traffic on the Cardiff to Merthyr road, been caught in
its path (Fig. 21a). 180 000 tons of colliery waste (a greater quantity than at Aberfan)
travelled about 1430 feet from the toe of the 150-ft tip, which was standing at about 36 ~
N......
/.-t \ ~"o~Y..~-~- .
/
\/
/
\\ x\\\-\ \ \ /
inol outline
J
\\\ , :____ I
Powder maqazine
Piff
R~ 9
x \ \ \~(A
\,a
0 250 ,oo,
"4,}?
t I
0 75 150m
I r i --,,~,~_,_,
FIG. 2 l b . Plan o f the flowslide at C i l f y n w y d d C o m m o n (1939).
361
A. W. Bishop
In 2-3 minutes it cut the power line (Fig. 21b), blocked 585 feet of the main road with
8 feet 12 of debris, blocked the canal and the River Taft, which it diverted, and cut the
railway and a large diameter compressed air main. The average ground slope was about
10 ~ There is some evidence (Fig. 21a) of the raised lateral ridge bounding the sides of the
slip, noted by Shreve (1968a) in the case of the Blackhawk landslide.
A recent cut made through the debris in the course of new road works showed that the
top-soil and grass remained virtually intact (at least locally) beneath the sliding or
flowing mass.
.i ~ ~ ..~.,
/
/ - _ ._\
- \
[ ,~ 1"" ~ " , "X, 1 Engine house

t"~./ /" 7"_ l '" ' (/
O 250 SOOFt ~al " , , . . .- .-- ..../..~.,....~ N
0 75 isom / //~-.
Extent of
flow slide- 'y-xx Tip b
21/11/44
/ , /
Approx extent
- - o f flow slide
Oct/Nov 1963
Inclined
ropeway
.Extent of
flow 21idl
211101b6
Pontqlos
Junior
l
School~
9\ '~
.~1~"\ Pantcjlas County
FIG. 22b. Aberfan: Plan of the three flowslides at Aberfan.
x2 S o m e reports give this figure as 20-25 feet.
3 62
It is of interest to note that press reports referred to an 'ominous move' of the tip on the
day before the final slip. However, the speed of the flowslide following the final collapse
is difficult to estimate. One press report states that "it swept down the steep mountainside
at a terrific speed until it reached the road", but goes on to refer to a motorist who "saw
the avalanche coming down, stopped and reversed quickly, and got clear". As the road
was only 710 feet from the toe of the tip, this suggests a speed of the order of 10 mph
rather than 100 mph.
A further description is given by Bishop, Hutchinson, Penman & Evans (1969) and in
the Report of the Tribunal appointed to Inquire into the Disaster at Aberfan (HMSO
1967).
(h) Colliery waste tips--Aberfan:

The Cilfynydd Common flowslide, which I first saw in 1940, was followed by three
flowslides at Aberfan in 1944, 1963 and 1966 (Fig. 22a). Their extent is shown in Fig. 22b
and compared with the Cilfynydd Common flowslide in Fig. 220. The material was again
~ a . 22c. Comparison of magnitudes of / /f~"

'-- x~// /~'X,\
flowslides at Cilfynwydd Commnn and
Aberfan.
N f
=nt of"
Pb3
" \ \ X, \ \ \ ~' . ~,._Oricjinal

\ \ \ \ _..~___..../' outline
Powder
maqazine
Ounty
C I L F Y N Y D D 1939 ABERFAN 1944[6316b

0 500 I 0 0 0 Feet
J lI iI
0 150 300m
363
A. W. Bishop
loose colliery discard, tipped by a Maclane tipper in the case of the 1944 slip from Tip No.
4 and by a crane which emptied spoil from rail trucks over the face of the tip in the case
of the 1963 and 1966 slips from Tip No. 7. Some tailings were tipped on Tip 7 but mostly
ran off the side of the tip and were not incorporated in the body of the flowslide. The
triggering mechanism at Tip No. 7 lay in the hydrogeology of the site (Fig. 22d), which
after heavy rain set up artesian pore pressure in the sandstone beneath the relatively
impervious cover of head and boulder clay. The sliding mechanism was probably as
illustrated in Fig. 22e.
The height of Tip No. 7 from the toe of the crest was approximately 220 feet when the
major slide occurred on the morning of 21 October, 1966. By the time the first members of
the tipping gang reached the top of the tip at about 7.30 am the crest had already sunk
about 10 feet over a distance of 30 to 40 feet back from its edge. By approximately
8.30 am this settlement had increased to around 20 feet. At about 9.10 am the toe of the
tip was observed to start moving forward and this movement continued for some minutes
before the rapid flow of material down the hillside began. The flowslide travelled down the
1289~ slope for a distance of about 1600 feet to the Junior School which it largely destroyed.
The centre of the slide ran on for a further 350 feet or so. In the terminal area it covered a
road to a depth of 30 feet.
FIG. 22d. Aberfan geological section after Woodland (1969).
364
Rescue work was complicated by water which flowed, after the slip, from the sandstone
at the base of the rotational slip, where the boulder clay and head was stripped off, which
subsequently gave the central part of the flowslide the appearance of a mud run (Fig. 220.
Water from a 31-in water main, situated in the disused canal just above the village and
broken by the slide, added to the difficulties. Water released on this scale was a feature
absent from the earlier tip slides in colliery waste, and had no direct connection with the
destruction of the school which was caused by the leading edge of the flow-slide.
Although so destructive in terms of life and property, the flowslide involved only about
140 000 yd 3 of material, of which only about 50 000 yd 3 actually crossed the old railway
embankment bordering the village. The velocity was estimated to be between 10 and
20 mph.
The character of the flowslide is shown by Fig. 22f, and Fig. 22g shows part of the edge
of the flowslide including the trees which it felled. Figure 22h shows the relatively dry
material at the edge of the slide where it entered the Senior School (to the right of the mud
run looking uphill).
The drop in the value of 4'' towards the residual strength on the slip surface has been
mentioned earlier. Figure 22i shows a view of this surface, where it had undergone very
large displacements, with the relatively un-degraded coarse discard above and below. The
excavation to find this surface restarted movement in a large remnant of the main sliding
mass (Fig. 22j). By that time it had undergone a displacement which had reduced the
average back-calculated value of ~' to 25 ~ The remaining drained brittleness index on the
slip surface, representing a drop to $'r = 18~ was only 30 per cent, and it showed no
signs (fortunately) of precipitate movement.
Data presented in Fig. 22k show that the initial density and the volume decrease on
subsequent saturation are both very sensitive to placement moisture content. For the
samples tested (from Aberfan Tip No. 2) an initial moisture content in the range 6 to
8 per cent leads to densities even lower than loose placement in the completely dry state,
~ FIG. 22e.
/ / Possible failure mechanics of Tip No. 7.
/ C o l l i e r , / Rubbish
._ Slip sur f a c e s j-7
/ /
~ ~ '
Fissured SancIsto'n, 9 - . . ~ . ~ ~
~ in thts area
365
A. W. Bishop
and is associated with a 16-18 per cent volume decrease on saturation under constant
stress. It is of interest to note that the in situ moisture content of much of Tip No. 7 lay
close to this range.
It was, of course, impossible to obtain a direct measurement of the initial density of the
material which had slipped. Density measurements were, however, made in the intact
remainder of the tip as it was being removed. Although these represent material that had
been in place for some years and had been consolidated under substantial depths of fill,
nevertheless two of the three values are very low (107-8, 95.9 and 93.6 lb/ft 2 dry density at
depths of 42.3, 53.0 and 92 ft below the crest) when compared with the density of the
flowslide material near the village (107-2 and 115.6 lb/ft: in shallow pits). The material
was dearly capable of undergoing a very large decrease in volume on being subjected to
large shear displacements, which is a prerequisite for a large undrained brittleness index.
Tests at Imperial College (Tombs 1969) have shown that the degradation of rockfill
samples associated with even the limited shear strain obtained in the triaxial apparatus
can reduce the permeability by an order of magnitude or more. This may help to explain
why the excess pore water and pore air pressures in the moving debris were able to
persist for sufficient time for it to travel an overall distance of nearly 2000 feet. A reduced
permeability is also consistent with a higher fines content noted in the flowslide material
compared with the undisturbed tip material. For the tip material the percentage of fines
passing the 200 sieve averaged about 10 per cent while at points midway between the tip
and the schools and near the Senior School the values were 19 per cent and 18 per cent
respectively (Bishop, Hutchinson, Penman & Evans 1969).
(i) Sand residue from china-clay mining:

Two flow slides of note have occurred in the sand residue from china-clay mining.
This is a well-graded sand tipped in a wet state, but in general capable of standing at a
slope of about 35 ~.
~'" ...,._
/
.,'/
0
i
20
i
40
I
bO Ft
\ 0 S I0 ISm
~CL, t "e~,.~ Circular surface.

<,:o
ru=O I = llO. Ib~cub fi
Circular surface for F--- I qb~25"l 6 ~'~'~._
Non-circular surface for F=I *lriq"d=25"3* / ~
Non-clrcular surface/
Datum line 8 O O f t AOD
FIG. 22j. Analysis of subsequent slip on original surface which occurred during excavation
of Tip No. 7 in February 1967.
366
The tip at Blackpool, St. Austell, which slipped in October 1967, was being built by
conveyor (Fig. 23a) and failed when about 130 feet in height. The subsequent flowslide
travelled about 400 feet on land falling at 1 in 8 (about 7 ~ forming a tongue about
10-12 feet in thickness (Fig. 23b). The triggering action may have been pore pressure due
to seepage within the sand itself. The flowslide, however, is a consequence of the loose
state of packing of an otherwise excellent construction material.
The tip at Cholwich Town, near Cornwood, South Devon, was built by tipping from
earth moving plant, again without compaction, and slipped in October 1968 when about
150 feet in height. The slope was about 30 ~ (Fig. 24a). The subsequent flowslide travelled
o) Relationship between dry densit.y and placement water c o n t e n t

of loosely placed material~under vertical stress o f 2 . 7 p s i
II0
o
Not remixed before testincj Oldometar
-O-Preliminary series of tests .J tests D
/
u
im I00
ISI T r i a x i a l tests /
g /
/
= 90
o,,,. /
#
O /
8O /
/
70
4 b 8 I0 14 Ib
Water c o n t e n t */.
b) DacrQase in volume on s a t u r a t i o n
under c o n s t a n t stress of 2.7psi
I
-O- 0
/
/
/
/
O
/ +
.-
c /
12 --0\ , As received /
\
\ /
"-~~
o Ib / <i>,.
20
FI6.22k. Effect of initial moisture content on 'loose' density and on decrease in volume on
saturation: Colliery waste, Aberfan Tip No. 2.
367
A. W. Bishop
about 600 feet with a width of 200 feet (Fig. 24b, c). The thickness between the raised
edges was only 4-6 feet. As noted earlier, the raised lateral ridges were a feature of the
Blackhawk landslide and were also observed at Cilfynydd Common. As at Aberfan the
flowslide destroyed trees in its path. The triggering of the initial circular arc failure may
either have been associated with the mica lagoon over which the toe had extended or with
seepage pressures in the sand itself.
No estimate of the speed of these two flowslides is available.
O) Fly ash tip at Jupille in Belgium:

This disaster occurred in Belgium in February 1961 and the press reports in this country
(for example, The Times, 4 February 1961) might well have alerted those concerned with
tips to the possible hazards.
The tip in the upper part of a narrow valley contained about 600 000 tons of fly ash,
tipped by truck without compaction at a water content of about 25 per cent (Fig. 25a).
Its height was about 150 feet. The lower part of the tip became almost saturated by
surface water flowing over the relatively impervious clay covering the Carboniferous
strata underlying the area; the water content reaching about 58 per cent compared with a
liquid limit of 46 per cent and clearly resulting in a very brittle deposit.
A major slip and flowslide occurred in the late afternoon of 3 February 1961. A
description and technical details are given by Calembert & Dantinne (1964) and Calembert
(1969).
Some 100 000 to 150 000 m a of material were involved in the flowslide which travelled
down a gradient, initially of about 18 ~ for 2000 feet and reached a very high speed
(possibly as high as 70-100 mph). A plan is given in Fig. 25b and the section (Fig. 25c)
shows the raised lateral ridges and lower centre section which have been noted in the case
of several earlier flowslides. This is of interest in that the role played by entrapped air
probably differs from that in both the Blackhawk slide and flowslides in colliery waste and
sand.
Oriqinal profile
/ ~-- Slip material
/- Sand below
//~--Orlqlnal profile Datum bSO I_
~'b' appro x
/ 7- EC ,O, ,,OE
Datum 6501 "~:::~9 I

5501 ~ ,
0 I00 2ooft
i I I I I
FIG. 24c. Cross sections of ttowslide in sand residue from china-clay mining: Cholwich Town
tip.
368
The destruction illustrates the momentum of the slide, which killed 11 people. Figure
25d shows its strange surface texture. The material appears to have been 'fluidized' to an
extent not noted in the earlier slides, since it is reported that houses were completely
filled to the smallest corner, including the cellars. Seeping water was absent from the
flowslide material and did not appear at its toe for several days. This is also apparent from
the rescue operations shown in Fig. 25e.
_..." "-...
FIG. 25b.
Plan of flowslide of fly ash at Jupille,
Belgium.
Ii
ii
I/
#
tt
o;
n
0 125 750rri
I ,.i
FIG. 25c.
Section of flowslide of fly ash at Jupille,

Belgium.
NaturQI
A S Profile of deposits aftir d i s a s t e r - - ~ / t ~ g r o u n d level
I Axis of streom // /,
qround level "'\ V X ~ ~,~ / ' I 9

-,.. 9 \ ,~ ~ v / I
"\ ~ J /
Level -I- 130m \ \ Trio of "~ronsporled /
\ Iorth /
x\ /
N
\ /
X /
27.7m
369
A. W. Bishop
It is suggested by Calembert and Dantinne that the slip took the form of a collapse due
to the undermining of a steep, partly saturated and slightly cohesive face. The collapsing
mass, which had a very low in situ density, not only contained some interstitial air, but
fell on to a layer of air in its descent. It is postulated that the breakdown of the 'honeycomb'
structure of the fly ash was sufficient to leave the fly ash effectively in suspension.
A 'sort of fog' is said to have formed above the moving mass (Calembert & Dantinne,
1964). This is consistent with warm, la almost fully saturated, air from within the pore
space of the fly ash meeting the cold winter air as consolidation proceeded. An eyewitness
is reported in The Times as saying, " I saw rolling down on me an enormous cloud of
dust . . . . Then what looked like a stream of lava spread over a distance of at least half a
mile." Both statements suggest an airborne or fluidized flowslide rather than a classical
liquefaction slide in which the normal stress is largely transferred on to pore water wholly
filling the pore space.
(k) Flowslides in foundations:

One special class of flowslide involving dumping of spoil or filling is encountered in the
Norwegian fjords, where the floor is a slope of loose saturated sand (Fig. 26). In the
example illustrated (Bjerrum 1971a) the dredger shown in the plan was towed several
hundreds of metres by its own anchor, which was caught in a flowslide of vast dimensions,
probably started by the dumping of dredgings further down the fjord. The back scarp of
LEGEND
~. Follafjord X~ D Dredqr
I-3 Anchorchains
~,~ D~r,;~ 2I 4-5 Cables
D'~21posilion after
~ 3 .,,r slid.
Pier :':?.'.'..- :.
o 250 5oo.
FIG. 26. Flowslide in bed of fjord probably started by dumping dredgings.
la Calembert & Dantinne (1964) refer to the abnormally high temperatures at various depths in the
boreholes put down in the subsequent investigation. Elevated temperatures (38~ were also noted in the
fill of Tip No. 7 at Aberfan, though at Aberfan the carbon content was about 30 per cent as compared
with 1 to 12 per cent in the samples at Jupille.
370
The stability of tipa. and spoil heaps
the flowslide could be seen through the clear water. The crew were somewhat alarmed
when the dredger parted its other moorings and followed its anchor across the fjord at
about 12 knots. The anchor could not be winched in after the sand had ceased to be mobile.
Bjerrum (1971 a) quotes a number of other examples of flowslides initiated by the placing
of fill (for quays, land reclamation, etc.) at the top of similar slopes of loose saturated
sand.
(1) Fort Peck Dam:

A discussion of slips leading to major flowslides would not be complete without a
reference to the slide at the Fort Peck Dam during its construction. Being a hydraulic fill
dam on a sand foundation, it is in effect a tailings lagoon between two shoulders of
coarser hydraulic fill (Fig. 27a). When it slid, 10 million yd 3 of fill and foundation sands
moved out to a maximum distance of 1400 feet in 3 minutes on a level surface and 80 men
were lost (Fig. 27b). The section is shown in Fig. 27c. Both the saturated loose sand zone
of the hydraulic fill and the foundation would fall within the definition of material of high
brittleness index. The failure is discussed by Casagrande (1965, 1971).
(m) Tymawr tailings lagoon, South Wales:

In 1965 a lagoon of colliery tailings at Tymawr was breached and a half mile run of
tailings occurred which resulted in considerable damage (Fig. 28). Although of very
limited catchment, the wall of the lagoon was breached by impounded water in the
absence of effective overflow works.
The failure is important in that it resulted in the instruction given in 1965 by the NCB
for all tips in South Wales to be inspected from the safety point of view (Report of the
Tribunal appointed to Inquire into the Disaster at Aberfan on October 21, 1966 (1967)).
- 2300
700 - FORT PECK DAN Final crest ht 2 2 B O f t I-
Cross section throuqh slide Rail tracks ,/2
11 I r ~ f ter ,~id, / i / /
650 -- Reservoir ht 2 1 1 7 f t ~ / ~ /
_ . 208 ravel toe
625 - Inlet channe Ch~AHU::1157 L' L--_
610- Shale surface v 2000

O 500 IOOOft
t I I I L J ~ I I ~ I Feet
o ,&o 2ha 36o~n
700 2280ft -- 2300
650 {i 2200
...._~ ~ E ,- ~,! C
~ -a r 9 x \ 2100
blO ~ ..... . . . . . ~ ' // 2000
Sheet pile wall
FiG. 27c. Cross sections through flowslide at Fort Peck Darn (after Casagrande 1965).
371
A. W. Bishop
(n) Williamthorpe tailings lagoon:

Another tailings lagoon failure took place in the East Midlands coalfield at William-
thorpe not long afterwards (24 March, 1966). This blocked a main road with debris to a
depth of 10 feet (Fig. 29). The initial cause of the failure is uncertain, but may have been a
foundation failure associated with excess pore pressures. The failure is referred to by
Bishop et al. (1969) and by McKechnie Thomson & Rodin (1972).
(o) Failure of tailings dam across Middle Fork, Buffalo Creek, West Virginia:
The third of four dams across Middle Fork (a tributary of Buffalo Creek), about
50 feet in height, 400 feet in base width, with slopes at the angle of repose, and hence a
crest width of c.200 feet (Fig. 30a) failed after only 3.7 inches of rain in 72 hours. One
hundred and eighteen people were killed, 4000 made homeless and 50 million dollars'
worth of homes, road and railway bridges and other public utilities destroyed. The
catchment was only 700 acres and the volume of water released was about 110 million
gallons. The outlet works consisted of a 24-in pipe 7 to 10 feet below the crest. There
was no spillway. The fill of coal waste was placed in layers of up to 5 feet and received
some compaction from the plant hauling and spreading it. The foundation was not
stripped and the valley bottom consisted of tailings from a lower lagoon (Fig. 30b).
The failure has been described by Seals, Marr & Lambe (1972) and Davies, Bailey &
Kelly (1972). Owing to the inadequate design of the dam the failure mechanism was
complex and appeared to involve piping in the tailings on which it was founded, down-
stream slipping due to seepage pore pressures and overtopping due to lack of capacity of
7oo,| oOo ~o
SECTION A-D -~ I
IOD ,,J
'100 c
9' M ~ ~ ~~oo:;..~ 6 o o ,
,
aOO' k~'~a 1~b.~3~'~"
E"~. rT, iling, flow Dec.61 O 2.50 500 ft
9 ~o
o ,,: //
.... .!.- 9 ~ "%,% o
0"" " .-. 4 oo , /_e; ,/ ~. ~ Ig/Y
FIo. 28. Lagoon failure at TymawrmSouth Wales.

372
the overflow works. Normally drainage
through the embankment was relied on to
carry away surplus water, and this could
well have led to a false sense of security in
the absence of a detailed hydrological
study.
The quantity of water and slurry
released into Buffalo Creek is estimated
to be 17.6 million ft a (650 000 yda), and
about 6 million ft a of material was trans-
eq
ported from the coal waste banks in
oh
Middle Fork and deposited downstream.
The velocity of the flood wave just below
the junction of Middle Fork with Buffalo
Creek is estimated as 20 feet per second r
(13"7 mph) and 5 feet a second or less at
the lower end of the Creek 15 miles down-
stream and 750 feet lower in elevation.
The slope of the flood profile decreased .3
from 96 feet per mile to 33 feet over this
distance, which was covered by the flood
wave in almost exactly 3 hours.
(p) Tailings bank in an arid zone:

The illustration (Fig. 31) of a tailings
lagoon embankment 300 feet in height
constructed manually from dried out
tailings shows the lack of dependence on
,'o
rational design methods still obtaining in
some mining operations. One would
hope that in this example (taken from O
Casagrande & Maclver) the area is not ID
only arid but unpopulated. o
,6
O
t'~
4. Conclusions 6
A consideration of the stability of tips
and spoil heaps, and of the influence
of soil properties on their mode of failure,
leads to some conclusions but also to the
delineation of some areas in which present
knowledge is very incomplete.
The mode of failure of tips is controlled
by the behaviour of the natural strata on
which they are founded and by the
properties of the tipped material.
A. W. Bishop
Over the strength and brittleness of the natural strata the engineer has little direct
control, but he can not be excused ignorance of their properties, which can be ascertained
by relatively routine site investigation procedures, and he can choose to ensure gain in
strength by consolidation if time permits. However, in certain circumstances (cases b and
c) the very brittle foundation strata tend to be of low shear strength, permitting only low
tips to be constructed, and their failure is unlikely to be catastrophic though very incon-
venient.
The brittleness of fills, on the other hand, lies within the control of the engineer. Waste
materials, which in their loose state have led to the most disastrous or potentially danger-
ous flowslides are in general excellent construction materials if compacted at the correct
water content. Only slurry lagoons present a less tractable problem, in particular where they
are normally consolidated and are permitted to remain fully saturated (as is almost
inevitable in a temperate climate).
The brittleness of fills is seen in its most dramatic form in flowslides, and here the
geology of the site is in general the trigger, and not the basic cause, of the movement: The
exceptions are the cases (as in the Norwegian fjords) where very loose sand forms the
foundation on which spoil is tipped.
The various mechanisms involved in the phenomena loosely grouped as flowslides are
not fully understood. Indeed, many of the variables are only known by inference and not
by direct measurement. The part played by air within or beneath the sliding or flowing
mass (or even water within or at the base of a slip with a submerged toe, as at the Fort
Peck dam) is still open to speculation. The importance of scale, of initial velocity at the
toe of the tip from which the flowslide is propagated, and of the slope of ground in front
of the tip are questions on which it would currently be difficult to give specific answers.
Acknowledgements: In the task of collecting together test data, photographs and technical information I
have been greatly assisted by many professional colleagues whose help I am glad to acknowledge.
In particular I am indebted to: Mr A. R. Taylor, Chief Civil Engineer, National Coal Board, Mr D. A.
Tanfield, National Coal Board, Mr T. J. Skelton, of English Clays Lovering Pochin & Co. Ltd., Mr B. L.
Hargreaves, Mr T. R. M. Wakeling, Foundation Engineering Ltd., Mr S. Rodin, Mr V. E. McKelvey,
Director, U.S. Geological Survey, Professor A. Casagrande, Dr L. Bjerrum, Professor T. W. Lambe,
Professor E. Hock, Dr J. N. Hutchinson, Dr P. R. Vaughan, Dr G. E. Green, Mr A. E. Skinner, Dr R. J:
Chandler, Dr A. D. M. Penman.
Mr E. W. Harris has prepared the illustrations.
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BANKS, J. A. 1948. Construction of Muirhead Reservoir, Scotland. Proc. 2ndlnt. Conf. Soil Mech.
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374
The stability o f tips and spoil heaps
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CONLON, R. J. 1966. Landslide on the Toulnustouc River, Quebec. Canad. Geotech. J. 3, 113-144.
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DONALD, I. B. 1961. The mechanical properties of saturated and partly saturated soils with
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GILLOT,J. E. 1971. Mineralogy of Leda Clay. Canad. Mineral. 10, 797-811.
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Mines and Quarries (Tips) Act. London: H.M.S.O.
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1969).
375
A. W. Bishop
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H.M.S.O.
376
0
..=
,.o
<
[facing p. 334
FIG. 18d. Flowslide in limestone waste, Derbyshire.
FIG. 19. Flowslide at Blackhawk Canyon.

FIG. 18d. Flowslide in limestone waste, Derbyshire.
FIG. 19. Flowslide at Blackhawk Canyon.

FIa. 22f. Aberfan: Aerial p h o t o g r a p h taken a few hours after the 1966 slip showing the
extent and nature of the flowslide and the subsequent m u d flow.
FIG. 22h. Relatively dry material at the edge of the flowslide where it entered the Senior
School.
FIG. 22i. Slip surface in thin zone of degraded colliery waste, with
cohesionless material on either side.
FIa. 22f. Aberfan: Aerial p h o t o g r a p h taken a few hours after the 1966 slip showing the
extent and nature of the flowslide and the subsequent m u d flow.
FIGS. 23a, b. Flowslide in sand residue from china-clay mining--Blackpool tip.
b~
c~
0
E
,.Q
,,-,t
0
Fl6s. 24a, b. Flowslide in sand residue from china-clay mining" Cholwich Town tip.
(b
FIG. 22h. Relatively dry material at the edge of the flowslide where it entered the Senior
School.
FIG. 22i. Slip surface in thin zone of degraded colliery waste, with
cohesionless material on either side.
FIGS. 23a, b. Flowslide in sand residue from china-clay mining--Blackpool tip.
b~
Fl6s. 24a, b. Flowslide in sand residue from china-clay mining" Cholwich Town tip.
(b
FIG. 25a. Flowslide of fly ash at Jupille, Belgium.
FIG. 25d. Surface texture of terminal end of flowslide of fly ash (Associated Press).
FIG. 25e. Excavation in terminal end of flowslide of fly ash (Associated Press).
FIG. 27a. Fort Peck dam before flowslide.
FJo. 27b. Flowslide at Fort Peck dam (after Casagrande, 1965).

o
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Stability of Tips and Spoil Heaps

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Stability of Tips and Spoil Heaps

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The stability of tips

and spoil heaps

* Prof. A. W. BISHOP,Department of Civil Engineering, Imperial College, London S.W.7.

Domestic waste 14 This quantity is taken from reference, a A figure of 17

I t w o u l d a p p e a r t h a t in m o s t respects the p r o b l e m s are i d e n t i c a l , b u t w i t h t w o quali-

TABLE 2: Some notable flow slides

Site Material References

Fort Peck Dam (1938) Sand Casagrande, 1965, 1971.

Cilfynydd Common (1939) Colliery waste, well graded

2. The influence of soil properties on the mode of failure

'-. (a) Plain q r a v i t y slide

--~ (b) F a i l u r e by spreading

F~G. 1. Cross-section through typical slide in varved clay:

Undrained I s = (cu)1-(c,~)~ (2)

'~'~-~ "~'~.~ ....... ~ "~

0~3'= IOO ps i-----~

--0-1 o o.I 0.2 O-3

Stress-strain curve for stress

0 200 400 600 800 I000 1200 1400psi 1600

2' 4 ..... _~.___. t-/

Stress paths for anisotropically consoli-

From compress;on tests

20 0 20 40 60 80 I00 120 140 160 IBO 200 220 240

3. Some modes of failure of tips, slurry lagoons and other fills

(a) Muirhead Dam:

I0 I I/i- "~ ~_J.5~~ --'ZI-------- i

. file after slip

Crack 6~wide near top

Cross section of embankment I O O ' n o r t h of c u l v e r t

36 II I I l" '1 t I I II t I I " '1

Averaqe movements of observation poin?s E and F

(b) Bauxite Dump at Newport:

(c) Test Fill, Portsmouth, New Hampshire:

(d) Waste Quartzite Dumps on Witwatersrand Gold Fields:

Profile after ~ ~ P_re.sumed . / "Nk

40 ~/" /" ~,/ Presumed oriqinal

O-- . / / / / //~, .... ,,. , , ,, ~ .... . ...... .. . . . . ,. / / / / / / / / / .

(e) Limestone waste slide, Derbyshire:

Points on failure surface o r

FIG. 18b. Plan'and sections of flowslide of limestone waste, Derbyshire.

(f) The Blackhawk landslide:

(g) Colliery waste tipmCilfynydd Common (Abercynon):

FIG. 2 l b . Plan o f the flowslide at C i l f y n w y d d C o m m o n (1939).

[ ,~ 1"" ~ " , "X, 1 Engine house

O 250 SOOFt ~al " , , . . .- .-- ..../..~.,....~ N

.~1~"\ Pantcjlas County

FIG. 22b. Aberfan: Plan of the three flowslides at Aberfan.

x2 S o m e reports give this figure as 20-25 feet.

(h) Colliery waste tips--Aberfan:

~ a . 22c. Comparison of magnitudes of / /f~"

" \ \ X, \ \ \ ~' . ~,._Oricjinal

C I L F Y N Y D D 1939 ABERFAN 1944[6316b

FIG. 22d. Aberfan geological section after Woodland (1969).

(i) Sand residue from china-clay mining:

~CL, t "e~,.~ Circular surface.

o) Relationship between dry densit.y and placement water c o n t e n t

O) Fly ash tip at Jupille in Belgium:

Datum 6501 "~:::~9 I

Section of flowslide of fly ash at Jupille,

qround level "'\ V X ~ ~,~ / ' I 9

(k) Flowslides in foundations:

FIG. 26. Flowslide in bed of fjord probably started by dumping dredgings.

(1) Fort Peck Dam: