Fourth Canadian Geotechnical Colloquium: Strength and slope stability

in Canadian soft clay deposits

GUYLEFEBVRE
Utliversitd de Sherbrooke, Sl~erbrooke,P.Q., Cat~adaJ I K 2RI
Received October 3, 1980
Accepted April 7, 1981
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It is generally admitted that the long term stability of clay slopes should be analysed in terms
of effective stresses, which necessitates the knowledge of the pore pressure conditions and of the
relationship between the shear strength and the effective stresses. This paper deals with the
determination of shear strength for stability analysis of clay slopes in Eastern Canada. First
the various concepts pertinent to slope stability in soft clay are examined and a certain justifica-
tion of the use of the post-peak or large strain strength is demonstrated. In a second part, 14
case records of natural slopes or permanent excavation slopes are presented and analysed in
terms of the post-peak strength. Finally, values of post-peak strength determined in the labora-
tory for more than 30 sites are presented and it is attempted to derive correlations by which the
shear strength parameters could be readily approximated from other properties such as the
apparent preconsolidation pressure or the vane strength.

I1 est gCnCralement admis que la stabilitk ?I long terme des talus argileux doit &treCtudike en
contraintes effectives, necessitant la connaissance des conditions de pressions interstitielles et de
la relation entre la rbistance au cisaillement et les contraintes effeciives. Cet article traite de la
determination de la resistance au cisaillement Dour fin d'analvse de la stabiliti des talus argileux
For personal use only.

de l'est du Canada. Dans une premikre l'examen de.diffirents concepts pertinen& ?I la

stabiliti. des pentes amkne une certaine justification de l'utilisation de la resistance ?I grande
deformation. L'article prisente ensuite 14 Ctudes de cas de pentes naturelles ou de pentes d'ex-
cavation permanente qui sont analysies en utilisant la resistance ?I grande dkformation. Finale-
ment, dans une troisikme partie, des valeurs de resistance ti grande deformation Cvaluees en
laboratoire pour plus de 30 sites sont utilisies afin d'etablir des correlations avec d'autres
propriete's comme la pression de preconsolidation apparente et la resistance au scissomktre.
Can. Geotech. J., 18, 420-442 (1981)

Introduction a linear relation defined by the cohesion intercept c'

It has been generally admitted since Bishop and
Bjerrum (1960) that the long term stability of clay
slopes should be analysed in terms of effective stresses,
which necessitates the knowledge of the pore pressure
conditions and of the relationship between the shear
strength and the effective stresses.
Pore pressure data used in the analysis often
involved considerable approximation. Conditions in
the slope are most often extrapolated from piezom-
eter readings at the top of the slope or, at best, at the
top and the toe of the slope. The analysis of per-
manent excavation slopes necessitates the prediction
of the final equilibrium pore pressure based on
conditions that exist prior to excavation. While
approximations of the pore pressure conditions are
necessary in some cases, they should be restricted or
used with great care when dealing with back analyses
of failures where the purpose is to derive the mobi-
lized shear strength at failure.
The relationship between the shear resistance and
effective stress is generally defined by laboratory tests
on representative samples and is usually expressed by
0008-3674/81/030420-23$01.00/0
@ 1981 National Research Council of Canada/Conseil national de recherches du Canada
and the apparent friction angle 0'. Different methods
to evaluate the shear strength in the laboratory have
recently been proposed (Lefebvre and La Rochelle
1974; Lo and Lee 1974; Mitchell 1975) and have
given rise to considerable discussion. Laboratory
tests are in fact an attempt to simulate the soil condi-
tions in the field and due to difficulties related to
sampling, stress path, time effect, etc., it has to be
concluded that the simulation will never be perfect.
A method to evaluate the shear strength in the
laboratory will give a certain degree of confidence in
the profession only when it has been tested with
numerous and well documented back analyses of
iiz sit11 slopes. A certain number of back analyses of
natural slopes in Champlain clay have been presented
in the literature (Crawford and Eden 1967; Eden and
Mitchell 1970; Lefebvre and La Rochelle 1974; Lo
and Lee 1974; Mitchell 1975); however for several
cases, assumptions had to be made with respect to
the pore pressure conditions. Very few case records
of long term cuts in Champlain clay deposits have
been reported.
 LEFE

This paper deals only with the determination of
shear strength for the stability analysis of clay slopes
in Eastern Canada. First the various concepts per-
tinent to slope stability in soft clay are examined and
a certain justification of the use of the post-peak or
large strain strength is demonstrated. In a second
part, 14 case records of natural slopes or long term
cuts, where pore pressure conditions were carefully
evaluated, are presented and analysed in terms of
post-peak strength. Finally in a third part, values of
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which remains constant with further strain will be
identified as the large strain strength or the post-peak
strength. Failure envelopes can be defined for either
the peak or the post-peak strength. Because clay
elements are always overconsolidated under a slope,
the material will be strain softening for all slope
stability problems in clay deposits, which means that
the assumption of a rigid plastic material implicitly
assumed in our limit equilibrium method leads to
difficulties in clay slopes. The problem is general but

post-peak strength determined in the laboratory are
presented for more than 30 sites and an attempt is
made to derive correlations by which the shear
strength parameters could be readily approximated
from other properties such as the apparent precon-
solidation pressure or the vane strength.
Part I. Review of concepts related to slope stability
and post-peak strength in soft clay
L i t ~ i tequilibri~im
Methods of stability analysis for slopes make use
of the concept of limit equilibrium. At the moment
For personal use only.
more evident for highly overconsolidated clays like
London clay, or for structured clays such as found
in Eastern Canada.
Progressive failure
The problem of using the limit equilibrium method
of analysis for strain softening materials has been
recognized for a long time and has led to the concept
of progressive failure. The concept was first devel-
oped for highly overconsolidated materials (Skemp-
ton 1964; Bjerrum 1967), and has been extended to
soft clays (Lo 1972; Lo and Lee 1974; Lefebvre and
La Rochelle 1974).

The progressive failure concept assumes that the

of incipient failure, it is assumed that soil elements in peak strength is reached in an overstressed zone
a slope reached the maximum strength simulta- along the potential failure surface. Due to the strain
neously. This is equivalent to assuming rigid-plastic softening behaviour of the material, the mobilized
material behaviour and that the actual stress-strain shearing resistance decreases to the post-peak strength
relationship does not enter into the method of in that zone, resulting in a transfer of stresses to the
analysis. neighbouring zones where in turn the peak resistance
Overcotzsoli~/citionof clciy slol~esurzd brittle fciihtre may be overcome and decrease to its post-peak value.
Slopes in clay deposits have been either naturally At the moment of incipient failure, the mobilized
eroded or man-excavated. Even for a normally con- resistance has decreased to its post-peak value on
solidated deposit, the clay underlying a slope is most of the failure surface. The classical concept of
overconsolidated, i.e., the vertical stress applied to a progressive failure assumes that, at a certain moment,
soil element under the slope is smaller than the one the peak strength has been mobilized on most of the
existing prior to erosion or excavation. Laboratory failure surface. Lo (1972) has presented a simplified
tests to determine the stress-strain relation of the theory for the solution of progressive failure in clay
intact clay should be performed under stress condi- slopes.
tions representing the itz situ state of stress and con- Purticlil(irity of soft strrict~irec/clcr)t
sequently should be in the overconsolidated range of Structured clay of Eastern Canada behaves like
stress. Under such a state of stress an intact clay highly overconsolidated clay in the sense that both
specimen, if truly undisturbed, will exhibit the typical materials are highly strain softening and their strength
behaviour of overconsolidated clay, i.e., it will be decreases rapidly after failure to a more or less con-
strain softening. The stress-strain curve will exhibit stant value. The value obtained for overconsolidated
a strength which will peak at a certain deformation London clay after large shearing deformation has
and then decrease with increasing deformation. been referred to as residual strength and has been well
In intact specimens of Eastern Canada clay, the documented by Skempton (1964). Similarly, the post-
failure is generally sudden and brittle, and it occurs peak strength of the structured clay of Eastern
at about 1% of axial deformation; the resistance Canada is sometimes referred to as residual strength
decreases rapidly thereafter but more or less stabi- (Lo and Lee 1974; Lefebvre and La Rochelle 1974).
lizes to a constant value with further strain. The As several case records of long term failure in
strength at failure will be identified, in this paper, as London clay have been well documented (Skempton
the peak strength while the value of the strength 1964, 1970, 1977), it is tempting to apply the London
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 LEFEBVRE

I I I I I I I
100 - -

90-
FAILURE AT 3 5 DAYS -

80 -
DAYS 70-4

50-:
'\
I
STABLE AT 4 5 DAYS
-
-

-
40 --/
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AXIAL DEFORMATION %
For personal use only.

FIG.2. Comparison of drained creep tests with conventional triaxial tests (after Philibert 1976).

(CID) tests were first performed to establish the peak

SAMPLE # N - 7 4 - B L O C - 3 0 9 and post-peak strength envelopes. Triaxial CID creep
u; = 10 * P O
(5,-ojl 7 2 r p o 0 7 7 ( u l . u 3 1 1
tests lasting up to 100 days were carried out on
specimens loaded to various deviatoric stresses ex-
pressed as a percentage of the peak resistance (Fig. 2).
Depending on the stress level, axial deformation
N-75-CIOF.34
SAMPLE # N - 7 4 - B L O C - 3 0 7 either started to increase after a certain number of
u;: I O k P , days and ended up in failure of the sample or tended
IU, -U3 I 5 4 * P a :O.SBLU,
;

to stabilize (Fig. 3) in a manner very similar to that

reported by Singh and Mitchell (1968).
The creep tests indicated that the peak strength is
reduced significantly with time especially for tests
with very low reconsolidation pressures where the
peak is well defined and appreciably higher than the
FIG.3. Drained creep test, Nicolet clay (after Philibert post-peak strength. In fact, the 8 creep tests that were
1976).
conducted under reconsolidation pressures varying
from 5-25 kPa indicated that failure will occur with
Under low stresses, where the clay is structured, the time if the stress level is higher than the post-peak
shear strength varies significantly with the rate of strength and that the sample will remain stable if the
deformation (Lo and Morin 1972; Tavenas and stress level is below the post-peak strength, as shown
Leroueil 1977). By contrast, overconsolidated clays in Fig. 4 for the Nicolet clay.
such as London clays are less sensitive to time effects. The creep tests, while limited in number, indicate
Bishop and Lovenbury (1969) concluded from long that the peak resistance decreased significantly with
duration triaxial creep tests that time effects alone time but, more importantly, that there exists a
are not sufficient to reduce the strength of the London stability threshold. Shear stresses above the threshold
clay from peak to residual values. Philibert (1976) will eventually result in failure while for shear stresses
performed similar tests on specimens cut from block below the threshold the soil will remain stable. From
samples obtained at Nicolet, Quebec, not far from the a practical point of view it is most interesting to
large 1955 landslide (BCland 1955). A series of con- realize that the stability threshold coincides with the
ventional triaxial consolidated isotropically, drained post-peak strength and that the peak resistance ob-
 424 CAN. GEOTECH. J. VOL. 18, 1981

&L
-,- -- -T -
stable with time than the cohesion components of
TPEAK ENVELOPE the strength (Schmertmann and Osterberg 1960;
Schmertmann 1976).
The concept of the post-peak strength at equilib-
POST-PEAK ENVELOPE rium with the effective stress in a sample is easily
DRAINED CREEP T E S T 5
visualized by looking at the results of a series of
'/ 0 NO FAILURE UNDER CREEP consolidated drained triaxial tests on clay specimens
+ F A I L U R E UNDER CREEP where the potential failure plane has been precut.
Two series of identical triaxial tests were run on
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Champlain clay block sanlples from Rosemkre,

FIG.4. Comparison of creep test results with peak and
post-peak strength envelopes, Nicolet clay.
served in conventional CID tests is not mobilized
for long duration loads.
Equilibrium strength
When the stress-strain curves show a certain
stabilization after peak failure (Fig. 2), the mobilized
strength attains a certain equilibrium with the effec-
tive stresses in the sample and, to a certain extent,
with the void ratio or water content of the soil. The
For personal use only.
25 km north of Montrial; one series of tests was
carried out on intact specimens, and the other series
on specimens with planes precut at 60' to the
horizontal, coincidingmore o; less with failure planes
of the intact specimens (Lefebvre and Chahde 1978).
In Fig. 5 the stress-strain curves of the precut plane
specimens are compared with those of the intact
specimens for tests run at cell pressures of 5 and
30 kPa. The shear resistance on the precut plane is
gradually mobilized as axial deformation occurs, and
at large deformation becomes more or less equal to
the post-peak strength.

strength mobilized at peak, however, is much higher
than it should be according to the effective stress or
void ratio of the sample, a large portion of the
strength being due to cohesion bonds existing be-
tween particles. It has long been recognized that
strength due to friction between particles is more
The post-peak strength represents the shear re-
sistance that can be mobilized under a given state of
stress and does not include the cohesion component
attributed to bonding or structural effects which, as
seen previously, is a function of the rate of loading
or load duration.

CT3 = 5 k Po

70-

60 -
INTACT SPECIMEN
50 -

30

20
PRECUT PLANE SPECIMEN
10

0.0 I

FIG.5. Comparison of CID stress-strain curves of precut plane specimens with those of intact specimens, Rosemkre clay.
 LEFEBVRE 425

TABLE
1. Comparison of axial strain for CID creep and conventional CID tests, Nicolet clay

Conventional CID tests

Creep tests
Consolidation Peak strength Post-peak strength
pressure (61 - ~~311 (51 - 0 3 ) ~ Er Stress level max Duration Stability
@Pa) (%I &Pa) (%) (days) condition
4.9 92.2 36.3 1.04 54.9 1.95 41 Failure
73.6 1.08 I Failure
9.8 94.1 51 1.10 56.9 0.58 35 Stable
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71.6 1.83 24 Failure

14.7 101 68.7 1 60.8 0.75 57 Stable
81.4 1.33 3 Failure
24.5 110.8 91.2 1.5 67.7 1.08 87 Stable
90.2 2.46 70 Failure

Strain crirerion major role in the failure of clay slopes in Eastern

Failure, or more generally the passage from an
almost elastic behaviour to a nearly plastic be-
haviour, is usually predicted in terms of stress but
could also be based on strain (Mitchell 1970;
Tavenas and Leroueil 1977) or on strain energy
(Tavenas et al. 1979). Similarly, strain should also be
For personal use only.
Canada (Lo 1972).
The recognition of the effect of time and of the
existence ofUa stability threshold has a major bearing
on slope stability analysis based on the limit equilib-
rium method for brittle clays. Contrary to the
assumptions of the classical progressive failure model,

a good indicator of the stability threshold beyond
which failure will occur with time.
Results of the Nicolet triaxial creep tests are com-
pared with the conventional CID tests in terms of
axial strain at failure in Table 1. These few tests
indicate clearly that for samples which have remained
stable with time, the maximum axial deformation
under creep has remained lower than the value
recorded at failure in conventional triaxial tests.
When the axial deformation in the creep tests ex-
ceeded the failure strain of the conventional test
instability developed. In other words, failure oc-
curred with time, at axial deformations of the order
of 1.5-2.0%, or as soon as the axial deformation
exceeded the one recorded at peak in a conventional
CID test.
If the creep strain is sufficiently high, the structure
of the clay will collapse and rapidly cause failure
(Leonards 1979). In a clay slope where stresses are at
or close to the stability threshold any increase in
shear stress, due for example to toe erosion, or any
decrease in effective normal stress, due for example
to seasonal water table variation, will accelerate
deformation and bring the slope closer to failure
(Bjerrum and Kenney 1968; Leonards 1979).
The effect of time on the stability of a slope and
on the shear strength which can be mobilized at
failure is generally recognized (Ter-Stepanian 1977;
Saito 1965, 1969). Soft clays of Eastern Canada are
known to be extremely sensitive to time and it should
not be surprising that time effects and creep play a
the peak strength that is observed in conventional
laboratory tests is not necessarily mobilized in the
field at a certain time. The stresses do not have to
exceed the peak strength and to decrease from peak
to post-peak values to bring the slope to failure. In
other words, the concept of progressive failure,
developed to account for the failure of highly over-
consolidated materials like London clay, is not
necessary to explain slope failures in ~ a n a d i a nsoft
clays.
The post-peak strength, as measured in a conven-
tional consolidated drained triaxial test, appears to
provide a good evaluation of the stability threshold
stresses above which failure will occur with time.
The post-peak strength is in fact a measure of the
shear resistance available under a given state of stress
and does not account for the high cohesion due to
bonding or cementation, which is time dependent
and not available under loads of long duration.
Part 11. Analysis of case records
The examination of various concepts relevant to
the stability of clay slopes appears to justify the use
of the post-peak strengths in stability analyses. Any
test or laboratory simulation and any engineering
method of analysis always contains some inaccuracy
or assumption. It is only after extensive calibration
with well documented case records that laboratory
simulations and methods of analysis may be consid-
ered reliable.
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TABLE
2. Characteristics of the case records of excavation slopes

Inclina- Safety factor Number of Type

Height tion PC' L W cm' 4m' piezom- of
Site (m) (0) Excavation Failure (kPa) (%) (%) (kPa) (") Failed Stable eters sample Reference
Rosemkre 11.9 24 March 1972 July 1974 160 61 72 8.0 35 1.05 12 Block Lefebvre and Chahde (1978)
For personal use only.

Lachute 1 7 23 Autumn 1974 Spring 1977 130 55 80 8.5 29.2 1.23 19 Block Lefebvre et al. (1980)
Lachute 2 7 25 Autumn 1974 Autumn 1975 185 60 60 7.0 29.3 1 .ll 11 Block Lefebvre et a[. (1980)
Lachute 3 6.7 24 Autumn 1974 Stable 129 63 70 7.0 27.8 1.39 11 Block Lefebvre et al. (1980)
Ste. Genevikve 8.2 18 Spring 1975 Stable 124 60 75 8.0 27.1 1.54 9 Block Lefebvre et al. (1980) 0
de Batiscan
St.Coeurde 7.3 24.5 1973 Stable 260 40 50 7.0 37.5 1.60 10 Block - 5
Marie
La Baie 12.0 24.5 1970 Stable 360 30 45 5.0 41 1.47 6 Block - +2
0
r-3
n
TABLE
3. Characteristics of the case records of natural slopes fi
q

Inclina- Date Safety factor Number of Type <

Height tion of PC' WL crn1
W 4m' piezom- of p
Site (m) (O) failure (kPa) (%) (%) (kPa) (O) Failed Stable eters sample Reference -
w

g
St. Vallier de Bellechasse 1

St. Vallier de Bellechasse 2

10.7

7.6
31'

-
May1968

May 1969
185 60 59 8 30 1.07

1.00
9

9
Block Lefebvre (1970); Lefebvre
and Larochelle (1974) -
Yamaska 12.2 28 Nov. 2, 1974 58 65 (7) (31) 1.04 4 Block
St. Leon 12.0 32 230 53 57 8 35 0.98 4 Block Lefebvre (1969b)
Gatineau, rue Le Coteau 24 31 April1971 78 66 5 43 0.99 5 Tube Lafleur (1978);Lafleur and
Lefebvre (1979)
Hull, Leamy Creek ( 1 ) 30 17 April 1974* 65 38 6 38 1.64 6 Block Eden (1972);Lefebvre
(1974);McRostie and
St-Louis (1980)
Chicoutirni, rue Angouleme 15.8 26 Stable 475 44 38 9 38 1.37 5 Tube Lefebvre (1979a)
*Superficial failure in heavily fissured weathered crust, 111volvingonly the zone o f water table variation.
 LEFEBVRE
0 DOCUMENTED STABILITY
ANALYSIS
o D E T E R M I N A T I O N O F SHEAR
STRENGTH
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FIG.6. Localisation map of the varlous sites considered in
the study. Numbers refer to Tables 4 and 5.
This part of the paper presents 14 case records of
which half are natural slopes and half are permanent
slope excavations. Anlong the seven excavations
studied, three have failed and four have remained
stable. Six of the natural slopes which are presented
For personal use only.
have failed and only one stable natural slope is
i analysed.
The principal characteristics of the 14 case records
are presented in Tables 2 and 3 for the excavated and
I
l
natural slopes respectively. As indicated on the loca-
tion map in Fig. 6, the slopes are all located in the
St. Lawrence valley, with the exception of three sites
in the Saguenay-Lac St. Jean area in the Laflamme
sea deposits which formed an extension of the
Chanlplain sea. The soil profiles for all the case
records of Tables 2 and 3 present a certain homoge-
neity such that the failure has or could develop in the
same soil layer and thereby allow a back calculation
of the shear resistance.
Very detailed analyses were conducted for all the
seven excavation slopes. Block samples were obtained
at each site, the water level and the flow pattern were
defined by (generally) more than 10 piezometers, and
the geometry was easily determined, the slope being
relatively uniform. For the natural slopes, laboratory
tests were run on tube samples for two of the case
records, while at a third site (Yamaska) the shear
strength is assumed to correspond to the strength
determined on block samples obtained at the St.
Louis site 15 km upstream. Piezometers were used at
each site to define the pore pressure but their number
was generally limited to five.
The number of piezometers and the period of
observation were generally sufficient to define repre-
sentative conditions of the water table and pore
pressure distribution. At many sites different types
427
of laboratory tests, with different stress paths, were
performed to determine the shear strength. Iso-
tropically consolidated drained triaxial tests were
performed for all sites with exactly the same pro-
cedure. The samples were mounted with porous
stones at each end with lateral paper-strip drains, and
with prophylactic membranes. Axial compression
was applied at a rate of about 2% per day with no
correction to the deviator stress for the rigidity of the
membrane or the paper-strip drain. Tests were con-
ducted up to axial deformations of the order of 10%
and the post-peak strength was defined at or around
8% axial deformation. The post-peak envelope was
mostly defined on samples reconsolidated under pres-
sures varying between 5 and 30 kPa. In this range of
stress the post-peak envelope is nearly linear, as
shown in Fig. 7.
The stability of each slope was analysed using the
modified Bishop method and a computer program
allowing the pore pressure distribution to be consid-
ered in the form of equipressure lines. Tension cracks
full of water were considered in all cases.
In Tables 2 and 3 the number of piezometers in-
stalled at each site, the type of sample obtained, the
height and inclination of the slope, and some geo-
technical information such as the apparent precon-
solidation pressure, water content, and Atterberg
limits are presented. The parameters c,,, and +,
describing the linear portion of the post-peak envel-
ope defined in the laboratory are also presented.
Where applicable the dates of excavation and failure
are tabulated. The factor of safety calculated from
measured pore water conditions and post-peak
strength parameters are presented for both the failed
and the stable slopes.
The detailed study of each case record has been
previously reported elsewhere as indicated by the
references in Tables 2 and 3. The site conditions and
the results of the analysis will be summarized briefly
in the following paragraphs. The slope profile, pore
pressure contours, and critical slip circles are shown
in Figs. 8 and 9.
Sunzmary o f crrse recorrls; Pernzanetzt excavation
slopes
The seven case records listed in Table 2 were
studied at the University of Sherbrooke in collabora-
tion with the Ministkre des transports du QuCbec to
develop a practical method of analysis for long term
excavation slopes.
Rosemkre (Fig. 8c1) is located 25 km north of
Montreal. The excavation was terminated in May
1972 and was adjacent to an exit of Autoroute 640.
A natural slope existed at this location and the
 CAN. GEOTECH. J. VOL. 18, 1981

80 -LACHUTE I LACHUTE 2

1 I
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80 BATISCAN ST-COEUR- D E - M A R I E
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FIG.7. Typical post-peak strength envelopes.

excavation resulted in the removal of about 5 m of
material from the natural slope. The final excavation
slope has a height of 11.9 m and an angle of 24" with
the horizontal at the location of the failure. The
failure occurred in July 1974, more than 2 years after
the completion of the excavation.
The city of Lachute is located some 55 km west of
Montreal. Three sites of permanent excavations,
numbered Lachute 1, 2, and 3 (Fig. 8b, c, and (I),
were chosen in the area where Autoroute 50 crosses
the Rivikre du Nord River. The site Lachute 1 is
located along the north side of Autoroute 50, where
an excavation was necessary to lower the profile of
the autoroute in order to approach the bridge from
the east side. The excavation was terminated in the
fall of 1974 and failure occurred in the spring of 1977,
again more than 2 years after completion. The
Lachute 2 site is also located on the east side of the
river along a secondary road which parallels the river
and passes under Autoroute 50 in an excavation. The
excavation was terminated in the fall of 1974 and two
small failures developed in the fall of 1975 on the east
side of the road. The Lachute 3 site is on the west side
of the river along an underpass excavation very simi-
lar to that on the Lachute 2 site. The excavation was
terminated in the fall of 1974 and has remained stable
up to now. The geometry at the three Lachute sites is
similar, with a height of about 7 m and an angle with
the horizontal of 24". The investigations clearly
indicated that the stability at the Lachute 3 site
 LEFEBVRE 429
i.-. -- --- ,- -- -

- 1
~~

65
L I N E S OF E O U I L
i H E n 0 0'
PORE ORESSURE
Y.bTERI
I I

I
(el

1
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For personal use only.

/-OBSERVED S L I P SURFaCE

1
20
I I I 1 I I
(dl

FIG. 8. Slope profiles, pore pressure contours, and critical slip surfaces for: (a) Rosemkre; ( 6 ) Lachute 1 ; (c) Lachute 2;
(d) Lachute 3 ; (e) Ste-Genevibve de Batiscan; (f) St-Coeur de Marie; (g) La Baie. NOTE:F.S. = factor of safety.

resulted from hydraulic conditions that were better
than those at the Lachute 1 and 2 sites.
The village of Ste. Genevikve de Batiscan is located
about 100 km west of Quebec City and about 10 kril
north of the St. Lawrence River. The clay was ex-
cavated in the spring of 1975 to lower the profile of a
road at the eastern approach of the bridge across the
Batiscan River. The maximum height of the cut is
8.2 m and the slope is 18" (Fig. 8e). The excavation
was terminated in the spring of 1975 and has re-
mained stable up to now.
The St. Coeur de Marie site (Fig. Sf) is located on
Road 169 between the villages of St. Coeur de Marie
and St. Jean de Taillon, in the Lake St. Jean area,
some 240 km north of Quebec City. The road profile
had to be lowered by excavation on the eastern
approach to the bridge across the Rivikre des Chicots
River. On the south side of the road the excavation
 CAN. GEOTECH. J. VOL. 18, 1981

[GRADED SLOPE EXISTING

BEFORE FAILURE
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5 0 i I I I~
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 BO 90 100
HORIZONTAL DISTANCE i m 1

-5 - _1

0 - -

5 - -

E - -
For personal use only.

C ' = 9 k b
15- +'.37- -
/
20 -

l
-
l
760m

l l l
- l l I l I l I
-

-15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
GROUND WATER FLOW H O R I Z O N T A L DISTANCE i m l
ASSUMED P A R A L L E L TO
GROUND SURFACE

OBSERVE0 S L I P SURFACE
-

30 -
F I S S U R E 0 CLAY
TO GROUND SURFACE 40 -

FIG.9. Slope profiles, pore pressure contours, and critical slip circles for: (a) St-Vallier 1 : (b) St-Vallier 2; (c) St-Leon;
(d)Yamaska Village; ( e ) Gatineau, rue Le Coteau; (f)Chicoutimi, rue Angoulkme; (g) Hull, Learny Creek. NOTE:F.S. =
factor of safety.

resulted in a slope 7.3 m high and with an angle of
24.5". The excavation was terminated in 1973 and
has remained stable since.
The La Baie site is located on Road 372 at the
western entrance to the city of La Baie, formerly
known as Port Alfred, on the Saguenay River some
220 km north of Quebec City. The excavation was
necessary to flatten the transition between the higher
clay plateau and the city of La Baie, almost at the
Saguenay River elevation. The slope, terminated in
1970, has a maximum height of 12 m, is inclined at
24.5" to the horizontal, and is stable.
S ~ m m a r yof case recorcls: Natural slopes
St. Vallier de Bellechasse is located along the St.
Lawrence River some 45 km east of Quebec City.
The two case records of St. Vallier (Fig. 9a and b) are
in fact of the same slide which has regressed. The
natural slope first failed in May 1968 and then re-
gressed in May 1969. The geometry was well known
 LEFEBVRE
after the initial slide and, since the first regression
occurred one year after the initial slide, the analysis
of this regression is probably a valid case record. The
laboratory tests were performed at Laval University
by the author. The investigation of the St. Vallier
slide was described by Lefebvre and La Rochelle
(1974). The initial slope had a height of 10.7 m and
an inclination of 31" to the horizontal.
The village of St. LCon is located some 30 km west
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from cdnsciencepub.com by SNCLAVALININCBF on 11/30/20
of Trois-Rivikres and about 10 km north of the St.
Lawrence River. The failure (Fig. 9c) took place on
the bank of the river, close to the bridge at the
entrance of the village. The piezometer installation
and the topographic survey were done by the
Ministkre de l'tnergie et des ressources du QuCbec;
the block sampling, the laboratory testing, and the
stability analysis were performed at the University of
Sherbrooke. The slope before failure had a height of
12 m and a dip of 32".
The village of Yamaska is located about 80 km east
of Montreal, and about 10 km south of the St.
Lawrence River. The slide took place in the fall
of 1974 in the village and affected a bank of the
For personal use only.
Yamaska River (Fig. 9 4 . Two houses were destroyed
by the slide. The topography before failure was well
known from a survey performed a few years before.
The piezometers were installed by the Ministhe de
1'Cnergie et des ressources du QuCbec. Identification
tube sampling was performed by the University of
Sherbrooke. However, the shear strength was not
determined at this site but was assumed similar to
that of block samples at St. Louis de Bonsecours
(Lefebvre 1970; Lefebvre and La Rochelle 1974), a
site located also on the Yamaska River but some
15 km upstream. The slope at Yamaska was 12.2 m
high and inclined at 28" to the horizontal.
Le Coteau site is located on Le Coteau Street, in
the tit? of Gatineau, near Hull. Several slides took
place at this site in early April 1971 and are well
described by Eden (1972) and McRostie and St-Louis
(1980). In 1974 laboratory testing and slope stability
analyses were conducted at the University of Sher-
brooke (Lefebvre 1974). Piezon~eterswere installed
by the National Research Council of Canada (NRC)
in 1971 immediately after the initial slide, and the
piezometric observations published by Eden (1972)
were used for the analysis. Additional piezometers
were installed in 1974 in a boring located at mid-slope
and these observations confirmed the NRC ob-
servations.
Considerable landscaping had been done at the
site in 1970 and in fact the section shown in Fig. 9e
could as well be classified as an excavation slope since
considerable excavation was carried out, as shown in
43 1
the figure. The slope analysed is 24 nl high and in-
clined at 28" to the horizontal.
The city of Chicoutimi overlooks the Saguenay
River some 200 km north of Quebec City. The site
investigated (Fig. 9f) lies along a narrow valley cut
by a small stream and is adjacent to Angoukme
Street. The piezometer installations, the surveying,
and the 7.5 cm diameter tube sampling were carried
out by a Chicoutimi investigation firm; the labora-
tory testing and the stability analysis were performed
at the University of Sherbrooke. The slope, 15.8 m
high and inclined at 26" to the horizontal, is stable
and there is no sign of instability in the surrounding
area.
Lentny Creek
The site Leamy Creek is located on the north side
of the valley cut by Leamy Creek and is just opposite
Normandie Street in Hull, near Ottawa. The slopes
on both sides of Leamy Creek are about 30 m high
with an inclination of about 17". Superficial in-
stability developed in 1969 and 1971 at the top of the
slope on the south side of the creek. Geotechnical
studies were carried out by the Ministkre des richesses
naturelles du QuCbec. Piezon~eterswere installed in
the affected slope and also on the intact slope on the
other side of the valley. In April 1974, a superficial
failure developed in the upper half of the slope, on
the north side, within the instrumented zone (Fig. 9g).
This slide was studied in detail at the University of
Sherbrooke with the assistance of the Ministkre des
richesses naturelles du QuCbec. The minimum factor
of safety was evaluated for the entire slope, which
may be considered stable; the factor of safety corre-
sponding to the observed local failure was also
evaluated.
Analysis of the results
As summarized in Table 2, the height of the seven
excavation slopes varies between 6.7 and 8.2m,
except for the sites of Rosem&reand La Baie which
are 12 m high. The excavation slopes are all inclined
at about 24" to the horizontal (2.2 horizontal to 1
vertical) except for the Batiscan site which is flatter.
It is impossible to ditTerentiate the failed sites and the
stable sites from the geometry alone without a con-
sideration of the different hydraulic conditions and
the variation of shear strength.
Compared to the overconsolidated and stiff Lon-
don clay, the soft Canadian clay appears more
resistant with respect to slope stability. It is generally
accepted that in London clay, slopes excavated
steeper than 3: 1 are not stable under long term con-
ditions (Skempton 1977) while most of the cuts
 432 CAN. GEOTECH. J. VOL. 18, 1981
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0.0 10 20
AVERAGED NORMAL STRESS ( k P o )
FIG.10. Comparison of the field critical shear stress en-
velope with laboratory failure envelope, Lachute 1.
analysed in Canadian soft clay up to heights of 12 m
have remained stable at a slope of 2.2 :1.
For personal use only.
All the natural slopes referred to in Table 3 have
slope inclinations varying between 26 and 32" except
the Leamy Creek case which has a slope angle of 17".
The only stable natural slope included in the study
had an inclination of 26" (2: 1) and a height of 15.8 m.
All the case records reported in Tables 2 and 3 con-
firm that the shear strength which can effectively be
mobilized in clay slopes of Eastern Canada is appre-
ciably higher than that generally considered in stiff
overconsolidated London clays. The effectively mo-
bilized shear strength in Canadian clay slopes has to
be relatively high and definitively in excess of the fully
softened strength (Skempton 1977) or the normally
consolidated strength. The cohesion intercept is also
significant as indicated by the back analyses of the
failures.
As previously indicated, the shear strength was
determined using exactly the same procedures. The
parameters c,' and + ', have been defined from
samples reconsolidated usually between 5 and 30 kPa
and at axial deformations of about 8%. For case
records reported in Tables 2 and 3, c,,' varied insig-
nificantly, being around 8 kPa, while + ', varied from
27-43". This variation of the post-peak resistance
will be discussed in the third part of the paper.
The stability analyses of the natural slopes (Table
3) resulted in factors of safety very close to unity for
all the five cases of slope failure. The analysis of the
slope on Rue Angoulkme in Chicoutimi, which has
remained stable, resulted in a factor of safety of 1.37.
The case at Leamy Creek appears very particular,
because the slope has been affected only by super-
ficial and localized failures. The slope as a whole has
not been involved in a failure and the analyses indi-
cated a factor of safety of 1.50. Conventional an-
alysis, based on post-peak strength parameters
evaluated on specimens of intact clays, gives a factor
of safety of 1.69 for the superficial observed slip
surface. Several conditions particular to the Leamy
Creek case have not, however, been considered in the
analysis. The failure has involved only the heavily
fissured crust and was contained in the zone of
seasonal water variation. Organic matter was often
identified in the fissures, and due to water table
variation, a certain desaturation of the soil was
identified. Studies on the influence of those particular
conditions are still in progress.
30
For long term excavation slopes, the calculated
factors of safety for the slopes which failed were 1.05,
1.11, and 1.23, i.e., slightly higher than unity. For the
four cases where no failure occurred the calculated
factors of safety varied between 1.39 and 1.60.
While the number of back analyses is limited, they
suggest that the use of post-peak parameters permits
a good prediction of the state of stability of natural
slopes (Table 3). The use of post-peak parameters
seems to slightly overestimate the factor of safety for
excavation slopes but is still acceptable for practical
purposes (Table 2). However, the excavation slopes
which were analysed were generally not very high.
The slopes at Lachute 1 and 2 were 7 m high. As a
result, and as indicated by the position of the ob-
served slip surface in Fig. Sb and c, the layer of soil
which was involved in the failure was not much
thicker than 2 m , resulting in very low normal
stresses on the failure plane.
In contrast to the excavated slopes the heights of
the natural slopes analysed were of the order of 12 m,
resulting in a much higher normal stress on the
failure planes. As discussed before, the post-peak
shear strength parameters c,,' and 6 ,' were always
defined within the same range of stresses, assuming
that the envelope is linear. For very small normal
stresses, the assumption of linearity is not totally
justified and may lead to a slight overestimate of the
shear resistance; this will be discussed by studying in
more detail the cases of slides in the Lachute area.
In order to define the critical slip surface, shown in
Fig. 8b for Lachute 1, the factor of safety was calcu-
lated for several circles. For each calculated circle,
the averaged shear stress and the averaged normal
stress have been computed. The averaged shear stress
was then plotted as a function of the averaged normal
stress, defining an envelope of the critical shear stress
(Kenney and Ali 1968). In Fig. 10, the averaged
 LEFEBVRE
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FIG.11. State of stress on the observed slip surface, Lachute 1.
stresses for the calculated critical circle are repre-
sented by a black triangle while the averaged stresses
for a circle verv close to the observed failure surface
are represate; by a black dot. The shear strength
envelope determined by laboratory tests and defined
by ' ,c = 8 kPa and 4,' = 29" is also shown in the
figure. The factor of safety can then be readily calcu-
For personal use only.
lated by evaluating the ratio of the available shear
strength to the shear stress for a given averaged
normal stress, and amounts to 1.23 for the calculated
critical surface at Lachute 1. Also in Fig. 10 it may
be observed that the averaged normal stress on the
calculated critical circle i r much larger than the
averaged normal stress on the observed slip surface,
which is only of the order of 6 kPa. In Fig. 11, a
Mohr circle representing a normal stress at failure of
6 kPa has been plotted for a failure envelope with
effective stress parameters c' = 8 kPa and +' = 29".
In Fig. 11 it is seen that for the failure envelope
plotted, the minor principal stress must be negativq
or tensile in order to have a normal stress as small as
the averaged normal stress on the observed slip
surface; the tensile stress will be larger for all normal
stresses smaller than the average value. It should be
realized that when a linear envelope with a significant
cohesive intercept is assumed in stability analysis it
implies that the soil can take significant tension at
low normal stress. In slope stability analysis it is not
reasonable to assume that the soii can resist tensile
stresses under long term conditions, especially in the
shallow superficial zone which is known to be
fissured. The failure envelope has to be curved to-
ward the origin, as shown by a dashed line in Fig. l l ,
if tensile stresses are to be avoided. The Mohr circle
that represents the maximum normal stress on the
observed slip surface is also represented in Fig. 11
for the same failure envelope; the minor principal
stress is seen to be of the order of 8 kPa. As noted
433
from Fig. 11, the extrapolation of a linear approxi-
mation to the cohesion intercept may significantly
overestimate the shear strength for shallow slip
surfaces.
The post-peak envelope often shows a tendency to
curve toward the origin at low stresses. At all sites,
the post-peak envelope has been defined by a linear
approximation based on tests performed at lateral
stresses varying between 5 and 30 kPa. While a linear
approximation does not introduce significant errors
for stresses in the 5-30 kPa range, the results of tests
performed at lateral stresses equal to 5 kPa are gener-
ally below the linear approximation. In Fig. 7, the
tendency of the post-peak failure envelope to curve
toward the origin can be recognized for the Lachute
sites.
For very low stresses, it appears necessary to con-
sider the curvature of the failure envelope. Actually
this fact has been recognized for a long time in brittle
material, especially in rock mechanics (Sirieys 1964).
The practical problem that has to be solved is to
define the curvature of the envelope that should be
used in the analyses. In a first attempt, it was tried to
define a bilinear envelope for the Lachute sites. For
the three sites, nine tests were performed on block
samples under low stresses, i.e., at lateral stresses of
5 and 10 kPa which were used to obtain a linear
envelope valid for low stresses. The test data and the
parameters, obtained by linear regression and valid
only at low stresses, are shown below.
cm' b' Number of tests at
Site ("1 5 or 10 kPa
-
Lachute 1 2.5 45 4
Lachute 2 2.6 40 2
Lachute 3 1.9 45 3
The available data are limited but the results are
consistent for the three sites, giving a cohesion inter-
cept of about 2 kPa and a friction angle of 40-45".
The strength of the Lachute clay can then be de-
scribed by a bilinear envelope.
When the bilinear envelopes defined at each of the
three Lachute sites are compared with the field
critical shear stresses shown by dashed lines in Figs.
10, 12, and 13, it is seen that the critical irz situ shear
stress envelopes become tangential to the steeper
portion of the failure envelope for sites Lachute 1
and 2. It is also interesting to note that the point of
tangency coincides with the averaged normal stress
existing on the observed failure surface. For these
two failed sites, the use of the bilinear envelope has
resulted in a calculated factor of safety of unity
 CAN. GEOTECH. J. VOL. 18, 1981

1
ESS
0 00
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from cdnsciencepub.com by SNCLAVALININCBF on 11/30/20

A CRITICAL CIRCLE

@ OBSERVED C I R C L E

0 I
0 10 20 30 40
A V E R A G E D N O R M A L STRESS (kPo

FIG.12. Comparison of the field critical shear stress envelope with the laboratory failure envelope, Lachute 2.

I I I - I
For personal use only.

5 20- -
Y) FIELD CRITICAL SHEAR STRESS
W
V) 0

4
n
W
I
"7

AVERAGED NORMAL STRESS (kPo)

FIG.13. Comparison of the field critical shear stress envelope with the laboratory failure envelope, Lachute 3.

instead of the slightly higher values of 1.23 and 1.11
calculated previously by considering only a linear
approximation. Moreover the critical sliding surface
coincides with the observed failure surface.
At the Lachute 3 site (Fig. 13) the bilinear envelope
remained higher than the critical shear stress envel-
ope and the minimum calculated factor of safety is
still valid.
The analyses of 14 case records suggest that the use
of the post-peak strength parameters permits a good
prediction of the state of stability of natural or long
term excavation slopes in Canadian soft clays.
In analyses where the normal effective stresses are
very low, i.e., in the case of low slopes with the water
table at the surface, the effect of the curvature of the
failure envelope is significant and should be consid-
ered in accurate analyses. The curvature observed in
the post-peak strength envelope appears to ade-
quately model the field behaviour of the soil.
As evidenced by slope angles as high as 30" and by
all the case records presented in this paper the maxi-
mum strength mobilized in the field is appreciably
higher than the remolded strength or the strength of
the destructured clay, generally defined by c' = 0
and 4' of the order of 27".
Part 111. Generalization of the post-peak
strength parameters
From the analysis of two sites in the St. Lawrence
valley, Lefebvre and La Rochelle (1974) observed that
 LEFEBVRE 435

TABLE
4. Clay properties and post-peak strengths evaluated on block samples

cu I -urn (kPa)
w vane PC'
Site (7%) ID @Pa) o, = 5 o, = 10 o, = 20 a, = 30
1. St. Louis
2. St. Vallier
3. Grande Baleine digue 39
4. Grande Baleine digue 12
5. Outardes
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6. Shawinigan
7. St. Lion

8. St. Alban
9. St. BarnabC
10. Nicolet
11. Rosemere
12. Matagami-Olga

13. Rupert-7
14. Hull, Leamy Creek
15. Batiscan
16. Lachute No. 1
For personal use only.

17. Lachute No. 2

18. Lachute No. 3

19. St. Coeur de Marie

20. La Baie

the post-peak parameters were similar. Lo and Lee
(1974), using assul~lptionson the water table and pore
pressure distributions, has back analysed several case
records of natural slope failures using the same
post-peak parameters and has obtained a factor of
safety close to unity at each site.
Considering the observations that some high steep
slopes in Champlain clays remain stable while other
lower and flatter slopes have failed, it must be con-
cluded that the operative shear strength in slopes of
Champlain clays varies. This is confirmed by the
parameters determined for the 14 sites listed in
Tables 2 and 3.
However, it is known that the properties of clays
are interrelated and that the post-peak shear strength
parameters should bear some relationships to other
properties. Such relationships, if derived from suffi-
cient measurements, could prove to be of great utility
for at least preliminary analyses or verifications.
In addition to the 14 case records presented in
Tables 2 and 3, additional measurements of post-
peak parameters were carried out on block or tube
samples at several other sites. Post-peak parameters
were obtained on block samples at 20 sites and on
tube samples at 16 sites. At several sites tests were
performed on both tube and block samples and these
results will be compared to evaluate the influence of
the sampling techniques on the post-peak parameters.
All the results will be used to define relationships
between the post-peak strength and other routinely
determined properties. When trying to establish rela-
tions to obtain c', and c),,', one must realize that the
Coulomb envelope is not very sensitive to the ulti-
mate strength defined in a drained triaxial test be-
cause the drained stress path and the Coulomb
envelope are both inclined in the same direction. A
much more accurate approach would be to establish
a relation with the measured post-peak strength on
samples reconsolidated at a given pressure.
All the sites for which the post-peak shear strength
parameters and other related properties have been
determined are shown in Fig. 6, and listed in Tables
4 and 5 for block samples and tube samples, respec-
tively.
The sites reported in Tables 4 and 5 cover most
regions of the Province of Quebec. Most of the sites
are located in the Champlain clays and extend from
Hull, near Ottawa, to Chutes aux Outardes, in the
east of the province. A few sites are located in the
Laflamme Sea clays in the Chicoutimi-Lac St. Jean
 436 CAN. GEOTECH. J. VOL. 18, 1981

5. Clay properties and post-peak strength evaluated on tube samples

TABLE

cu I -u (kPa)
w vane PC'
Site (%I ID (kPa) (kPa) u, = 5 u, = 10 u, = 20 u, = 30
51. Chicoutimi

52. Rivikre Petite Nation

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Plaisance

53. St. Philippe

54. St. Louis

55. St. Vallier
56. Rigaud

57. Outardes

58. Rivibre des Prairies

For personal use only.

59. Le Coteau, Hull

60. Nicolet

61. Matagami-Olga

62. Rupert-7
63. Hull (rue Normandie)

64. Batiscan
65. Lachute No. 2
66. Lachute No. 3

area, and a few others in the northern deposits of the pressure evaluated in a standard oedometer test, and
province, i.e., in the lacustrine clays of the ancient the in situ vane shear strength. The post-peak devi-
lake Barlow Ojibway (Olga site) and in the marine ator is seen to decrease with increasing natural water
Tyrrel clays around James Bay and Hudson Bay content and plasticity index. The tendency is clear
(Rupert and Grande Baleine sites). As indicated in enough but the dispersion is rather large as indicated
Table 4, the post-peak deviator for specimens recon- by the correlation coefficients (r2)which are 0.27 and
solidated at the same cell pressure varies significantly 0.18 respectively. The post-peak deviator clearly
from site to site, and by significantly more than would increases with increasing in situ vane strength and
be anticipated from looking at the shear strength apparent preconsolidation. The dispersion is very
parameters. Each series of test results corresponding acceptable especially for the apparent preconsolida-
to a given cell pressure has been correlated to various tion pressure. The correlation coefficient r 2 with pre-
clay properties. In a first attempt, correlations will consolidation pressure is 0.81 as compared to only
be limited to block sample results. 0.23 with the vane strength. Very similar conclusions
In Fig. 14, all values of the post-peak deviator for were obtained for the tests run at u, equal to 5, 20,
tests performed on block samples at a u, of 10 kPa and 30 kPa, which confirm that a valid relation can
have been plotted against the natural water content, be established with the apparent preconsolidation
the plasticity index, the apparent preconsolidation and to a lesser extent with the in situ vane strength.
 LEFEBVRE

120

100
27 ;:,,,,f REFER
NUMBERING
TO T A B L E 4 FOR S I T E

2 ,0,18 .5 N A T U R A L WATER CONTENT, W %

-
-
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120
.5

-: ,nn- .6

u 20
I I I I I I
z 10 20 30 40
w PLASTICITY INDEX Ip
f 120- r2=0.81

-"r/ !
: '. APPARENT P R E c o N s o L l D A T l o N PRESSURE PC .I
For personal use only.

20 I I I I I I I I
20 40 60 80 100 120
F I E L O VANE STRENGTH , C U ( k P o ) APPARENT PRECONSOLIDATION PRESSURE PC ( k P o )

FIG.14. Correlation of the post-peak strength with various FIG.15. Correlation of the post-peak strength with the
properties for specimens reconsolidated at 10 kPa. apparent preconsolidation pressure.

The correlation of the post-peak deviator with the 0.85, and 0.73, while with the in sit11 vane strength
apparent preconsolidation pressure is presented in the correlation coefficient r 2 is respectively 0.23,0.39,
Fig. 15 and with the vane strength in Fig. 16 for each and 0.39. The results indicate that the post-peak
cell pressure. In all cases, the correlation was estab- strength correlates much better with the apparent
lished by linear regression and the correlation co- preconsolidation pressure.
efficient r 2 is indicated in each figure. Using the correlations shown in Figs. 14-16 it is
The dispersion is far greater for tests run at possible, for a given value of preconsolidation or vane
a, = 5 kPa than it is for tests at 10 kPa or higher. strength, to obtain the post-peak strength for speci-
This dispersion for low consolidation stresses is con- mens reconsolidated at 5, 10, 20, and 30 kPa, and to
sidered to be related to the curvature of the envelope, reconstruct a Mohr envelope which will be an aver-
as previously discussed in detail for the Lachute sites. age envelope for all the 20 sites considered in the
If the Mohr envelope is not linear at low stresses, with studies. Such strength envelopes are presented in
a curvature which can vary from site to site, then the Figs. 17 and 18 for selected values of preconsolida-
deviator of samples reconsolidated at low stresses tion and vane strength. The resulting strength envel-
will also show a larger variation. For specimens opes are remarkably well defined. Due to the lower
reconsolidated at 10, 20, or 30 kPa the correlations correlation coefficient for vane strengths, only the
are well defined, linear, and with a relatively small envelope derived from the correlation with precon-
dispersion. With the apparent preconsolidation pres- solidation will be discussed in more detail.
sure, the correlation coefficient r 2 is respectively 0.81, Four averaged strength envelopes are presented in
 438 CAN. GEOTECH. J. VOL. 18, 1981
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from cdnsciencepub.com by SNCLAVALININCBF on 11/30/20

(k P o )
For personal use only.

Y7
+cj
20 40 60 80 100 1 2 0 140 (kPa)

FIG. 17. Post-peak strength envelopes deducted from corre-

lations for selected values of p,.
FIELD VANE STRENGTH Cu ( k ~ o )
considered and should take into account the range of
FIG. 16. Correlation of the post-peak shear strength with
the vane shear strength. the operative stresses in the field. Values of the shear
strength parameters ,c and 4, were computed by
TABLE
6. Post-peak strength parameters for linear regression and are presented in Table 6 for
selected values of p, selected values of apparent preconsolidation pressure
and for specimens reconsolidated at 5-20 kPa or
Range of reconsolidation PC 5-30 kPa. It is first noted that when the stress range
stress (kPa) (kPa) is increased, the linear envelope is slightly rotated
due to the curvature of the envelope, resulting in an
increase of the cohesion intercept and a decrease of
the friction angles. It is also of interest to note that
for a given range of stress, the cohesion intercept
remains constant for all sites considered but that
friction angle increases significantly with the values
of the apparent preconsolidation pressures. For
example, for specimens reconsolidated between 5
and 20 kPa, which is the operative range of stress for
Fig. 17, plotted for clays with an apparent precon- most clay slopes in Eastern Canada, the cohesion
solidation pressure p,' of 100, 200, 300, and 400 kPa. intercept is constant at 7.5 kPa and the friction
All the strength envelopes are curved, especially gradually increases from 28.7' for a p,' of 100 kPa
toward the origin, and confirm the previous discus- to 43.6' for a p,' of 400 kPa.
sion for the Lachute sites. The curvature of the strength envelope at a given
The use of a linear approximation appears satis- state of stress has to be related to the apparent pre-
factory but will vary with the range of stresses consolidation pressure. For example, the state of

Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from cdnsciencepub.com by SNCLAVALININCBF on 11/30/20
I
qa+oi
7 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
For personal use only.
FIG.18. Post-peak strength envelopes deducted from corre-
lations for selected values of C,,.
stress at failure for a sample reconsolidated to 30 kPa
will be almost in the normally consolidated range if
p,' is of the order of 100 kPa, but it will be well into
the structured or overconsolidated state if y,' is of the
order of 300 kPa. For this reason, when considering
the range of stresses in Fig. 17, the curvature toward
the orgin appears better defined at higher values of
apparent preconsolidation pressures. For a p,' of
300 kPa, the initial portion of the envelope, for 0,'
smaller than 10 kPa, is defined by a c' of 3 kPa and
a 4' of 47".
The validity of the average strength envelopes
that are presented can be checked by examining the
individual cases in Tables 2 and 3, where the indi-
vidually measured shear strength parameters have
been compared to the in s i t u observations. The
measured parameters in Tables 2 and 3 are in good
agreement with the averaged values estimated from
correlation against p,' in Table 6. Considering that
good triaxial tests are difficult to perform, especially
at very low confining pressures when experimental
errors like piston friction become important, and
that drained triaxial tests conducted to large deforma-
tions last almost a week, the use of such a relation
should be useful in stability analyses of clay slopes in
LEFEBVRE 439
100 ( kPo)
100
-13 / CORRELATION
FROM BLOCK
DEDUCTED
SAMPLE
100 200 300 400 500 600
APPARENT PRECONSOLIOATION PRESSURE PC ( k P o )
FIG.19. Comparison of post-peak strength evaluated on
tube samples with the correlations established on block
samples.
Eastern Canada, either for preliminary analysis or to
check laboratory test results.
The values of peak strengths for Eastern Canada
clay are more or less a function of the sampling
technique. The post-peak strength defined using good
quality commercial tube samples is considered to be
quite acceptable and very close to results obtained
from block samples (Lefebvre and La Rochelle 1974).
Up to now the correlations established here are based
solely on testing programs using block sample speci-
mens. It is, however, of great interest to the practising
engineer to verify the quality of the results that can
be obtained on commercial tube samples. Post-peak
strengths have been determined on tube samples at
16 sites and the characteristics of the deposits and a
summary of the results are presented in Table 5. The
post-peak strengths evaluated on tube samples re-
consolidated at 5, 10, 20, and 30 kPa are presented
as a function of the apparent preconsolidation pres-
sure in Fig. 19 and are compared with the correla-
tions previously established for block samples (Figs.
14 and 15). The individual values of the post-peak
deviator obtained from tube samples generally agree
 440 CAN. GEOTECH. J. VOL. 18, 1981

well with the correlations established for block have indicated that the post-peak strength allows a
samples except that at very low confining stresses reasonable estimate of the stability of the natural
( 0 , = 5 kPa), tube samples tend to show a lower slopes in Champlain clays. In this paper 14 case
value. As the determination of the apparent precon- records have been analysed in terms of the post-peak
solidation pressure is not significantly influenced by strength at sites where the hydraulic conditions had
tube sampling (La Rochelle and Lefebvre 1971), the been evaluated from piezometer observations. The
comparison, which is based on evaluations at 16 study confirms that the post-peak strength permits a
different sites with varying clay sensitivities, shows reasonable evaluation of the stability of natural
that good quality tube samples allow for a reasonably slopes and the stability of long term excavation
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from cdnsciencepub.com by SNCLAVALININCBF on 11/30/20

good evaluation of post-peak strength. slopes. However, for low slopes with the water table
The good correlation of the post-peak strength at the surface, the effective stress mobilized on the slip
with the apparent preconsolidation pressure suggests surface is very small and an accurate analysis should
that the soil always keeps some structure effects when in such a case consider a post-peak strength envelope
sheared in the overconsolidated range of stress. The that is curved toward the origin as indicated by
fully softened strength or the strength of the com- laboratory test results. Practically, the curvature can
pletely destructured clay should thus not be used in be approximated by a bilinear envelope with a rather
the analysis of clay slopes. steep first segment and a very low cohesion intercept.
The use of a unique linear approximation for the
total range of stresses is sufficient for most analyses,
Conclusions but in the case of low slopes with the water table a t
Due to important time effects the strength of clay the surface, the factor of safety can be overestimated
decreases with a decreasing rate of loading, especi- by 1620%.
ally for soft clays of Eastern Canada. The operational Good quality triaxial tests are difficult to realize
For personal use only.

strength in permanent clay slopes can be appreciably especially under low confining stresses and the defini-
lower than that measured in the laboratory by con- tion of the post-peak strength, at an axial deforma-
ventional tests. Drained triaxial creep tests on tion of 8%, requires a test duration of 5-6 days. A
Champlain clays have indicated the existence of a correlation of the post-peak strength with the
stability threshold above which failure will occur with apparent preconsolidation pressure is presented that
time. If a soil element is near that threshold a small is based on results of a laboratory testing program
increase in stresses will accelerate deformations, in- performed on block samples obtained at 20 different
crease pore pressures, and rapidly bring it to failure. sites and covering most of the clay deposits of
The stability threshold established by laboratory Eastern Canada. The relation of the post-peak
creep tests has been found to coincide fairly well with strength to the apparent preconsolidation pressure is
the post-peak strength defined at 8% of axial de- obvious as indicated by correlation coefficients (r2)
formation in consolidated drained triaxial tests. The as high as 0.8. Based on these correlations, a linear
peak resistance evaluated in the laboratory is due in approximation of the post-peak strength envelope in
part to bonding or cementation between particles the stress range most appropriate for slope stability
and is not at equilibrium with the void ratio or with problems indicates a constant cohesion intercept of
the effective stress in the samples. The post-peak 7.5 kPa for all deposits. The friction angle varies
strength on the other hand, as indicated by tests on from 29-43' as the apparent preconsolidation pres-
specimens with pre-cut shear planes, represents the sure increases from 100 to 400 kPa.
maximum resistance which can be mobilized, after The examination of laboratory test results on tube
the breakdown of the time-sensitive bonds, for a samples obtained at 16 different sites in the Province
given void ratio and a given effective stress. In other of Quebec has confirmed that good tube sampling
words the post-peak strength is at equilibrium with permits a reasonably accurate determination of the
the stress and the void ratio of the clay. The use of post-peak strength, as evidenced by the comparison
post-peak strength is justified in slope stability with the correlation established from block samples.
analysis not because progressive failure is taking Engineers have learned that slope stability prob-
place in the field but because it coincides with a lems should be approached with great humility. The
threshold stress above which failure will occur with determination of the correct hydraulic conditions
time. and of the operative strength will always remain a
It is well known that the use of the peak strength difficult task. The methods of analysis generally
in slope stability analysis grossly overestimates the available cannot take into account many of the char-
factor of safety. Previous analyses of case records acteristics of the material, especially in brittle clay.
 LEFEBVRE
It is only with extensive calibration with in sit11 case
records that a methodology can acquire a certain
reliability.
The ;xamination of principles relevant to the
stability of clay slopes have indicated some justifica-
tion for the use of the post-peak strength. Its use in
14 case records has confirmed that it can predict
reasonably well the stability of clay slopes in Cham-
plain clays. Moreover, good and consistent correla-
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from cdnsciencepub.com by SNCLAVALININCBF on 11/30/20
tions with the apparent preconsolidation pressures
of the clays have indicated that the post-peak
strength reflects the basic properties of the clay.
Keeping in mind all the difficulties in the analysis
of a slope, it is thought that the use of the post-peak
strength to represent the in sill! operative strength is
at least as accurate as the assunlptions generally made
about hydraulic conditions and in the methods of
analysis.
Acknowledgements
Al.1 the case records of cuts have been studied in a
research program funded by the Ministkre des
transports du Qutbec. Other case records and several
For personal use only.
laboratory test results were part of projects funded
by the Ministkre de l'tnergie et des ressources,
Hydro-QuCbec, and la SociCtt d'tnergie de la Baie
James. Parts of the study were also funded by the
research grants received from the National Sciences
and Engineering Research Council of Canada and
from the Formation de chercheurs et d'action con-
certCe program of the Ministkre de l'tducation du
QuCbec. Most of the data presented in this paper were
parts of theses prepared by graduate students in the
Geotechnical Section of the University of Sher-
brooke. This study would not have been possible
without these young engineers, among them Messrs.
Alain Philibert, Jean Lafleur, Joseph Chahde, Martin
Tremblay, and Claude BCdard. The technicians of
the soil mechanics laboratory, Messrs. Claude Poulin,
Gtrard Chevrier, Georges Lalonde, and Jean-Guy
Lemelin have to be thanked for their skilled and
precious collaboration. Finally the author is indebted
to his colleagues in the Geotechnical Section, Messrs.
Jean-Paul Morin, Gtrard Ballivy, and Claude Lu-
pien, for advice and constructive discussions, and
also to Mr. Jacques Locat and Peter Rosenberg for
reviewing the text.
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