CE 333

Geotechnical Engineering II

SLOPE STABILITY

Sultan Mohammad Farooq

Sheikh Sharif Ahmed

Department of Civil Engineering

Chittagong University of Engineering & Technology
 CLASSIFICATION OF SLOPE FAILURE

 Cohesionless soils like sand can easily maintain only a

slope equal to its angle of internal friction.

 It is cohesion combined with friction that allows

steeper slopes.

 Slope failure in soils having cohesion can be classified

as

1. Rotational failure (toe, slope & base failure)

2. Landslide
 CLASSIFICATION OF SLOPE FAILURE

1. Rotational failure (toe, slope & base failure)

 It is common with soils with cohesion.

 The slip surface is generally circular for homogeneous

soil condition and non-circular in case of non-
homogeneous conditions.
 CLASSIFICATION OF SLOPE FAILURE

2. Landslide
 Falls
 Rotational slides
 Translational slides (occurs in infinite-slope)
 Flows
 Compound slides (combination of rotational and
translational slip. It is curved at two ends and plane in
the middle portion. It occurs when a hard stratum exists
at considerable depth below the toe.)

Falls, flows and compound slides are great sources of

natural disasters during very heavy rains in mountainous
terrains all over the world.
 SUGGESTED VALUES OF
FACTOR OF SAFETY
 
For earth dams,

For cuttings,

For embankments,
 LAND SLIDES

 Slides in natural slopes may be caused by man-made

reasons like undercutting the foot of existing slope and
destruction of vegetation cover or it may be caused by
natural deterioration of the strength of soils.

 Such slope failures are most common due to seepage

of rainwater.

 Accumulation of rainwater on top of hills can lead to

landslides and mud flows.
 EMPIRICAL VALUES OF SLOPES

Terzaghi recommends the following empirical values for

slope construction:
For embankments Slopes less than 6m in height for railway and highway in good
soil: 1V to to 2 H . The slopes should be well-drained.

For Cuttings Slopes less than 6m in depth for railway and highway in good soil.
1V to 2H to 1V to 3H .
Upstream slopes of dams 1V to 3H to 1V to 2.5H .

Downstream slopes of 1V to 2.5H to 1V to 2H .

dams
The standard slope of 1V to 2H up to 1V to 3H.
cuttings liable to flooding
(such as canals)