A Geotechnical Living Laboratory for Teaching and Researching Soil Erosion and Slope Stability

The Cretaceous black shales of the Great Plains of the United States are prone to slope instability and surface erosion problems. Fractured and unfractured shale materials have brittle mechanical behavior and rapidly weather into fine-grained soils. The shales are host to bentonite beds with liquid limits exceeding 200. Between the brittle nature of the shales and the weak bentonite beds, erosion and slope instability easily initiate. To help civil and geologic engineering students learn more about shales, erosion, and slope stability, a living laboratory has been constructed on the campus of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. This living laboratory is a poorly vegetated shale slope with ongoing erosion and slope instability problems. The site is used for research, and students are active participants in the research, with students sampling soils, developing experiments, surveying, and making instrument readings in several courses. Research includes erosion and instability rates, revegetation and erosion control methods, and use of automated monitoring systems. Living laboratories on campuses are an opportunity to couple teaching and research for an approachable combination that is effective at helping K-16 students understand fundamental concepts of geotechnical engineering.