Chapter
Jul 8, 2024
Chapter 10

Static Slope Stability of Containment Systems

Publication: Geoenvironmental Engineering: Site and Contaminant Characterization, Containment Facilities, Solid Waste Materials, and Contaminated Ground Interventions

Abstract

This chapter presents guidelines and principles to guide geotechnical engineers in the planning, execution, and critique of slope stability calculations with an emphasis on slopes and modes of failure encountered in containment systems. It assumes that the geotechnical engineer conducting the analysis has completed coursework that includes some slope stability analyses and is conversant in engineering properties of soils. The chapter presents a set of principles for the engineer to consider when conducting slope stability analyses. Most slope stability analyses used in practice are limit equilibrium analyses that statically analyze driving forces and available resisting forces acting on a slope at the initiation of movement to compute a factor of safety. Containment systems offer even potential slip surface configurations owing to the construction of multiple layers of materials with differing properties. Soil reinforcement refers to constructing inclusions within the soil mass to improve the resistance of the slope to movement.

Get full access to this chapter

View all available purchase options and get full access to this chapter.

References

ASTM International. 2006. Standard test method for unconfined compressive strength of cohesive soil. ASTM D2166. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
ASTM. 2008. Standard test method for field vane shear test in cohesive soil. ASTM D2573. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
ASTM. 2011. Standard test method for consolidated undrained triaxial compression test for cohesive soils. ASTM D4767. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
ASTM. 2012. Standard test method for determining the shear strength of soil-geosynthetic and geosynthetic-geosynthetic interfaces by direct shear. ASTM D5321. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
ASTM. 2016. Standard test method for performing laboratory direct shear strength tests of rock specimens under constant normal force. ASTM D5607. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
ASTM. 2017. Standard test method for consolidated undrained direct simple shear testing of fine grain soils. ASTM D6528. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
ASTM. 2020a. Standard test method for determining the internal and interface shear strength of geosynthetic clay liner by the direct shear method. ASTM D6243. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
ASTM. 2020b. Standard test method for electronic friction cone and piezocone penetration testing of soils. ASTM D5778. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
ASTM. 2023. Standard test method for unconsolidated-undrained triaxial compression test on cohesive soils. ASTM D2850. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
Baecher, G. B., and J. T. Christian. 2003. Reliability and statistics in geotechnical engineering. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Bonaparte, R., R. C. Bachus, and B. A. Gross. 2020. “Geotechnical stability of waste fills: Lessons learned and continuing challenges.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 146 (11): 05020010.
Bray, J. D., D. Zekkos, and S. M. Merry. 2011. “Shear strength of municipal solid waste.” In Geotechnical characterization, field measurement, and laboratory testing of municipal solid waste, Geotechnical Special Publication 209, edited by D. Zekkos. Reston, VA: ASCE.
Coduto, D. P. 1999. Geotechnical engineering: Principles and practices. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Cornforth, D. H. 2005. Landslides in engineering practice. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Duncan, J. M. 1992. “State-of-the-art: Static stability and deformation analysis.” In Proc., Stability and Performance of Slopes and Embankments II, A 25 Year Perspective. Geotechnical Special Publication 31. New York: ASCE.
Duncan, J. M. 1996. “State of the art: Limit equilibrium and finite-element analysis of slopes.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 122 (7): 577–596.
Duncan, J. M. 2000. “Factors of safety and reliability in geotechnical engineering.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 126 (4): 307–316.
Duncan, J. M., S. G. Wright, and T. L. Brandon. 2014. Soil strength and slope stability. 2nd ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Fenton, G. A., and D. V. Griffiths. 2008. Risk assessment in geotechnical engineering. New York: Wiley.
Fredlund, D. G., and R. E. G. Scoular. 1999. “Using limit equilibrium concepts in finite element slope stability analysis.” In Proc., Int. Symp. on Slope Stability Engineering, Sichikoku ‘99, 31–47. Rotterdam, Netherlands: Balkema-Rotterdam.
GeoRG (Geotechnical Resource Group). 2004. Geotechnical and stability analyses for Ohio waste containment facilities. Guidance Document 660. Columbus, OH: Ohio Protection Agency.
Gourc, J.-P., and D. Zekkos. 2018. “Waste mechanical properties.” In Solid waste landfilling: Concepts, processes, technology, edited by R. Cossu and R. Stegman, 193–210. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier.
Griffiths, D. V., and P. A. Lane. 1999. “Slope stability analysis by finite elements.” Géotechnique 49 (3): 387–403.
Highland, L. M., and P. Bobrowsky. 2008. The landslide handbook: A guide to understanding landslides. Circular No. 1325. Reston, VA: US Geological Survey.
Jin, L., A. Fuggle, and C. P. Armstrong. 2022. “Determining the in situ state of coal combustion residuals using cone penetration testing.” In Geo-Congress 2022, 463–473. Reston, VA: ASCE.
Khire, M. V., T. Johnson, and R. Holt. 2022. “Heat loss in landfills as a function of landfill size.” In Geo-Congress 2022, 83–91. Reston, VA: ASCE.
Koerner, G. R., and D. Narejo. 2005. Direct shear database of geosynthetic-to-geosynthetic and geosynthetic-to-soil interfaces. GRI Report 30. Folsom, PA: Geosynthetic Research Institute.
Koerner, R. M. 2012. Designing with geosynthetics. Bloomington, IN: Xlibris.
Koerner, R. M., and T.-Y. Soong. 1998. “Analysis and design of veneer cover soils.” In Proc., 6th Int. Conf. on Geosynthetics, 28–49. Leeds, UK: Emerald Publishing.
Koerner, R. M., and T.-Y. Soong. 2000. “Stability assessment of ten large landfill failures.” In GeoDenver 2000, Geotechnical Special Publication 103, 1–38. Reston, VA: ASCE.
Kumar, G., and K. R. Reddy. 2022. “Reliability assessment of bioreactor landfill performance using coupled thermo-hydro-bio-mechanical model.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 148 (5): 04022023.
Ladd, C. C. 1991. “Stability evaluation during staged construction.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 117 (4): 540–615.
Low, B. K., R. B. Gilbert, and S. G. Wright. 1998. “Slope reliability analysis using generalized method of slices.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 124 (4): 350–362.
Matasovic, N., R. El-Sherbiny, and E. Kavazanjian Jr. 2011. “In-situ measurements of MSW properties.” In Geotechnical characterization, field measurement, and laboratory testing of municipal solid waste, Geotechnical Special Publication 209, edited by D. Zekkos. Reston, VA: ASCE.
Michoud, C., M.-H. Derron, P. Horton, M. Jaboyedoff, et al. 2012. “Rockfall hazard and risk assessments along roads at a regional scale: Example in Swiss alps.” Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. 12 (3): 615–629.
Qian, X., R. M. Koerner, and D. H. Gray. 2002. Geotechnical aspects of landfill design and construction. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Reddy, K. R., R. K. Giri, and H. S. Kulkarni. 2017. “Modeling coupled hydromechanical behavior of landfilled waste in bioreactor landfills: Numerical formulation and validation.” J. Hazard. Toxic Radioact. Waste 21 (1): D4015004.
Schroeder, P. R., T. S. Dozier, P. A. Zappi, B. M. McEnroe, et al. 1994. The hydrologic evaluation of landfill performance (HELP) model: Engineering documentation for version 3. EPA/600/R-94/168b. Washington, DC: US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development.
Stark, T. D., and H. Choi. 2004. “Peak versus residual interface strengths for landfill liner and cover design.” Geosynth. Int. 11 (6): 491–498.
USACE (US Army Corps of Engineers). 1997. Introduction to probability and reliability methods for use in geotechnical engineering. Engineer Technical Letter 1110-2-547. Washington, DC: USACE.
USACE. 2006. Reliability analysis and risk assessment for seepage and slope stability failure modes for embankment dams. Engineer Technical Letter 1110-2-561. Washington, DC: USACE.
Yu, H. S., R. Salgado, S. W. Sloan, and J. M. Kim. 1998. “Limit analysis versus limit equilibrium for slope stability.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 124 (1): 914–918.
Zhang, R., and A. Rock. 2011. “Rockfall and mitigation evaluation with 3-D discrete element modeling.” In GeoRisk 2011: Geotechnical Risk Assessment and Management, edited by C. H. Juang, K. K. Phoon, A. J. Puppala, R. A. Green, and G. A. Fenton. Reston, VA: ASCE.
Zornberg, J. G., J. S. McCartney, and R. H. Swan. 2005. “Analysis of a large database of GCL internal shear strength results.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 131 (3): 367–380.

Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Go to Geoenvironmental Engineering
Geoenvironmental Engineering: Site and Contaminant Characterization, Containment Facilities, Solid Waste Materials, and Contaminated Ground Interventions
Pages: 221 - 258
Editor: Dimitrios Zekkos, Ph.D., P.E.
ISBN (Online): 978-0-7844-8549-1
ISBN (Print): 978-0-7844-1623-5

History

Published online: Jul 8, 2024

Permissions

Request permissions for this article.

Authors

Affiliations

Kevin Foye, Ph.D., P.E., M.ASCE

Metrics & Citations

Metrics

Citations

Download citation

If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.

View Options

Get Access

Access content

Please select your options to get access

Log in/Register Log in via your institution (Shibboleth)
ASCE Members: Please log in to see member pricing

Purchase

Save for later Information on ASCE Library Cards
ASCE Library Cards let you download journal articles, proceedings papers, and available book chapters across the entire ASCE Library platform. ASCE Library Cards remain active for 24 months or until all downloads are used. Note: This content will be debited as one download at time of checkout.

Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.
ASCE Library Card (5 downloads)
$105.00
Add to cart
ASCE Library Card (20 downloads)
$280.00
Add to cart
Buy Single Chapter
$35.00
Add to cart
Buy E-book
$140.00
Add to cart

Get Access

Access content

Please select your options to get access

Log in/Register Log in via your institution (Shibboleth)
ASCE Members: Please log in to see member pricing

Purchase

Save for later Information on ASCE Library Cards
ASCE Library Cards let you download journal articles, proceedings papers, and available book chapters across the entire ASCE Library platform. ASCE Library Cards remain active for 24 months or until all downloads are used. Note: This content will be debited as one download at time of checkout.

Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.
ASCE Library Card (5 downloads)
$105.00
Add to cart
ASCE Library Card (20 downloads)
$280.00
Add to cart
Buy Single Chapter
$35.00
Add to cart
Buy E-book
$140.00
Add to cart

Media

Figures

Other

Tables

Share

Share

Copy the content Link

Share with email

Email a colleague

Share