Stability of Shale Embankments
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical Engineering
Volume 119, Issue 1
Abstract
The performance of embankment slopes along a section of I‐77 is summarized. Slope failures occurred mostly in embankments constructed of red shales of the Conemaugh, Monongahela, and Washington formations. Soil moisture, soil suction, pore pressure, and slope movements were measured in four embankments. The results of measurements indicated that saturation of the embankment slopes occurred near the surface by infiltration of rainfall. Laboratory shear tests were used to measure the shear strengths of the embankment materials and of the red shales in their intact state and after various manipulations that simulated compaction and weathering. With seepage parallel to the slope, failure could occur if the in‐situ shear strength was close to the lower limit of the peak shear strength measured in laboratory tests on samples of the embankment material. With vertical seepage, failure could occur if the in‐situ shear strength was slightly less than the softened shear strength of samples of intact shale. Since it was not possible to verify the actual seepage conditions, both scenarios are considered possible.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Abramento, M., and Carvalho, C. S. (1989). “Geotechnical parameters for the study of natural slopes instabilization.” 12th Int. Conf. on Soil Mech. and Found. Engrg., 3, 1599–1602.
2.
Atkinson, J. H., and Farrar, D. M. (1985). “Stress path tests to measure soil strength parameters for shallow slips.” Proc., 11th Int. Conf. on Soil Mech. and Found. Engrg., 2, 983–986.
3.
Bishop, A. W., and Henkel, D. J. (1962). The measurement of soil properties in the triaxial test. Edward Arnold, London, England.
4.
Bishop, A. W., Webb, D. L., and Lewin, P. I. (1965). “Undisturbed samples of London clay from the Ashford common shaft: Strength‐effective stress relationships.” Geotechnique, London, England, 15, 1–31.
5.
Condit, D. D. (1912). Conemaugh formation in Ohio. Bull. 17, 4th Series, Geological Survey of Ohio, Columbus, Ohio.
6.
Daniel, D. E. (1984). “Predicting hydraulic conductivity of clay liners.” J. Geotech. Engrg., ASCE, 110(2), 285–300.
7.
Day, R. W., and Axten, G. W. (1989). Surficial stability of compacted clay slopes. J. Geotech. Engrg., ASCE, 115(4), 577–580.
8.
Fisher, S. P., Fanaff, A. S., and Picking, A. W. (1968). “Landslides in southeastern Ohio.” Ohio J. of Sci., 68(2), 65–80.
9.
Fredlund, D. G. (1972). “Manual of volume change test procedure for unsaturated soils.” Internal Note SM12, Univ. of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
10.
Fredlund, D. G. (1975). “A diffused air volume indicator for unsaturated soils.” Can. Geotech. J., 12(4), 533–539.
11.
Fredlund, D. G., Morgenstern, N. R., and Widger, R. A. (1978). “The shear strength of unsaturated soils.” Can. Geotech. J., 15(1), 137–145.
12.
Fredlund, D. G., and Hasan, J. U. (1979). “One‐dimensional consolidation theory: Unsaturated soils.” Can. Geotech. J., 16, 521–531.
13.
Graham, J., and Au, V. C. S. (1985) “Effects of freeze‐thaw and softening on the natural clay at low stresses.” Can. Geotech. J., 22(1), 69–78.
14.
Hamel, J. V., and Flint, N. K. (1972). “Failure of colluvial slope.” J. Soil Mech. and Found. Div., ASCE, 98(2), 167–180.
15.
Huang, C.‐S. (1986). “The permeability and volume change behavior of an unsaturated clay‐shale,” MS thesis, Ohio State Univ., Columbus, Ohio.
16.
Johnson, G. O. (1981). “Stratigraphic column of the Pennsylvania system in Ohio.” Res. and Dev. Pub. No. 1, Ohio Dept. of Energy, Columbus, Ohio.
17.
Johnson, G. O. (1969). Construction and material specifications. Ohio Dept. of Highways, Columbus, Ohio.
18.
Krahn, J., Fredlund, D. G., and Klassen, M. J. (1989). “Effect of soil suction on slope stability at Notch Hill.” Can. Geotech. J., 26, 269–278.
19.
Lumb, P. (1975). “Slope failures in Hong Kong.” Q. J. Engrg. Geol., 8(1), 31–65.
20.
Morgenstern, N. R., and Matos, M. M. (1975). “Stability of slopes in residual soils.” Proc., 5th Pan Am. Conf. on Soil Mech. and Found. Engrg., 3, 3267–383.
21.
Mast, V. A. (1980). “Distribution and engineering properties of landslide susceptible soils in southeast Ohio,” PhD dissertation, Ohio State Univ., Columbus, Ohio.
22.
Moussalem, M. M. (1985). “Laboratory investigation of the shear strength of an embankment material,” MS thesis, Ohio State Univ., Columbus, Ohio.
23.
Philip, J. R. (1969). Theory of infiltration, in advances in hydrosciences, Vol. 5. Academic Press, New York, N.Y., 215–296.
24.
Richards, L. A. (1931). “Capillary conduction of liquids through porous mediums.” Physics, 1(11), 318–333.
25.
Skempton, A. W., (1970). “First‐time slides in over‐consolidated clays.” Geotechnique, London, England, 20, 320–324.
26.
Stark, T. D., and Duncan, J. M. (1991). “Mechanism of strength loss in clays.” J. Geotech. Engrg., ASCE, 117(1), 139–154.
27.
Taylor, D. W. (1948). Fundamentals of soil mechanics. John Wiley and Sons, New York, N.Y.
28.
Williams, D. R. (1980). “Effects of wetting and drying on shales,” MS Thesis, Ohio State Univ., Columbus, Ohio.
29.
Wolle, C. M., and Hachich, W. (1989). “Rain‐induced landslides in southeastern Brazil.” 12th Int. Conf. on Soil Mech. and Found. Engrg., 3, 1639–1642.
30.
Wroth, C. P., and Wood, D. M. (1978). “The correlation of index properties with some basic engineering properties of soils.” Can. Geotech. J., 15(2), 137–145.
31.
Wu, T. H., Williams, R. L., Lynch, J. E., and Kulatilake, P. H. S. W. (1987). “Stability of slopes in red Conemaugh shale of Ohio.” J. Geotech. Engrg., ASCE, 113(3), 248–267.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical Engineering
Volume 119 • Issue 1 • January 1993
Pages: 127 - 146
Copyright
Copyright © 1993 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 14, 1990
Published online: Jan 1, 1993
Published in print: Jan 1993
Authors
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.