Fully Softened Shear Strength at Low Stresses for Levee and Embankment Design
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 140, Issue 9
Abstract
Shallow slides in levee and other embankment slopes are usually controlled by effective normal stresses less than 12 kPa (250 psf). For first-time slides in fine-grained soils, the fully softened shear strength is frequently used to model the strength of embankment soils because it represents the shear strength remaining after the effects of overconsolidation, compaction, desiccation, or other strengthening processes have been removed because of wetting, infiltration, stress relief, swelling, and weathering. However, there is limited fully softened strength data at effective normal stresses less than 50 kPa (1,000 psf), so existing correlations in this stress range must be extrapolated. This paper presents new fully softened shear strength data at an effective normal stress of 12 kPa (250 psf) and recommendations for estimating and modeling the stress-dependent fully softened shear strength envelope directly or as a power function in stability analyses.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
ASTM. (2008a). “Standard test method for liquid limit, plastic limit, and plasticity index of soils.” D4318, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2008b). “Standard test method for particle-size analysis of soils.” D422, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2008c). “Standard test method for torsional ring shear test to determine drained fully softened shear strength and nonlinear strength envelope of cohesive soils (using normally consolidated specimen) for slopes with no preexisting shear surfaces.” D7608, West Conshohocken, PA.
Bhattarai, P., Marui, H., Tiwari, B., Watanabe, N., and Tuladhar, G. R. (2006). “Influence of weathering on physical and mechanical properties of mudstone.” Proc., Int. Symp. on Disaster Mitigation of Debris Flows, Slope Failures and Landslides, Universal Academy Press, Tokyo, 467–479.
Bjerrum, L., and Simons, N. (1960). “Comparison of shear strength characteristics of normally consolidated clays.” Proc., 1st Specialty Conf. on Shear Strength of Cohesive Soils, ASCE, New York, 711–726.
Duncan, J. M. (2000). “Factors of safety and reliability in geotechnical engineering.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 307–316.
Duncan, J. M., Brandon, T. L., and VandenBerge, D. R. (2011). “Report of the workshop on shear strength for stability of slopes in highly plastic clays.” Center for Geotechnical Practice and Research Rep. No. 67, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA.
Fleming, R., Sills, G., and Stewart, E. (1992). “Lime stabilization of levee slopes.” Proc., 2nd Interagency Symp. on Stabilization of Soils and Other Materials, U.S. Army COE (USACE), Washington, DC, 5.15–5.22.
Ladd, C. C., Foott, K., Ishikara, K., Poulos, H. G., and Schlosser, F. (1977). “Stress-deformation and strength characteristics.” Proc., 9th Int. Conf. on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Japanese Society of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Tokyo, 2, 421–476.
Lade, P. (2010). “The mechanics of surficial failure in soils slopes.” Eng. Geol., 114(1–2), 57–64.
Mesri, G., and Abdel-Ghaffar, M. E. M. (1993). “Cohesion intercept in effective stress-stability analysis.” J. Geotech. Engrg., 1229–1249.
Mesri, G., and Cepeda-Diaz, A. F. (1986). “Residual shear strength of clays and shales” Géotechnique, 36(2), 269–274.
Mesri, G., and Shahien, M. (2003). “Residual shear strength mobilized in first-time slope failures.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 12–31.
Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC). (1971). Design manual 7.01: Soil mechanics, Alexandria, VA.
Skempton, A. (1970). “First-time slides in over-consolidated clays.” Géotechnique, 20(3), 320–324.
Skempton, A. (1977). “Slope stability of cuttings in brown London clay.” Proc., 9th Int. Conf. on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Japanese Society of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Tokyo, 3, 261–270.
Stark, T. D., Choi, H., and McCone, S. (2005). “Drained shear strength parameters for analysis of landslides.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 575–588.
Stark, T. D., and Eid, H. T. (1993). “Modified Bromhead ring shear apparatus.” Geotech. Test. J., 16(1), 100–107.
Stark, T. D., and Eid, H. T. (1994). “Drained residual strength of cohesive soils.” J. Geotech. Engrg., 856–871.
Stark, T. D., and Eid, H. T. (1997). “Slope stability analyses in stiff fissured clays.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 335–343.
Stark, T. D., and Hussain, M. (2013). “Empirical correlations: Drained shear strength for slope stability analyses.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 853–862.
Terzaghi, K., Peck, R., and Mesri, G. (1996). Soil mechanics in engineering practice, Wiley, New York.
Trinity River Corridor Protection Committee. (2010). 100-year levee remediation plan, Dallas.
U.S. Army COE (USACE). (2007). Periodic inspection report: Dallas floodway project, Dallas.
Wright, S. G., Zornberg, J. G., and Aguettant, J. E. (2007). “The fully softened shear strength of high plasticity clays.” Center for Transportation Research Rep., Univ. of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 20, 2013
Accepted: May 12, 2014
Published online: Jun 12, 2014
Published in print: Sep 1, 2014
Discussion open until: Nov 12, 2014
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.