Original Paper
Landslides (2009) 6:299–308 Y. D. Zhou . C. Y. Cheuk . L. G. Tham
DOI 10.1007/s10346-009-0162-7
Received: 18 December 2008
Accepted: 23 June 2009 Deformation and crack development of a nailed loose fill
Published online: 15 July 2009
© Springer-Verlag 2009 slope subjected to water infiltration
Abstract The paper presents the characteristics of progressive
movement and crack development observed in a loose fill slope
reinforced by soil nails subjected to water infiltration. The
purpose-built test slope was constructed by end-tipping comple-
tely decomposed granite on moderately gentle sloping ground with
minimal compaction, and two rows of soil nails were installed after
completion of the slope. Based on the field monitoring data
obtained from a comprehensive instrumentation system, this field
test has identified the initiation and development mechanism of
deformation, including crack propagation in the test slope. The test
results on the temporal and spatial variation of wetting-induced
movement, water content distribution, and suction change as well
as the formation and propagation of surficial cracks are presented.
The causative mechanisms of wetting-induced deformations and
their implications on the stability of nailed fill slopes are also
presented and discussed.
Keywords Full-scale test . Loose fill slope . Movement .
Crack . Water infiltration . Soil nail . China . Hong Kong
Introduction
Rainfall infiltration has been the major cause of many slope
failures and landslides in many countries and regions experiencing
intense precipitation. In Hong Kong, many existing old fill slopes
were formed prior to the 1970s by end-tipping residual soils on
natural ground with hardly any compaction. Failures of these loose
fill slopes due to heavy rainfall have caused severe damages and
losses over the past decades (e.g., Lumb 1975; Brand 1984; Wong et
al. 1998). Most of these soil deposits are often partially saturated.
Loss of pore-water suction, erosion, and building up of positive
excess pore-water pressure at shallow depths are considered as the
most common ways through which rainwater adversely affects the
slope stability (Au 1998).
Many studies have been undertaken by other researchers to
investigate the effect of water infiltration on slope stability (e.g., Ng
and Shi 1998; Rahardjo et al. 2001; Tsaparas et al. 2002; Collins and
Znidarcic 2004; Rahardjo et al. 2007). These results showed that the
performance of an unsaturated soil slope during the transient
infiltration process depends on many factors, either external (such
as environmental conditions, rainfall intensity and pattern) or
intrinsic (such as soil strength, coefficient of permeability, water
retention characteristics). However, the main focus of previous
studies was placed on the pore-water pressure response and its
effect on stress equilibrium. Very limited work can be found on the
effect of rainfall infiltration on the progressive development of
slope movement as well as the mobilization of local discontinuities,
such as cracks and local sliding plane. The presence of these
features significantly affects the stability of the slope and its
performance when further loading is applied. An investigation into
rainfall-induced slope movement will provide very useful informa-
tion for slope engineers.
A full-scale field test on a purpose-built nailed loose fill slope
has been carried out at the University of Hong Kong (Li et al. 2008).
Through a comprehensive instrumentation system, the perfor-
mance of the nailed slope in terms of deformation and
hydrological response under controlled surcharge and wetting
loads had been well examined. Full details of the design and main
stages of the field test are presented by Li et al. (2008). They also
discussed some representative monitoring results which demon-
strated that soil nailing with a surface grillage (Cheuk et al. 2005)
could be a potentially effective way to enhance the stability of old
fill slopes.
The focus of this paper is placed on the detailed deformation
pattern and mechanism of the slope movement caused by the
artificial rainfall events. Based on the field monitoring data, the
relationship between the slope movement caused by water
infiltration and the suction change as well as the initiation of
tension cracks on the slope surface and upper platform are
discussed, aiming at an investigation into the effect of infiltration
intensity, including the spatial and temporal pattern, on the
moisture content redistributions, and in turn the influence on
the progressive development of slope movement and failure
mechanism.
Brief description of the field test
Construction of the test slope
For completeness, a brief description of the field test is given
herein. Details can be found in Li (2003) and Li et al. (2008). The fill
material (around 200 m3) was excavated from a construction site in
Hong Kong. In accordance with BS1337: 1990, the soil contains 4%
clay, 11% silt, 48% sand, and 37% gravel; hence, it can be described as a
well-graded silty, very gravelly sand. According to the standard
proctor test, the maximum dry density and the optimum moisture
content were 1,890 kg/m3 and 13%, respectively. The liquid limit and
plastic limit of the soil were determined as 45% and 30%, respectively.
In addition, the permeability coefficients determined using permea-
meter for specimens prepared at 70%, 75%, and 80% initial relative
compactions were 8.8×10−5, 2.9×10−5, and 5.5×10−6 m/s, respectively.
Undrained triaxial test results on specimens prepared at 75% and
85% relative compactions show that the soil behaves in a strain-
softening manner for the consolidation pressures ranging from 25 to
150 kPa. The test data were examined within the steady state
framework, and the parameters of the soil were determined as
M=1.52, l=0.09, Γ=1.99, where M is the slope of steady state line, λ is
the logarithm hardening constant, and Γ denotes the intercept with
the void ratio axis (1+e) in the plot of void ratio versus the logarithm
of effective pressure stress.
Landslides 6 • (2009) 299
 Original Paper
The test slope was constructed by end-tipping completely
decomposed granite (CDG) on moderately gentle sloping ground
with an average angle of 20° to the horizontal. The final slope angle
was designed at an inclination angle of 33°, which is the same
average slope angle of most fill slopes in Hong Kong, with
dimensions of 4.75×9 m (height×width) and a berm of 4 m. The
slope was constructed by dumping the fill onto the received base
with a final maximum thickness of 3 m. Minimal compaction was
applied to the fill. The compaction degree, defined as the ratio
between the in situ dry density and the maximum dry density of
the soil obtained from a standard Proctor test, was about 75%. This
is similar to many existing loose fill slopes in Hong Kong (Sun
1998). As shown in Fig. 1, two gravity retaining walls were
constructed on both sides of the slope to confine the loose fill, and
a toe apron 0.8 m high was constructed at the slope toe, which
served as a water barrier such that the water table could be built up
to a certain level during artificial wetting.
A 75-mm blinding layer, made up of ordinary concrete material
reinforced by A252 steel mesh, was laid at the base of the test slope
to isolate the dumped loose fill from the in situ ground. Asphalt
waterproofing was applied on the inner side of the retaining walls
and above the surface of the blinding layer as watertight measures.
Therefore, the slope was constructed with impermeable boundaries
on both sides and along the base to retain the water infiltrated into
the loose fill. A layer of 150 mm no-fines concrete, a hard, durable
coarse free-draining material, was placed above the blinding layer
to form a drainage layer in compliance with GEO (1993). Such an
arrangement could provide a chance to build up the ground water
table by infiltrating water from the bottom surface.
As shown in Fig. 1, a total of ten grouted nails in two rows were
installed at vertical and horizontal spacings of 1.5 m at an
inclination of 20° to the horizontal. The installation procedures
and the type of nails were similar to those commonly used in Hong
Kong (GEO 2004). Moreover, two types of nail heads were adopted,
namely independent heads and grillage beams. Basically, an
independent head contained a steel plate and nut assembly with
Fig. 1 Set-up of the field test (the
inset figure shows the cross-section
along the centerline of the slope)
300 Landslides 6 • (2009)
a concrete pad, while the embedded grillage beams were reinforced
concrete beams and were considered to have sufficient structural
stiffness such that the grillage would behave in a monolithic
manner. The suitability of soil nailing in loose fill slopes has been a
controversial question and has generated many technical debates
concerning the failure mechanism of nailed slopes. No rational
conclusion can be reached due to a lack of understanding of the
interaction between the strain-softening material and the soil nails
(Cheuk et al. 2005). The field test was designed also to provide
more references for the assessment of the effectiveness of nailing in
loose fill slopes.
Field test program
The field test was divided into three stages spanning from
November 2002 to January 2003, which fell on a dry season in
Hong Kong. The three stages included (1) the surcharge, (2) wetting
with surcharge, and (3) wetting without surcharge. The nailed fill
slope was loaded by surcharging on the crest and subsequently
feeding water through the recharge system until the surcharge
blocks collapsed. The objective of surcharging at the crest of slope
was two-fold: to trigger the strengthening effect by nails and to
lower the slope stability such that greater deformation would be
mobilized by the subsequent wetting loads. Most instruments were
destroyed by the impact of collapsed blocks at the end of the
second stage, and very limited monitoring data were obtained
during the third stage. Hence, the focus of this study is restricted to
the performance of the test slope up to the end of the second stage.
During the surcharge stage, five layers of concrete blocks of 1×
1×0.6 m were stacked stage by stage on the central area of the berm
(Fig. 1), representing a final surcharge of 72 kPa after a nearly
2-week-long loading process. Subsequently, the second stage of test
program, wetting with surcharge, began on 20 November and
lasted for nearly 4 days. Both the surface sprinkler system and the
buried pipe system (Fig. 1) were adopted to simulate artificial
infiltration events. Figure 2 shows the wetting sequence. Only the
sprinklers were applied during the first 2 days, and in the last
2 days, both the sprinklers and the two rows of buried pipes were
opened to mimic the effect of intense rainfall infiltration. It can be
seen that the applied wetting scheme includes variations of
watering intensity as well as the spatial pattern of water ingress.
The influences of these factors are to be discussed in the following
sections. The wetting program was terminated when the surcharge
blocks eventually collapsed at 19:29 on 23 November (day 4) due to
excess slope deformation.
Instruments used to monitor the slope performance during the
field test consisted of two in-place inclinometers (Little Dipper
Model 906 with a precision of 0.5–1.0 mm in 3 m in a range of
±12.5°), seven vibrating wire piezometers (Encardio-Rite EPP-
30/36V with an accuracy of ±1% full-scale deflection in a range of
50 kg/cm2), 24 moisture probes (ThetaProbe ML2x with an
accuracy of ±1%), six tensiometers (Model 2725 Jet fill and current
transducer with an accuracy of ±1 kPa in a range of 0–100 kPa), six
vibrating wire earth pressure cells (EPS-30/36V-J with a precision of
±1% full-scale deflection in a range of 0–200 kPa), 12 flow meters,
and two automatic data loggers. A portable laser scanner (Cyrax
2500 with 6 mm accuracy in 50 m target range) was also used to
capture the surface movement.

Observed slope movement during wetting

Field measurements illustrated that the artificial rainfall events
mobilized progressive movement and cracks within the slope,
despite that the overall stability could be maintained by the
presence of the soil nails. The development of the wetting-induced
slope movement and the initiation and propagation of surface
cracks are described in this section.

Different stages of movement

Subsurface horizontal movement was measured by two in-place
inclinometers (Fig. 1) installed at 300 mm from the slope crest (I1)
and in the middle (I2), respectively. Figure 3 presents the variation
of horizontal downslope displacements with time during the entire
field test. The measurements recorded immediately before the start
of watering were taken as zero. It can be observed that progressive
downslope deformation was mobilized by the wetting loads. The
measurements at the two inclinometers give a very similar pattern
with larger deformation mobilized at shallow depths. Nonetheless,
the measurements at I1 were always larger than those at I2, even
though in the first 2 days, I1 was located outside the area covered by
the sprinklers.
Fig. 2 Infiltration rate versus time during the field test
Fig. 3 Development of wetting-induced horizontal downslope displacement
measured by inclinometers a at inclinometer I1; b at inclinometer I2
The movement of the slope can be divided into three phases
according to the rate of movement. In phase 1 (from 11:00 day 1 to
11:00 day 3), the wetting loads were relatively small due to a small
infiltration area covered by the surface sprinklers. The slope
movements were not significant with a maximum value of only
6 mm at I1 and 3 mm at I2, respectively. It should be noted that the
slope continued to deform during the suspension periods (e.g.,
between days 2 and 3). This can be attributed to the internal
redistribution of infiltrated water in the slope.
The increased wetting loads in phase 2 (from 11:00 day 3 to
13:30 day 4) led to a more rapid increase in movement, despite
that the displacement rate reduced slightly after the suspension
of surface sprinklers at 17:50 on day 3. The maximum horizontal
displacements were 0.05 m at I1 and 0.01 m at I2, respectively, at
the end of this phase. During phase 3 (after 13:30 day 4), an
abrupt increase of horizontal movement was triggered by the
more intense wetting loads, with a maximum displacement rate
of 17 mm/h at I1 and 4 mm/h at I2 under an equivalent rainfall
intensity of 16.8 mm/h.
The horizontal displacement at the top of I1 amounted to 0.13 m
at the end of the wetting program, whilst that at the top of I2 was
0.03 m. In summary, progressive horizontal movements were
mobilized in the fill slope by the wetting loads, and relatively large
deformations were induced by the intense rainfall during the last

Landslides 6 • (2009) 301

 Original Paper
Fig. 4 Time variations of a VMC, b suction, and c horizontal downslope displacement with depth for the soil surrounding I1 during the field test
2 days, particularly for the soil surrounding I1 which is in the
immediate vicinity of the slope crest.
Subsurface movement and moisture response
Five moisture probes (M9–M13) and five tensiometers (T1–T5)
were installed near the two inclinometers (Fig. 1), hence providing
an opportunity to study the relationship between the slope
movement and the moisture response. Figures 4 and 5 present
the change of volumetric moisture content (VMC), suction, and
horizontal displacements along the two inclinometers. It should be
noted that the monitored slope movement at I1 and I2 would be
influenced by the wetting-induced suction changes in the whole
soil mass. The following discussions are given on a basis that I1 and
I2 were located in the central part of slope, and the suction and
moisture content distribution at the two inclinometers are
representative of the downstream soil mass.
During the first 2 days of wetting, only negligible (<1 kPa)
suction change was induced at the inclinometer I1 due to the slight
Fig. 5 Time variations of a VMC, b suction, and c horizontal downslope displacement with depth for the soil surrounding I2 during the field test
302 Landslides 6 • (2009)
increase in moisture content (Fig. 4). For the part of soil
surrounding I2, remarkable decrease of soil suction was mobilized
by the infiltration water from sprinklers during day 1 wetting. As
shown in Fig. 5a–b, an increase of VMC of 4.5% and a suction
change of 4 kPa were induced at the top of I2 location at 10:00 in
day 2. The corresponding horizontal displacements at these two
inclinometers were insignificant due to the mild water infiltration
(Figs. 4c and 5c). Using the final horizontal displacements
measured at the end of the field test as a reference, the
deformations at this stage were ∼5% and ∼10% for I1 and I2,
respectively. The difference between the two locations is pre-
sumably caused by the fact that I2 is within the effective area
covered by surface sprinklers.
On day 3, both the surface sprinklers and buried pipes were
turned on. Figures 4 and 5 show that the increased wetting loads
caused significant changes in VMC and suction at the upper part of
I1, with a suction reduction of ∼6 kPa at 1.1 m below the slope crest,
whilst a relatively smaller change in suction was triggered at I2. The
water content and suction remained unchanged at deeper depths
(>2 m at I1 and >1.5 m at I2), indicating the development of a
shallow wetting zone in day 3. The corresponding wetting-induced
displacements shown in Figs. 4c and 5c were consistent with the
pattern of suction change. Only in the soil surrounding the upper
part of I1 did the wetting loads trigger noticeable horizontal
movements, showing a direct relationship between the slope
movement and the suction presence in the slope.
On the last day of wetting, the infiltration intensity was
significantly increased. The change in moisture content of the soil
suggested that the influence zone covered almost the entire fill.
This resulted in more significant reduction of matric suction,
particularly for the soil surrounding I1. It can be observed from
Figs. 4 and 5 that the change in VMC and suction has a direct
influence on the horizontal movement of the slope. After nearly 1-
day-long continuous inflow of water from the piping system
(Fig. 2), a gradual reduction of suction also occurred in the middle
and lower portions of the fill adjacent to I1. Using the reading at
18:00 on day 3 as a reference, a change in suction in the order of
1 kPa occurred along the whole depth of the soil surrounding I1 at
10:00 day 4. Correspondingly, the lower part of the slope began to
deform and a linear distribution of horizontal displacement with
depth was triggered (Fig. 4c). It should be noted that the soil
suction at the bottom of I1 approached zero at this moment
(Fig. 4b), indicating that the bottom soil beneath the piping system
was nearly fully saturated. On the other hand, as the surface
sprinklers were suspended during this period (17:50 day 3–11:00
day 4), the suction at the soil surrounding the upper part of I2
(Fig. 5b) exhibited a small rebound. Nonetheless, the whole depth
of I2 continuously deformed, which can be attributed to the driving
effect brought by the movement of the upper part of slope.
The hydraulic conductivity of soil would increase substantially
as it becomes more saturated. The peak total infiltration flux
during day 4 wetting was 16.8 mm per hour (Fig. 2), which
corresponds to an inflow intensity of 4.7×10−6 m/s, which is
basically in the same order of the saturated permeability coefficient
for the loose fill (5.5×10−6 m/s at a compaction degree of 80%). The
monitoring data demonstrated that, for the soil surrounding the
two inclinometers, the rate of pore-water inflow was approximately
equal to the speed of pore-water outflow, resulting in insignificant
change in VMC of the soil at the final stage of the field test.
Correspondingly, the suction in the soil surrounding the two
inclinometers remained unchanged.
Surface settlement and berm movement
In situ observations and measurements from the laser scanner
suggested that the wetting also mobilized significant surface
settlement on the slope. In addition, more evidence of wetting-
induced slope movement was shown by the movement of the
surcharge blocks at the crest. The change of outer slope geometry
can help identify the overall deformation pattern of the nailed
slope.
Using the three-dimensional laser scanner technique (Kwong
2003), the change in the topography of the slope was captured. The
laser scanner was fixed in order to maintain the reference frame
during the field test. Representative results at some typical
transverse sections are shown in Fig. 6. It can be seen that,
although limited water (about 3.1 m3 in total) were sprinkled on the
slope surface from 10:00 day 1 to 12:10 day 2, quite prominent
settlements in the order of 100 mm were triggered on the entire
slope surface (Fig. 6a). Subsequent wetting process led to larger
settlements as well as greater horizontal deformation. Figure 6b
presents the relative deformation measured between the start and
the end of the wetting program. It can be observed that the
maximum settlement on the slope surface increased up to
∼200 mm, which was mobilized near the central part. Field
measurements by the moisture probes illustrated that relatively
less water infiltrated into the part of soil near the walls as
compared to the central potion of soil. Moreover, as asphalt
waterproofing was applied on the inner side of the walls, lower
friction effect could be mobilized along the soil–wall interface as
compared than within the soil itself. Hence, the smaller settlements
induced in the part of soil close to the lateral boundaries should be
due to limited coverage of the surface sprinklers.
The slope crest was covered by the surcharge blocks during the
controlled wetting process. The movement of the crest can be
visualized indirectly from the motion of the blocks. The relative
deformation (opening and tilting angle) of blocks was quantified
based on digital images taken during the wetting test. At the end of
day 3, quite noticeable settlements were mobilized by the wetting
loads as indicated by the significant subsidence of the blocks. The
tilting of the front row of blocks, approximately at an angle of 2° to
the vertical, suggested that larger subsidence was caused by the
wetting loads in the upper-front portion of the slope. During the
last day of wetting, the slope movement increased further by
the artificial rainfall of greater intensity. The largest separation
between the first and second rows of blocks increased to
∼200 mm/h before the onset of collapse of blocks.
Figure 7 presents the outer shape of the slope crest after removal
of the collapsed blocks. It can be seen that prominent settlements,
implied from the grooves with a maximum depth of ∼200 mm,
were triggered at the crest by the wetting loads. The grooves were
formed by the tilting of the blocks on the crest area. The two insets
in Fig. 7 show the relative movements of the slope surface along the
middle section measured by laser scanner at 9:30 and at 19:10 on
the last day of wetting. It is evident that the shape of the slope
changed significantly due to the wetting loads. The top-right inset
illustrated that prominent horizontal displacements in the order of
80 mm were triggered near the crest corner. A close-up view above
soil nail SN23 (Fig. 1) as shown in the bottom-left inset diagram
illustrated that a vertical settlement of 40 mm was induced near the
soil surrounded by the grillage beams.
Main proportion of the vertical settlement mobilized on the
inclined surface (Fig. 6a) as well as on the berm (Fig. 7) is
presumably due to the contractive behavior of the soil during the
wetting. As shown above, the mild surface infiltration during day 1
wetting, which was of low intensity and influenced only a shallow
zone beneath the slope surface, was capable of triggering signif-
icant surface settlement, whilst the inclinometer readings (Fig. 3)
illustrated that negligibly small shear deformation was caused at
this stage. Similarly, large proportion of the settlement on the berm
was induced during day 3 wetting, and only limited shear
deformation, as indicated by the inclinometer readings (Fig. 3),
was mobilized until the end of day 3. Chen et al. (2004) investigated
the behavior of loose CDG under wetting using constant dead load
tests. Based on the test results obtained from anisotropically
consolidated unsaturated specimens, it was found that the soil
expanded in volume during wetting if the confining cell pressure is
below 20 kPa. For cell pressures above 20 kPa, the soil reduced in
volume in response to the reduction in suction. As described
Landslides 6 • (2009) 303
 Original Paper
Fig. 6 Surface settlement at different
transverse sections measured by laser
scanner a from 10:00 day 1 to 12:10
day 2; b from 10:00 day 1 to 19:10
day 4 (unit=m)

Fig. 7 Post-failure shape on the slope

berm after removal of surcharge blocks
(two insets=close-up views by laser
scanner between the start of intense
infiltration (9:30 day 4) and immedi-
ately before the collapse of the blocks
(19:10 day 4); top right=near the crest;
bottom left=above the soil nail SN23)

304 Landslides 6 • (2009)

above, a total of 72 kPa overburden pressure was finally applied
onto the slope by the concrete blocks. Therefore, the mean stress
level for a large portion of soil mass would be in general greater
than 20 kPa during the wetting process. The main part of the loose
fill would therefore exhibit a reduction in volume during water
infiltration.

Crack initiation and development

Apart from the soil movement measured by the inclinometers and
the laser scanner, cracks were also triggered in the slope by the
infiltration. During the first day of wetting (by sprinklers only), a
notable tension crack was formed on the inclined surface, which is
parallel and close to the crest edge (Fig. 8a). As most of the water
from the sprinklers fell on the left portion of the slope surface due
to the influence of wind, the tension crack was more prominent on
the left side, which was ∼200 mm in depth and ∼10 mm in width.
These measurements were made during the suspension of the
surface wetting at 15:30 on day 1.
During the second day, some of the surface sprinklers were
relocated to the right side of the slope surface such that more water
could infiltrate into this portion of the fill. As shown in Fig. 8b, a
major tension crack opened up horizontally near the right crest,
which is symmetrical to the crack that was formed earlier on the

Fig. 9 Wetting-induced cracks on the slope berm adjacent to surcharge blocks: a

prior to collapse of blocks, 13:40 day 4; b after failure of blocks, 20:20 day 4

left portion of the slope. The depth of this new crack was about
125 mm at 15:00 on day 2 when the artificial rainfall was suspended
again.
When larger wetting loads were applied on the third day, the
existing cracks were found to develop substantially and propagate
extensively in the vicinity of crest corner. On the final day, the
wetting loads were further increased and a total equivalent
intensity of 10.8 mm/h was applied from 11:05 to 13:20. This
triggered substantial tension cracks on both sides of the slope crest
adjacent to the blocks (Fig. 9) in the mid-day, inclined at an angle
of approximately 45° to the lateral side. The rainfall intensity was
raised further to 16.8 mm/h at 16:00, and the blocks eventually
collapsed at 19:29 due to excess slant deformation. As shown in
Fig. 9b, post-failure investigation found that the tension cracks on
the crest area further developed and propagated to the lateral sides,
with a maximum crack opening of ∼5 mm.

Overall deformation mechanism

The behavior of the slope during the field test can be explained by
Fig. 8 Wetting-induced cracks on the slope surface near the crest: a on the left the mechanical behavior, including volumetric change and shear
side of the slope on day 1; b on the right side of the slope on day 2 strength, of unsaturated soils subjected to wetting. Firstly, the

Landslides 6 • (2009) 305

 Original Paper
ingress of water would cause larger gravity loads on the soil.
Secondly, as the soil becomes saturated, the reduction in matric
suction decreases the effective normal stress, which in turn lowers
the shear resistance of soil. The overall mechanism of the
development of wetting-induced movement, particularly the
cracks, in response to water infiltration is described below.
Under mild surface infiltration
Field measurements of moisture content with respect to time can
help to identify the position and propagation characteristics of the
wetting zone within the fill slope. Based on the readings from 17
moisture probes located near the central section, Fig. 10a presents
the interpolated values of VMC increase along the middle section.
The incremental horizontal displacement at the two inclinometers
between 11:00 and 15:30 on day 1 is also given. A schematic
illustration of the mechanism of wetting-induced surface cracks is
shown in Fig. 10b. As shown in Fig. 10a, after sprinkling water for
4.5 h, only a small region of shallow fill exhibited a change in
moisture content. The front of the influence zone was approxi-
mately parallel to the slope surface, and the loose fill affected by the
infiltration remained partially saturated, corresponding to a
saturation degree of ∼50%. The increase in water content however
caused remarkable reduction of soil suction (Fig. 5c). Coupled
hydro-mechanical analysis results (Zhou et al. 2009a) illustrated
that the nail reinforcement can provide a significant safety margin
for the test slope against overall instability under the surcharge
loads as compared to the case with the nails uninstalled. However,
a potential slip plane could be mobilized locally at a shallow depth
Fig. 10 Change in moisture content
and soil movement due to mild surface
infiltration: a increase in VMC along the
middle section between 11:00 and
15:30 day 1; b incremental horizontal
displacement at two inclinometers
between 10:00 and 15:30 day 1
306 Landslides 6 • (2009)
as illustrated in Fig. 10b, which was consistent with the numerical
findings that a plastic zone could be initiated from the upper edge
of the wetting-influenced zone and extended downwards by the
surface watering (Zhou et al. 2009b). The development of this slip
surface is accompanied by the formation of tension cracks, which
led to downward movement of the fill. Due to the presence of the
cracks, the soils above the cracks displaced upward with a
magnitude of 0.8 mm (measured from inclinometer) due to stress
relief. It should be noted that larger gravity loads and the
volumetric change of the soils presumably play a secondary role
during the initiation and propagation of the slip zone.
The change in VMC with time on day 2 suggested that the
mobilization of the tension crack on the right portion of the slope
surface (Fig. 8b) was of a similar mechanism as the triggering of the
first set of tension cracks on the left side on day 1. Site investigation
also revealed that the total length of the two major cracks on the
slope surface were nearly the same as that of the affected area by
the sprinklers.
Under intense infiltration
On day 4 of the wetting program, more intense wetting loads were
applied on the slope. As shown in Fig. 9, a set of tension cracks
were mobilized on the berm adjacent to the surcharge blocks. By
examining the pattern of cracks, it was identified that the slope
deformed downward in a fan shape extending to both sides of the
slope boundary. These cracks were triggered as a result of the
wetting-induced movement in the fill, and the causative mecha-
nism is illustrated in Fig. 11.
Fig. 11 Change in moisture content
and soil movement due to combined
surface and sub-surface water infiltra-
tion a increase in VMC along the
middle section from 10:00 day 1 to
19:29 day 4; b incremental surface
movement from 12:00 day 4 to 19:10
day 4 measured by laser scanner
The distribution of the change in moisture content along the
middle section from 10:00 in day 1 to 19:29 in day 4 is shown in
Fig. 11a. It can be seen that a larger portion of the fill became more
saturated by the wetting loads, particularly for the soil near the
buried pipes and the mid-lower part of soil which was directly
under the sprinklers. As shown in Fig. 11b, the tension cracks on the
upper platform were first mobilized near the rear side of crest.
These cracks are part of a potential deep-seated sliding mechanism
(denoted as I) as suggested by limit equilibrium analysis of the
slope when soil nails are excluded; also, the numerical results by a
coupled pore-water flow and slope deformation analysis illustrated
a similar global sliding mode under surcharge loads (Zhou et al.
2009a). However, in the field test, the strengthening effect by the
two rows of soil nails limited the propagation of the sliding zone I
and provided significant improvement of the global stability of the
slope against sliding failure. On the other hand, a local sliding zone
was also triggered within the upper portion of soil near the crest
corner, as denoted by the slip surface II in Fig. 11b, which also
shows the laser scanner readings between 12:00 and 19:10 on day 4.
There is an abrupt change of horizontal movement on the surface
at a position of about 0.9 m beneath the crest, in particular near the
central part of the slope surface. This provides additional evidence
to justify the triggering of the sliding zone II. Moreover, numerical
modeling of the field test approved that a similar failure pattern as
shown in Fig. 11b would be mobilized by extreme surcharge loads
(Zhou et al. 2009a).
Compared with the central portion of slope, the soil adjacent to
the lateral sides was less affected by the wetting, and smaller
movements were mobilized. It can therefore be concluded that the
wetting-induced movements during the final watering period
caused the development of a local sliding zone (II), which in turn
gave rise to the initiation and propagation of tension cracks on the
slope crest adjacent to the front edge. The particular pattern of
these cracks, inclined at an angle of approximately 45° to the lateral
side, was caused by the differential downslope movements between
the central and lateral parts of soils.
The above explanations of the tension cracks mobilized on the
inclined surface and on the berm also illustrated that the soil
nailing was capable of providing significant reinforcing effect for
the stability of the fill slope under rainfall events. The contribution
of the nail forces appears to have limited influence on the initial
deformation pattern of the slope, but is likely to be able to arrest
further slope movement. The presence of the soil nails would also
affect the formation and propagation pattern of the sliding zones
under extreme loadings.
Summary and conclusions
Based on a field test conducted on a purpose-built loose fill slope
reinforced by soil nails, slope movement and cracks caused by the
artificial water infiltration were examined. Although no evident
sliding failure was mobilized, remarkable slope movements were
triggered by the water infiltration in a progressive manner in
various forms, including the change in the surface profile and the
development of surface cracks. It was observed that there is direct
relationship between the change in soil moisture content, the
change in soil suction, and the horizontal displacement mobilized
in the soil. The change in the slope surface profile, characterized by
prominent subsidence on a large portion of the soil, can be
attributed to the contractive behavior of the initially unsaturated
soil when subjected to water infiltration. Based on the field
Landslides 6 • (2009) 307
 Original Paper
measurements, the causative mechanism of the nailed slope under
water infiltration was examined. It was concluded that tension
cracks on the slope surface were predominantly induced by the
mobilization of a shallow slip surface, and the cracks on the berm
were caused by the wetting-induced initiation of a global sliding
zone. Further development of this global failure mechanism was
prevented by the soil nails.
The observations made in the field test provide solid evidence
that variations of rainfall intensity (or equivalent form of
infiltration), including the spatial and temporal pattern, would
strongly affect the distribution of pore water in the soil and
influence the pattern of deformation as well as cracks. This could
initiate excessive slope movements even if soil nails are used to
increase the global stability. The open cracks may accelerate the
infiltration of water and cause a weakening effect on the shear
resistance of nail–soil interface. This can in turn lead to a more
rapid growth of permanent movement of the slope, or even a global
failure. More experimental and numerical researches are recom-
mended for investigation into the influence of precedent rainfall,
as well as the cyclic effect of drying and wetting phases, on the
behavior of nailed fill slopes.
Acknowledgement
The authors acknowledge the support by Grant no. 7171/06E of the
University of Hong Kong.
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Y. D. Zhou . C. Y. Cheuk ()) . L. G. Tham
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong,
Hong Kong, China
e-mail: cycheuk@hku.hk
D. Zhou
Y. Zhou
e-mail: yuande@hku.hk
L. G. Tham
e-mail: hrectlg@hkucc.hku.hk