A case study of slope failure in central Trinidad

due to water pipe leakage

Neil Beeraspat
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of the West Indies, Trinidad &
Tobago, neil.beeraspat@my.uwi.edu
&

Kyung Ho Park*

Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of the West Indies, Trinidad &
Tobago, KyungHo.Park@sta.uwi.edu

Abstract. This study deals with unsaturated stability analysis of a clayey slope
subjected to water pipe leakage. A case study of slope failure is considered for a
clayey slope in Todd’s Station Road, Trinidad. Residents have been
complaining about water pipe leaks in areas where there was no corrective
action to fix the problem. In order to investigate the effect of water pipe leakage
on slope stability, numerical analyses were conducted in two ways: (1)
unsaturated water flow analysis using SEEP/W software and (2) stability
analysis during water leakage using SLOPE/W software. Results demonstrate
that most important observations in water flow and stability responses of
unsaturated clayey soil slope under water pipe leaking condition can be
reasonably well simulated using the proposed numerical procedure.

Keywords: Slope failure, clayey slope, water pipe leakage, unsaturated flow,
stability analysis

1 Introduction

Landslides have become a frequent natural hazard in Trinidad and Tobago with major
damage to public and private infrastructure. During the period 2006~2019, 367
landslides were recorded by the Ministry of Works and Transport. This prompted the
government of Trinidad and Tobago to spend millions of dollars in remediation works
in those affected areas. Underground water pipe leakage is suspected of being the
main cause of these landslides. Residents have been complaining about water pipe
leaks in areas where there was no corrective action to fix the problem.
This paper seeks to investigate the effects of a water pipe leakage on slope
stability. Numerical analyses were conducted in two ways: (1) unsaturated water flow
analysis using SEEP/W software [1] and (2) stability analysis during water leakage
using SLOPE/W software [2].
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2 Study Site

The case study for the slope failure is considered for a road slope located Todd’s
Station Road. Todd’s Station Road is built on highly plastic clayey soils, which is the
case throughout most of Central and South Trinidad. The landslide occurred along
Todd’s Station Road which is located approximately 2.4km off the Caparo Valley
Brasso Road as presented in Figure 1. The affected area of soil movement spans an
approximate 220m in length along the Todd’s Station Road which resulted in
damages to 12 private homes of which two were abandoned and demolished due to
the landslide. [3].

Fig. 1. Location of landslide site.

3 Methodology

3.1 Slope Model and Material Properties

To investigate the effects of the water pipe leakage on the stability of the slope, a
typical slope was selected for this research. A two dimensional (2D) embankment
slope in clayey soils with a buried water pipe has a breakage along its longitudinal
direction. The slope has an inclination of 33° and a height of 7.6m. The water pipe has
a diameter of 150mm and is located 2m below the road surface, in accordance with
WASA guidelines [4] as shown in Figure 2.
The soil layers were clayey soils represented by their strength and SWCC (Soil
Water Characteristic Curve). Soil suction for the expansive clay was measured using
the WP4-T (Water Potential Measurement). Initially, soil samples were dried,
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compressed and sieved using the No. 40 sieve, and then combined with water close to
the liquid limit. Mixed samples were fixed into measuring sample cups onto the WP4-
T and readings were recorded as the sample lost moisture. The resulting gravimetric
water content was measured [5]. The Fredlund and Xing [6] equation was used to fit
best the data points obtained from test results,
ψ

[ ( )] { [( )
ℓn 1+
Cr ws
w ( ψ )= 1− m
6
10 n
ℓn 1+
Cr ℓn exp (1 )+ ( ψa ) ]}
(1)
where w(ψ) = gravimetric water content at any specified suction, ψ; ws = saturated
gravimetric water content; Cr = residual soil suction; and a, n, and m = curve-fitting
parameters.
The θ-SWCC (volumetric water content SWCC) is obtained using the following
equation [7],
w (ψ )Gs
θ (w)=
1+ eo
(2)
where θ(w) = volumetric water content at a function of gravimetric water content,
w(ψ); eo = initial void ratio; and Gs = specific gravity.
The fitting parameters (a, n, m) were obtained using the parameter regression model
[8]. The SWCC parameters and shear strength properties for each soil layer adopted
in this study are given in Table 1 and 2 respectively.
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Fig. 2. Geometry of the slope and the water pipe.

Fig. 3. SWCCs used in this study.

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Table 1. SWCC parameters and permeability.

Parameter Layer 1 Layer 2 Layer 3

Saturated gravimetric water content (%) 34 31 26
a 162 164 149
n 0.404 0.396 0.459
m 1.17 1.09 1.51
-8 -8
Saturated permeability (m/s) 1.0×10 1.0×10 1.0×10-8

Table 2. Soil properties used in this study.

Parameter Layer 1 Layer 2 Layer 3

Unit weight (kN/m3) 16 18 18.5
Effective cohesion 5 5 5
Angle of internal friction (o) 25 25 25
Angle defining the increase in strength due to
13 13 13
the negative pore water pressure

3.2 Seepage and Stability Analyses

To obtain the pore-water pressure distributions, a transient seepage analysis is

conducted using SEEP/W. Pipe leakage was modelled using a flow rate boundary
condition around the water pipe. The range of 1×10 -10 ~ 1×10-6 m3/s was chosen to
consider average single undetected leak to a very large leak [9]. A flow rate of 1×10 -6
m3/s is used to simulate the water pipe leakage. A global element size of 0.3m was
selected for the analysis after a convergence analysis was conducted to ensure a more
accurate estimation of the pore-water pressure changes for each element. A
parametric study was done using different flow rates within the range chosen to
determine the effects of leak rates on the PWP distributions. The selected flow rates
are 1×10-6 m3/s, 5×10-7 m3/s, 2×10-7 m3/s, and 1×10-7 m3/s.
SLOPE/W is used to conduct the limit equilibrium stability analysis using the
Morgenstern-Price method. The analyses conducted were done for a period of 180
days.

4 Results and Discussion

It is important at the start of the transient seepage analysis to determine the

appropriate time step to be used to avoid convergence problems. As such, four time
steps were chosen and the convergence was observed. The variation of the factor of
safety for the different time steps selected are shown in Figure 4. It should be noted
that the use of a time step of 0.1d coupled with the element mesh 0.3m allows for
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greater accuracy in the porewater pressure distributions that were used to calculate the
factor of safety for this study. Hence, a time step of 0.1d was used throughout the
remainder of the analysis.
Fig. 5 shows the porewater pressure distributions due to the water pipe leakage
obtained for the four flow rates used in the analysis. It is important to analyse the
pore-water pressure distributions produced for each flow rates. The increase in pore
pressures was noticeably lower for the smaller leak rates (1×10 -7 and 2×10-7 m3/s) as
Fig 5 (c) and (d) represent the values at the end of the analysis. In contrast to the
larger leaks (1×10-6 and 5×10-7 m3/s) which represent the distributions at failure. In
Fig 5 (a) and (b), the PWP quickly increases to zero. This behaviour was caused by
the pipe leakage which resulted in an increase in saturated hydraulic conductivity of
the soil during the analysis period.
Fig. 6 shows the variation of factor of safety with respect to time for the different
flow rates. The factor of safety for each flow rate at the start of the analysis is
relatively high. This was due to the shear strength of the soil being greater than the
active overburden stress. However, once the water leakage commenced, the factor of
safety decreased steadily as the shear strength decreased with increased porewater
pressure. The factor of safety fell below 1.0 for the larger leak rates (1×10 -6 and 5×10-
7
m3/s) at 9 days and 25 days respectively since the negative porewater pressure to
decrease steadily in the surficial layer causing a faster advancement of the wetting
front in the surficial layer. However, the factor of safety was greater than 1.0 for the
smaller leaks (1×10-7 and 2×10-7 m3/s) since the negative porewater pressure obtained
were relatively constant throughout the six month period which resulted in the wetting
front not advancing to great depths.
Fig. 7 shows the advancement of wetting front over time. The red lines indicate the
wetting front of zero pore water pressure. As the water pipe leak continues, it can be
seen that the pore water pressure in the ground around the pipe is increasing to a
wider area. The use of the θ-SWCC allows for the consideration of volume change
with increased porewater pressure. This resulted in faster advancement of the wetting
front. The advancement of the wetted front was monitored at various points during the
analysis until failure was reached.

5 Conclusion

The effect of water pipe leakage on the slope stability was estimated for different flow
rates. For the study site, the factor of safety fell below 1.0 in about 9 and 25 days for
the flow rates of 1×10-6 m3/s and 5×10-7 m3/s (heavy damaged pipe) respectively. The
factor of safety was greater than 1.0 until 6 months for lower flow rates of 1×10 -7 m3/s
and 2×10-7 m3/s (minor damaged pipe). This shows that the expansive clayey slope
can fail from water erupting from a heavily damaged pipe. Also, the damaged pipe
must be repaired or replaced within a limited timeline.
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References
1. Geo-Slope International Ltd.: Seepage modeling with SEEP/W. Calgary (Alta), Canada
(2013).
2. Geo-Slope International Ltd.: Stability modeling with SLOPE/W. Calgary (Alta), Canada
(2012).
3. EISL Ltd.: Landslide investigative report on Todd’s station road landslide. Trinidad and
Tobago (2018).
4. WASA (Water and Sewage Authority): Water and wastewater design guideline manual.
(2008)
5. Alexander, D.V.A., Park, K.H., Gay, D.A.: An estimation of the soil water characteristic
curves of Trinidad’s expansive clays. 4th European Conference on Unsaturated Soils,
October 19–21, Lisbon, Portugal (2020).
6. Fredlund, D.G., Xing, A.: 1994. Equations for the soil-water characteristic curve. Canadian
Geotechnical Journal, 31, 521–532 (1994).
7. Fredlund, D.G.: State of practice for use of the soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC) in
geotechnical engineering. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 56, 1059–1069 (2019).
8. Chai, J., Khaimook, P.: Prediction of soil-water characteristic curves using basic soil
properties. Transportation Geotechnics, 22, 100295 (2020).
9. Schwaller, J., van Zyl, J. E.: Modeling the pressure-leakage response of water distribution
systems based on individual leak behavior. Journal of Hydraulic Engineering ASCE,
141(5) (2015).
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Fig. 4. Variation of factor of safety with different time steps (flow rate=1×10 -6 m3/s)

(a) Flow rate=1×10-6 m3/s, t=9 day (b) Flow rate=5×10-7 m3/s, t=25 day

(c) Flow rate=2×10-7 m3/s, t=180 day (d) Flow rate=1×10-7 m3/s, t=180 day

Fig. 5. Distribution of porewater pressure for different flow rates.

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Fig. 6. Variation of FoS for different flow rates (Δt=0.1d).

Fig. 7. Advancement of the wetting front.