Results in Engineering 10 (2021) 100227

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Results in Engineering
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Geotechnical and geological investigation of slope stability of a section of

road cut debris-slopes along NH-7, Uttarakhand, India
Gb
etoglo Charles Komadja a, b, *, Sarada Prasad Pradhan b, Afolayan David Oluwasegun a, c,
Amulya Ratna Roul b, Tido Tiwa Stanislas a, Raoul Ad
eniyi Laïbi e, Babatunde Adebayo d,
Azikiwe Peter Onwualu a
a
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, African University of Science and Technology, Abuja, Nigeria
b
Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, India
c
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, USA
d
Department of Mining Engineering, Federal University of Technology Akure, Akure, Nigeria
e
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Abomey-Calavi, Abomey-Calavi, Benin

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Slope stability is of significant importance for sustainable development in mining, civil-engineering, and urban
Geological investigation planning. This paper attempted to assess the stability conditions of road cut debris slopes along the National
Geotechnical characteristics Highway-7 (NH-7), Uttarakhand, India. The engineering parameters of the slope forming materials and other
Mineral composition
inputs used for slope stability analysis were evaluated based on different geotechnical tests such as direct shear
Slope stability
Numerical modelling
strength, density analysis test, rock hardness tests, particle size analysis, Atterberg limits, and XRD analysis for the
Slope stabilization finer fraction of the slope materials. The slope stability was evaluated based on the limit equilibrium method
(LEM) and finite-element methods based on strength reduction factor (FEM-SRF). The results showed that the
slope materials are mainly comprised of well-graded sands, gravelly sands, with little or no plasticity and display
no clay activity along with moderate cohesion (19.4–31.5 kPa) and internal friction angle (26.23
to 38.44
). The
slope stability conditions based on LEM were consistent with the SRF-FEM and revealed that the slopes with the
highest height and dip angle (L4 and L6) are critically stable with a strength reduction factor less than 1. Based on
the above results, it is inferred that the slope geometry (overall slope angle and height) has the greatest effect on
the stability conditions of the studied slopes rather than the activity of swelling clay minerals. Excavation at the
crown part of the slope, installation of retaining and gabion walls along the toe and grass planting on the slope
surface are possible stabilization measures to increase the stability of the slopes.

1. Introduction
Slope stability assessment is essential for the safety and sustainable
development of mining, civil, and environmental engineering projects
worldwide. In hilly and mountainous areas like Himalayan terrains,
natural slopes are subjected to excavation during road construction to
facilitate communication and transportation of people, goods, and ser-
vices. These engineered slopes undergo weathering, which alters the
geotechnical properties of slope materials over time and contributes to
the failure of many slopes that displayed better stability conditions after
many years of excavation [1,2]. Meta-sedimentary lithology and the
dynamic nature of the Lesser Himalayan terrains coupled with the rugged
topography, fault structure, along with heavy and long-lasting rainfall
during monsoon seasons, make the rock-cut slope vulnerable to weath-
ering and formation of thick deposit above the parent rock masses and
frequent debris landslide throughout the year [3,4]. Damage caused by
landslide includes but is not limited to the threat of surrounding struc-
ture, fatalities in the living community exposed along the slopes, road
blockage and communication loss for an extended period [5]. It is
essential to analyse the parameters responsible for slope instability and
suggest some mitigation measures to enhance the stability of the slope.
Generally, geology, geomorphology, climate, and anthropogenic ac-
tivities, are factors controlling the stability of a slope [6]. The state of the
slope stability is evaluated by comparing the shear strength (resisting
force) of the slope materials to the shear stress (driven force). Theoreti-
cally, the slope is considered stable if the shear strength is greater than

* Corresponding author. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, African University of Science and Technology, Abuja, Nigeria.
E-mail address: gkomadja@aust.edu.ng (G.C. Komadja).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rineng.2021.100227
Received 6 February 2021; Received in revised form 22 April 2021; Accepted 17 May 2021
2590-1230/© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-
nc-nd/4.0/).
G.C. Komadja et al.
the shear stress. A reduction in the inherent shear strength (cohesion and
friction angle) of slope material, augments the slope's instability [6–8].
Weathering is one of the factors contributing to the alterability of the
shear strength parameters [6]. It has been reported that weathering
contributes to formation of fine-grained clay particles and reduce
down-water infiltration. It also retains the fluid, which increases the
shear stress through the increase in the pore-water pressure and conse-
quently leads to reduction in effective stresses, which may result in slope
instability [6,9,10]. Fine particle size clay minerals in the soil increase
with an increasing degree of weathering [11,12].
Mineralogical and geotechnical characterization of debris materials
showed that fine-grained particles formed from weathering processes,
diminish the engineering geotechnical parameters of slope materials and
consequently weaken the slope stability [12,13]. Li et al. [14] investi-
gated the influence of particle size distribution on the mechanical
behaviour of soil. They observed that a well-graded soil provides greater
shear strength over poorly-graded soil with high clay content. A study
conducted by Collettini et al. [15] showed that small amount (10–30%)
of fine-grained minerals bearing phyllosilicates such as smectite, facili-
tates frictional sliding of slope materials. Soto et al. [16] and Sch€abitz
et al. [17] attributed landslide occurrence to abundance of clay fraction
in the mineral composition of the materials involved in the landslides.
Neupane & Adhikari [18] reported that soils bearing illite clay favour
landslides due to low shear strength and high swelling behaviour. A
linear relationship between landslide occurrence and the proportion of
hydrophilic minerals such as kaolinite, illite, and mixed-layers had been
reported by Summa et al. [12] and Anis et al. [19]. According to these
authors, hydrophilic clay minerals develop a specific lubrication property
due to their plate morphology and constitute risk to slope stability.
Several landslide studies on the stability of road cut slopes in the
Lesser Himalaya along the National Highway-7 (NH-7) (formerly named
NH-58, Uttarakhand), India, have been reported in the literature [4,
20–24]. Most of the work focused on the stability of road cut rock slopes
along the highway. Significantly, there is a knowledge gap on the effect
of clay minerals on the stability conditions of debris cut slopes along
NH-7. This study attempted to characterize the debris materials and
investigate whether clay minerals (if any), influence occurrence of
debris-landslides along a section of road cut slope (NH-7), from Rishikesh
to Kaudiyala. Additionally, a pre-failure slope stability assessment was
carried out using limit equilibrium methods (LEMs). The results were
compared with finite-element-method-based strength reduction factor
(FEM-SRF). Finally, possible remedial measures to increase the stability
of the slope forming materials were proposed.
2. Study area
The study area belongs to Lesser Himalaya, Uttarakhand, India. Like
any mountainous area, the geodynamic nature of Himalayan regions
makes the terrains prone to slopes failure. Fig. 1a and b presents the
detailed localition report of the investigated slopes on the geological map
of the study area. Lithology of the study area is made up of metasedi-
mentary formations. Generally, the most predominant lithology in the
area includes limestone, sandstone, and low-grade metamorphic rock
(quartzite, phyllite, slate, and schist). The rock outcrop rocks, varied from
moderately to completely weathered rocks and eventually led to the
formation of the debris overlying the slopes, which occasionally provokes
landslides.
The altitude of the study area ranges from about 300 to 1700 m above
mean sea level and the mean annual precipitation reaches 1285 mm.
Subtropical to temperate climate prevails in the study area and the
temperature varied from 5 to -7
C during winter. In the summer,
2
Results in Engineering 10 (2021) 100227
temperatures rise may be in the range of 40–50
C. Geotechnical features
and GPS coordinates of 8 road cut slopes from different locations are
presented in Table 1.
3. Materials and methods
The methodology consists of a detailed geological and geotechnical
investigation. The first eight debris slopes along NH-7, from Rishikesh to
Kaudiyala, were demarcated and data concerning slope stability analysis
were recorded. Besides, laboratory experiments were carried out to
evaluate strength parameters of the slope materials and the mineralogy of
the clay fraction in the debris. The data obtained from field investigations
and laboratory studies were used to evaluate slope stability conditions
based on deterministic and probabilistic analysis. This study applied two
rigorous limit equilibrium methods (LEMs) of Spencer [26] and Mor-
genstern & Price [27] that satisfy all the equilibrium conditions in
Rocscience Slide software. Besides, finite element method (FEM) based
strength reduction factor (SRF) was applied in the Rocscience Phase2
software to evaluate reliability of the LEMs.
3.1. Geological and geotechnical field survey
Eight (8) debris slopes from Rishikesh to Kaudiyala, along NH-7
Highway, Uttarakhand were investigated (Fig. 2). The rock mass of the
slopes varies from highly to completely weathered grades overlain by
debris materials. The Weathering grade of the slopes, discolouration
processes of rock, hand scraping on rock masses and hammer, the sound
of the rock under the impact of geological hammer, and Schmidt Hammer
tests were fully considered and described using visual description pre-
sented in Table 2. Slopes materials were sampled for geotechnical char-
acteristics associated with slope stability of selected road cut. The
excavation made during road widening activities and the cross-sectional
view of slopes provided an insight into the thickness of materials above
the bedrock, which were estimated from a few to 10 m, as reported by
Ray et al. [28] for Himalayan region.
3.2. Bedrock mass strength characterization
The strength behaviour of a rock mass is important for any engi-
neering work. Many rock mass strength evaluation techniques have been
developed in literature and widely used to describe and quantify the
geological engineering conditions of the rock mass [29,30]. The General
Hoek-Brown (GHB) failure criterion, which best characterises the jointed
rock mass in Himalayan terrain [21] was adopted in this study. The
following expressions (Eqs. 1- 4) define the GHB failure criterion.
 a
σ3
σ 1 ¼ σ 3 þ σ ci mb þs (1)
σ ci
 
GSI  100
mb ¼ mi exp (2)
28  14D
 
GSI  100
s ¼ exp (3)
9  3D
1 1

a ¼ þ expGSI=15  exp2D=3 (4)
2 6
where: σ 1 , is the major effective principal stress; σ 3 , is the minor effective
principal stress; σ ci , represents the uniaxial compressive strength of the
intact rock material; mb , s and a are the reduced rock mass material pa-
G.C. Komadja et al.
Fig. 1. (a) Geological map of the Lesser Himalaya; (b) enlarged view of the geological map of the study area along with the locations of the investigated slopes [25].
rameters; D represents the degree of disturbance to which the rock mass
has been subjected to blasting and stress relaxation. Its value range from
0 for an undisturbed in-situ rock to 1 for disturbed rock masses and was
estimated in the field following the guidelines defined by Hoek & Brown
[31]; mi represents material constant which depends upon the type of
rock and is estimated according to Marinos & Carter [32]. GSI is a
geological strength index based on the visual inspection of the outcrop
rock [33].
Geological strength index value and rock materials constant were
used to determine Poisson ratio of the rock mass [34]. In contrast, the
rock mass modulus ðErm Þ was estimated following the simplified Hoek &
Diederichs [35] criteria as expressed in Eq. (5).
5 1  D=2
Erm ¼ 10
1 þ exp½ð75þ25DGSIÞ=11
Results in Engineering 10 (2021) 100227
GSI is the geological strength index; mi is the material constant; D is
the disturbance factor, and Erm is the rock mass modulus.
Uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of the rock mass was evaluated
based on Schmidt's rebound hardness values. Schmidt hardness test is an
ideal, non-destructive, and in-situ technique, often employed in many
rock mechanics and rock engineering practices. In the examination,
twenty (20) readings of (L-type) Schmidt hammer rebound were
randomly recorded. The mean values (Hr) of the readings were obtained
and used to evaluate UCS based on Eq. (6) as proposed by Yagiz [36].
UCS Mpa¼ 2:08exp0:067Hr (6)
where, UCS is uniaxial compressive strength; Hr is average Schmidt
Rebound hardness value.
(5)
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G.C. Komadja et al. Results in Engineering 10 (2021) 100227

Table 1 free ions. The centrifuged samples were placed on a glass slide of 1 cm
Investigated slope and the overall geometry. and dried under atmospheric conditions before X-Ray Diffraction (XRD)
Slope Latitude Longitude Height Dip Dip analysis. The analysis was done within Bragg angles (2P) from 0
to 40
,
(m) direction angle using CuKα radiation, a voltage of 45 kV, and a beam current of 40 mA.
L1 30
78
210 22.6300 E 25 105
55
The scanning was performed at the Institute Instrumentation Center (IIC)
70 39.6400 N at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT, Roorkee). The XRD peaks were
L2 30
78
210 32.7600 E 21 310
64
matched with an ICDD PDF card and analyzed using HighScorePlus
70 33.3200 N software.
L3 30
78
220 53.9400 E 29 54
80

70 23.0300 N
L4 30
78
230 11.2300 E 25 95
76
3.4. Methods of slope stability assessment
70 24.3400 N
L5 30
78
230 17.2300 E 20 350
78
The slope stability assessment was performed using the limit equi-
70 22.7600 N
librium method (LEM) and the finite element method (FEM) based on the
L6 30
78
260 07.8700 E 20 90
64

60 08.8300 N Rocscience Slide v6.0 and Phase2 v7.0 software. There are various LEMs
L7 30
78
270 33.9300 E 16 270
67
for slope stability analysis classified into rigorous and non-rigorous
40 08.2200 N methods. The rigorous methods that satisfy any shape slip surface and
L8 30
78
270 41.1300 E 16 350
74

the complete equilibrium conditions, developed by Spencer [26] and
40 06.7600 N
Morgenstern & Price [27] appeared to be accurate [46,47], and there-
fore, used in this study. The input parameters used during the compu-
3.3. Debris-soil characterization tation were obtained from laboratory test results. The Mohr-Coulomb
parameters were calculated from the direct shear strength test conducted
Grain size distribution describes some of the engineering properties of using disturbed samples. The pebble-sized particles were manually
debris materials. It classifies the soil type based on its influence on the removed to meet the shear box requirement (6 cm  6 cm). This process
stress-strain and strength of materials forming a slope [14,37]. Grain size may introduce minor miscalculation of the representative shear strength
distribution was determined using the dry sieving method in line with parameters, thereby creating sources of uncertainty. Hence, both deter-
[38]. ministic and probabilistic analyses were conducted to assess the stability
The liquid limit (LL) and plastic limit (PL) of the fine-grained soil of the slopes taking into account wide range of data and uncertainty
were determined in line with the Atterberg limits of Casagrande falling [48–50].
cup methods [39]. Plasticity index (PI) is expressed as the difference In this study, shear strength parameters, namely cohesion (C) and
between the liquid and plastic limits of the soils and reflects its consis- friction angle (φ) of the overburden along with unit weight (γ) and
tency. The results were used to classify the fine-grained fraction ac- uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of the bedrocks were taken as
cording to unified soil classification system [40]. random variables. Their actual values from laboratory experiments were
A density test was performed according to standard procedures [41]. kept as the mean values and other constants. The relative minimum and
The soil's unit weight (mean value) was calculated based on three sets of relative maximum values are equal to 3 times the standard deviation for a
tests performed on both debris and bedrock mass. complete normal distribution (99.7% of data observed) [51]. A similar
The Poisson ratio of the debris materials was obtained from relevant method was applied by Siddique and Pradhan [4] to perform sensitivity
literature on Himalayan debris considering elasto-plastic materials analysis of Himalayan road cut debris slopes. Probability analysis was
property satisfying Mohr's Coulomb failure criterion [42]. carried out on the global minimum slip surface located by regular
The direct shear testing was conducted to evaluate the shear strength (deterministic) slope stability analysis and factor of safety re-computed N
parameters [cohesion (C) and angle of internal friction (φ)] following the times (N ¼ 1000 number of samples) using a different set of randomly
ASTM procedures [43]. As the debris-slide occurs mostly in the study generated input variables for each analysis. Several trial slip surfaces
area during monsoon season [44], the test was conducted at the drained have been analyzed, and the minimum FS (deterministic) along with the
saturated condition which best mimics the worst soil condition [9]. probability of failure (PF) were reported for each LEM. For the reliability
Thirty two (32) direct shear tests on the debris materials were taken from of the analysis, several methods were recommended for ease of com-
eight (8) cut slopes (Fig. 2), performed under four different normal parison [46]. Therefore, finite element method (FEM) based strength
stresses of 0.25 kg/cm2; 0.5 kg/cm2; 0.75 kg/cm2 and 1 kg/cm2 at the reduction factor (SRF) was applied using the Rocscience Phase2 software
shearing rate of 0.01. Such weights were used to calculate the soil's to evaluate reliability of deterministic FS-based LEMs. FEM has been
effective stress and failure limit at the worst soil condition (lowest safety widely developed to solve geotechnical engineering problems related to
factor achieved under normal stress) [9]. The shear stresses at failure slope stability and is more efficient than other available methods used in
were plotted against each normal stress of 24.52 kPa, 49.03 kPa, 73.55 various studies [6,21,52]. A mesh pattern of six node triangle elements
kPa, and 98.07 kPa. Using the graph generated, cohesion and angle of plane-strain and 3000 mesh elements were used to discretize the slope
internal friction of the materials were calculated based on the Coulomb models. The number of iterations and the tolerance level is 800 and 0.001
failure criterion as expressed in Eq. (7) respectively. The boundary conditions were the same. The bottom of the
rock mass was fully fixed in both horizontal and vertical directions,
τ ¼ σ tan φ þ c (7) whereas the displacement along the lateral sides was constrained in the
horizontal directions. The face and debris-rock mass interface was sub-
where, τ is the ultimate shear stress at failure; σ is the normal stress at jected to strain and displacement (free restraint). After setting up the
failure plane and φ is the angle of internal friction; c is the apparent model and incorporating appropriate material properties, the critical
cohesion of the soil sample. SRF, equivalent to the deterministic factor of safety (FS) by LEMs, were
The mineralogy of the fine fraction (<2 μm) was determined using computed.
Brucker D-8 Advance X-Ray Diffractometer (XRD) to estimate clay min-
erals composition (type and relative amount) of the soil debris [45]. The 4. Results and discussion
clay fractions were treated with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and hydro-
chloric acid to remove organic matter and calcium carbonate. The treated 4.1. Geotechnical characteristics of debris materials
clay mineral was isolated by gravity separation using Stock's Law and
centrifuged with spin speed of 3000 rpm in deionized water to remove Grain size distribution of the soil profile shows predominantly coarse

4
G.C. Komadja et al.
Fig. 2. Field photograph of the studied slopes showing the debris samples locations (red mark) and the material properties such as unit weight (γ), cohesion (C), and
friction angle (φ).
fractions. The grain distribution curves presented in Fig. S1 show strong
analogies in their grain size composition with a meagre fine-grained
fraction of approximately 5%. The small amount of fine particles
(0.075 mm) suggests either unfavourable conditions for their formation
or their entrainment by runoff into streams. Grading characteristics and
the Atterberg limits (liquid limit, plasticity index) were used to classify
the fine-grained fraction as presented in Table 3. According to unified soil
classification system [40], the debris was classified as well-graded sands,
5
Results in Engineering 10 (2021) 100227
gravelly sands, with little or no fines, suggesting that no significant in-
fluence of particle size distribution on the mechanical behaviour of the
slope materials [14]. This agrees with the Atterberg limits which indicate
little or no plastic behaviour of the soil debris as shown on the Casa-
grande plasticity chart (Fig. 3).
The direct shear test results of all samples were expressed in terms of
the linear Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion (Fig. S2). Based on the
regression equations (Fig. S2), the calculated friction angle and cohesion
G.C. Komadja et al. Results in Engineering 10 (2021) 100227

Table 2
Weathering characteristic of the studied slopes [8].
Weathering class Weathering characteristics

(V) The rock mass as shown in slopes L1, L2, L3, L4, and L5 is
Completely completely weathered with limited and isolated rock mass
weathered rock volumes composed of highly weathered rock or residual soil.
Its material is fully discoloured; the original texture and
microstructure of the fresh rock are present in relict form and
possess soil-like behaviour. It contains some large rock
pieces that broken by hand or crumbled by finger pressure
into constituent grains and slake in water. The geological
pick indents the rock deeply; the knife-edge easily carves the
rock's surface; gravel and sand fractions are prevalent in this
class.
(VI) The slope profile mainly consists of colluvial (river-borne)
Residual and Colluvial soils (L6, L7, and L8).
soil
Fig. 3. Atterberg limits of the samples in the Casagrande plasticity chart [40].

of the debris range from 26.23
to 38.44
and 19.4–31.5 kPa, respec- extent and may eventually cause the slope to fail [59]. This was
tively, suggests a moderately durable soil strength capable of sliding encountered at slope location L6 (Fig. 2), where the debris failed
under disturbed conditions [53]. immediately after the passage of a heavy vehicle along the highway.

4.2. Weathering and mineral composition 4.3. Slope stability analysis

The physico-chemical weathering of the pre-existing rock mass is one
factor that explains the failure of many slopes with better stability con-
ditions after many years of excavation [2]. Grain size distribution of the
debris shows very low silt-clay-sized particles (Fig. S1), indicating the
low weathering degree of the slope materials [11,12]. This is consistent
with XRD analysis results (Fig. 4 and Table 4), which show no significant
expandable clay mineral that could favour the slide of the
material-forming the slopes in undisturbed conditions [13]. It is worth
mentioning that swelling of clay minerals are generally products of
chemical weathering frequently observed in gentle terrain favouring the
debris-landslides [6,12,54]. The gradient of the studied slopes is rela-
tively steeper (Table 1 and Fig. 2). It may have never fulfilled the con-
ditions for chemical weathering to advance beyond a certain threshold
due to the surface drainage restricting water-rock interaction [6,14].
Talc, which belongs to smectite (expandable) clay group mineral,
appeared at slope locations L4, L6, and L8 and may be interpreted as an
allogenic mineral from surrounding lithology. Similarly, kaolinite is
observed at slope locations, L2, L5, and L8 (Fig. 4 and Table 4) in the form
of detrital (allogenic) clay as the finer fraction of the debris materials
have no clay activity (non-plastic behaviour).
Although it is reported that swelling of clay minerals hinders the
geotechnical properties and largely governs the stability of debris slopes,
in this study, absence of such clay minerals suggests that failure of the
debris is not clay minerals dependent. Non-swelling (detrital) clay par-
ticles interact with water. They may completely collapse the slope under
heavy or long-lasting rainfall [55], which could give a possible expla-
nation for the debris failure at slope locations L1 and L7 (Fig. 2) over
other forms of debris-slides caused by the activity of swelling clay min-
erals [56–58]. Furthermore, the ground vibrations caused by the road
traffic continuously hindering the stability of the debris to a reasonable
4.3.1. Limit equilibrium method
The slope stability assessment based on limit equilibrium methods
(LEMs) is presented in Fig. 5. The input parameters and random variables
used to generate the deterministic factor of safety as well as the proba-
bility of failure are summarized in Tables 5 and 6, respectively. In
contrast, Table 7 presents the obtained factor of safety of two limit
equilibrium methods (LEMs) with the probability of slope failure (PF). As
shown in Fig. 5, the slope's failure surfaces are localized within the
weathered overburden above the bedrock, indicating the influence of
weathering on the overall stability of the slopes which can worsen over
time with the intensity of the weathering [1,2,6].
The slices of the queried slip surfaces (Fig. 5) showed potential
shallow debris-slide in the study area rather than deep-seated landslides,
which may be due to the steep gradient of the slope. This is consistent
with the results of [60] and showed that a steep slope generally displays
shallow failure, compared to a gentle slope with generally deep-seated
landslides. The non-vegetation (grasses) on the slope surface (Fig. 2)
exposes the slope to weathering and surface erosion which may lead to
local debris movement during the monsoon season.
4.3.2. Finite-element-model-based approach
The results of finite-element model are presented in Fig. 6. The
interface between the bedrock and the debris overburden experiences the
maximum shear strain toward the slope toe. This could represent the
least resistant zone which may favour the development of the sliding
surface. Thus, excavation at the slope toe should be prohibited to prevent
the early formation of a sliding surface [4].
The two LEMs' results compared well with each other and finite-
element-model-based approach (FEM), as shown in Fig. 7. This is in
line with other studies, the FEM yielded a minimum global safety factor

Table 3
Soil classification characteristics.
Samples L1 L2 L3 L4 L5 L6 L7 L8

Soil graduation properties

%fine < 0.075 mm 5.38 5.28 3.62 5.82 2.42 2.84 3.34 2.99
Cu 17.95 26.89 22.52 25.69 6.84 13.04 12.37 32.5
Cc 2.78 2.45 2.63 2.90 1.09 1.37 1.11 0.09
Atterberg limits
LL 19.89 23.24 20.63 – 26.18 22.24 19.84 –
PL 12.55 14.97 16.06 – 16.87 18.03 16.46 –
PI 7.34 8.27 4.57 NP 9.31 4.21 3.38 NP

Cu, uniformity coefficient; Cc, coefficient of curvature; LL, Liquid limit; PL, Plastic limit; PI, Plasticity index; NP, Non-plastic.

6
G.C. Komadja et al. Results in Engineering 10 (2021) 100227

Fig. 4. X-ray diffraction analysis of clay-sized particles in the slope debris at various locations.

Table 4
Mineralogical composition of the finer fraction of the debris materials.
Phase name (%) L1 L2 L3 L4 L5 L6 L7 L8

Augite 0 0 2.3 5 0 0 0 5
Chabazite 22.8 0 13.8 0 0 0 0 0
Cebollite 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16.9
Dolomite 2.2 0 0 44.3 0 0 0 0
Ferrierite 0 0 6.5 14.7 0 5.2 5.6 0
Glauconite 38.5 19.2 54.9 0 20.8 0 49.3 6.8
Gypsum 2.3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kalinite 0 28.4 0 0 16.5 21.7 11.4 10.2
Kaolinite 0 2.9 0 0 9.4 0 0 4.6
Lawsonite 0 0 0 0 0 0 9.6 0
Muscovite 30.9 0 8.8 26.4 0 4.4 0 0
Natrolite 0 8 0 0 0 1.7 0 0
Orthochamosite 0 3.8 0 0 7.7 0 0 0
Orthochrysotile 0 0 13.7 6.7 0 0 6.9 15.2
Sanidine 0 37.7 0 0 38.5 56.6 8.7 18.8
Sillimanite 3.3 0 0 0 7.2 0 3.8 0
Talc 0 0 0 2.9 0 10.4 0 22.5
Zeolite 0 0 0 0 0 0 4.7 0

7
G.C. Komadja et al. Results in Engineering 10 (2021) 100227

Fig. 5. Deterministic factor of safety FS and probability of slopes failure (PF) based LEM.

8
G.C. Komadja et al. Results in Engineering 10 (2021) 100227

Table 5
Input parameters for the numerical simulations.
L1 L2 L3 L4 L5 L6 L7 L8

Overburden - Mohr-Coulomb Criterion

Unit weight γ (kN/m3) 18.27 19.6 17.6 18 17.8 19.8 19.5 17.3
1.45 1.13 0.53 1.28 1.17 0.64 1.02 0.63
Cohesion C (kPa) 25.8 27 26.8 25.6 29.8 24.6 19.4 23.6
Angle of Friction φ (
) 34.78 36.75 37.5 36.59 26.23 32.3 35.09 38.44
Young Modulus (MPa) 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Poisson ratio 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3
Bedrock - Generalized Hoek-Brown Criterion
Mean Schmidt Rebound hardness value (Hr) 35.5 30.5 35.5 36.25 32 31 31.4 –
3.79 6.86 5.99 5.62 2.95 3.23 2.91
UCS (kPa) 23,821 17,040 23,821 25,049 18,842 17,621 18,100 –
GSI 30 30 35 35 30 30 25 –
Mi 13 13 13 13 10 13 13 –
D 0.8 0.8 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 –
Poisson ratio 0.36 0.36 0.35 0.35 0.37 0.36 0.375 –
Unit weight (kN/m3) 25.7 27 25 25.5 23 25 24.4 –
0.7 0.62 0.54 0.58 0.36 0.29 0.66

induces failure even though the materials involved presents relatively

Table 6
good geotechnical features. The slopes L1, L7, and L8 were marginally
Material statistics for probabilistic analysis.
stable with the critical SRFs above 1.2. This is in agreement with their
S/ Material Property Distribution Std. Rel. Rel. relatively low overall slope angle and height which compared well with
N Dev. Min Max
other published studies, revealing that the geometry of a slope signifi-
1 Overburden Cohesion Normal 3 9 9 cantly influences its stability [4,44,65]. Heavy and long-lasting rainfall is
2 Overburden Angle of Normal 4 12 12
also reported as the factor controlling the debris-landslide in the study
3 Overburden Friction (
) Normal 1 3 3
4 Bedrock Unit Weight Normal 3 9 9 area [66].
5 Bedrock UCS (intact) Normal 0.5 1.5 1.5
Unit Weight 4.3.4. Slope stabilization measures
The study shows the instability of the investigated slope is not clay
mineral dependent. The overall slope angle and height are the important
(FS) compared to LEM and it evaluates the slopes’ stability condition
parameters controlling the stability conditions of the studied slopes.
better [4,21,52,61–64]. The critical strength reduction factor/safety
Considering these factors, possible mitigation measures to reduce their
factor based FEM ranges from 0.83 (L3) to 1.25 (L7), indicating that the
instability were suggested. As the shear strain is concentrated at the
slopes are critical to marginally stable. The relative stable condition of
bottom part of the slopes, excavation from the toe portion should be
the slopes under the field conditions (Fig. 2) may be due to the low
avoided. The crown portion of the slopes may be excavated to reduce the
magnitude of the shear strain which prevents its propagation toward the
gravitational load effects over the slope and reduce the shear stress
higher stressed toe portion to initiate failure [4].
(driving force) which largely controls the slope stability [4,67]. Another
The probabilistic slope stability analysis showed a good correlation
cost-effective way of strengthening the stability conditions of the slopes
with the deterministic slope stability analysis based on both LEMs and
may be the installation of retaining and gabion walls with proper
FEM-SRF (Fig. S3). This indicates that the uncertainty level considered in
drainage along the lower parts of the slopes to prevent early initiation of
Table 6 has no significant effect on the adequate stability conditions of
slip surfaces that could favour the slope failure [4,21,68]. Shotcreting
the investigated slopes.
mitigation measures can also be applied on the slope surface to reduce
the probability of debris failure along the slope [69–71]. The absence of
4.3.3. The stability condition of the investigated slopes
the vegetation on the slope surface exposes the debris to erosion and mass
Several parameters influence the stability condition of a slope. In this
movement which contributes to debris movement during monsoon and
study, it was established that the steep gradient of the slopes hindered the
rainfall season [9,66]. Soil reinforcement with grasses and plant roots are
development of swelling clay minerals that could hamper slope stability.
another stabilization measure that can be used to improve shallow debris
A potential relationship between slope geometry (slope height and
slide along the highway [65,72,73]. The slope surface could be mulched
overall slope angle) and its stability state is evidenced in this study. A
and subjected to grass seeding to favour vegetation development on the
gentle slope with low height experiences the slightest gravitational
slope surface [74,75].
loading and better stability conditions than a steep slope [4]. The slope
L3 displayed the least pre-failure condition along with an SRF of 0.83.
5. Conclusion
The result obtained in the current study is consistent with its overall
angle of 80
alongside the greatest slope height equal to 29 m (Table 1).
This study evaluated the geotechnical and geological investigation of
Similarly, the slope L4 (Fig. 2) exhibited unstable pre-failure conditions
stability conditions of eight (8) road cut debris-slopes along NH-7,
with an SRF of 0.96 (Table 7), suggesting that a higher overall slope angle

Table 7
The factor of safety (Deterministic) from LEMs and SRF by FEM.
L1 L2 L3 L4 L5 L6 L7 L8

Factor of safety from LEM

Spencer 1.33 1.18 1.07 1.25 1.25 1.31 1.25 1.38
GLE/Morgenstern–Price 1.334 1.186 0.931 1.257 1.248 1.326 1.248 1.361
Critical SRF by FEM
FEM-SRF 1.21 1.134 0.83 0.96 1.17 1.25 1.13 1.22

9
G.C. Komadja et al. Results in Engineering 10 (2021) 100227

Fig. 6. Shear strain contour and critical strength reduction factors (SRFs) by finite element modelling of the studied slopes.

10
G.C. Komadja et al.
Fig. 7. Comparison between factor of safety from LEMs and FEM
Uttarakhand, India. The stability conditions were assessed based on the
deterministic and probabilistic limit equilibrium slope stability
approach. The reliability of the analysis was compared with finite-
element method based-strength reduction factor. The engineering
geotechnical properties along with the mineral composition of fine
fraction of the slope materials (debris) revealed no significant effect of
clay minerals that could disintegrate the stability condition of the slopes.
Relatively steeper gradient of the studied slope seems to influence the
development of secondary clay minerals detrimental to slope failure.
Deterministic and probabilistic LEM correlated well with the finite
element method based strength reduction factor (FEM-SRF) and showed
that the overall slope angle and height are two major factors governing
the stability of the investigated slopes. Based on FEM-SRF, the studied
slopes are critical to marginally stable as the SRF ranged from 0.83 to
1.25. Slopes L3 and L4 showed the lowest SRF of 0.83 and 0.96,
respectively. Their relatively stable state under the field condition may be
attributed to the low magnitude of shear strain along the slopes, pre-
venting slip surfaces initiation that could lead to slope failure. The slope's
critical pre-failure state may lead to shallow debris-slides under trig-
gering events such as intense and/or prolonged rainfall and ground vi-
bration from heavy vehicles, thunder, and earthquake. Therefore, further
work is required for a better understanding of the factors associated with
the occurrence of debris slides in the study area.
Author contribution
Gb
etoglo Charles Komadja: Conceived and designed the experiments;
performed the experiments; analyzed and interpreted the data; contrib-
uted materials, analysis tools, or data; and wrote the paper. Sarada Pra-
sad Pradhan: Conceived and designed the experiments; analyzed and
interpreted the data; contributed materials, analysis tools, or data; and
performed writing – review and editing. Afolayan David Oluwasegun:
Contributed materials, analysis tools, or data; and performed writing –
review and editing. Amulya Ratna Roul: Contributed materials, analysis
tools, or data; and performed writing – review and editing. Tido Tiwa
Stanislas: Contributed materials, analysis tools, or data; and performed
writing – review and editing. Raoul Ad
eniyi Laibi: Analyzed and inter-
preted the data; contributed materials, analysis tools, or data; and per-
formed writing – review and editing. Babatunde Adebayo: Analyzed and
interpreted the data; contributed materials, analysis tools, or data; and
performed writing – review and editing. Azikiwe Peter Onwualu: Ac-
quired funding; contributed materials, analysis tools, or data; and per-
formed writing – review & editing.
Funding statement
This work was supported by the African University of Science and
Technology (NMI-AIST 2100155032824) and (AUST/PAMI/2015/5415-
NG); the World Bank in collaboration with the Government of India
(DST-1364-WRC a part of the DST-1264-AHC) at IIT Roorkee.
11
Results in Engineering 10 (2021) 100227
Additional information
No additional information is available for this paper.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
The first author would like to thank all research scholars at the
Geotechnical Laboratory, Earth Sciences Department, Indian Institute of
Technology Roorkee (IIT Roorkee) for their collaborations during the six-
month fellowship in the laboratory. A sincere thank you to Nani Das and
Soubhagya Ranjan Barik for their support during the field investigation.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https
://doi.org/10.1016/j.rineng.2021.100227.
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