Environmental Earth Sciences (2019) 78:621

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-019-8573-9

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Stability analysis of cut slopes using empirical, kinematical, numerical

and limit equilibrium methods: case of old Jeddah–Mecca road (Saudi
Arabia)
Mehmet Sari1

Received: 3 February 2019 / Accepted: 2 September 2019 / Published online: 18 October 2019
© Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2019

Abstract
The stability of natural and man-made rock slopes has always been of great concern for engineering geology studies. To
ensure a safe and functional design of excavated slopes, the first and most crucial step is to use reliable input parameters
while searching for possible failure modes at the preliminary design stage. It is highly important for practicing engineers to
determine the best material property for a chosen failure criterion. This study aims to analyze the stability condition of a case
road cut from different aspects. For this purpose, two well-known failure criteria proposed for rock masses and rock joints
were applied in the study depending on the scale of the problem in the slope face. The Hoek–Brown failure criterion was used
to obtain input data required for modeling intact rock and rock mass behavior, and the Barton-Bandis shear strength criterion
to determine the input data necessary for the modeling of rock joint behavior. SMRTool and Dips 7.0 programs were utilized
to analyze the structurally controlled instabilities due to discontinuities in the cut slope. Slide 2018 and RS2 9.0 programs
were executed to examine the stability condition of cut slope subjected to circular and non-circular failures, respectively.
According to the results of numerical and limit equilibrium methods, no stability problem occurred in the case of slope due
to non-sliding circular or non-circular slip failures. However, according to the results of empirical and kinematical analyses,
some structurally controlled sliding failure modes of planar, wedge, and toppling were expected on the slope face. The result
of this study clearly shows that to reach a final decision, different analysis methods should be used to evaluate the stability
of cut slopes by considering various conditions of jointed rock masses.

Keywords Rock mass strength · Slope cut · Kinematic analysis · Jointed rock · Finite element analysis

Introduction around engineering structures show significant variation in

The stability of natural and man-made rock slopes (e.g.,
open pit benches, road cuts, dam abutments, and tunnel
portals) has always been of great concern for engineering
geology studies. Rocks as natural engineering material in
these slopes exhibit considerable variations in strength and
deformability both spatially and inherently. This is because
they are formed as a result of various previous geological
and tectonic processes. During the preliminary design of
structures built in or on such rock masses, this variation must
be explicitly taken into consideration. Besides, rock masses
* Mehmet Sari
mehmetsari@aksaray.edu.tr
1
Department of Mining Engineering, Aksaray University,
68100 Aksaray, Turkey
failure response depending on the rock structure, condition
of discontinuities, and effective stresses. In case where the
routes of motorways pass through these rock masses, espe-
cially in mountainous regions, it is very misleading to rely
on a single analysis method and material type to ensure the
stability of excavated slopes. Road cuts as one of the main
engineering structures built on such problematic routes, as
well as viaducts, bridges, and tunnels are typical examples
of this situation. To ensure a safe and functional design of
cut slopes, the first and most crucial step is to use reliable
input parameters while searching for possible failure modes
at the preliminary design stage.
In rock mechanics literature, several failure criteria are
proposed to model rock mass behavior (Hoek and Brown
1980; Yudhbir et al. 1983; Sheorey et al. 1989; Yoshida et al.
1990; Ramamurthy et al. 1988; Mehranpour et al. 2018).
Besides, there are several methods proposed for stability

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