Slope Engineering Concept

Associate Professor Dr Nazri Ali

Slope
Any ground whose surface forms an angle with the horizontal plane

Slope Stability Analysis

Safe design of a human-made or natural slopes
Fatal landslides in Malaysia
Date Locations Type No of death Reason
Prolonged and
Highland Tower heavy rain triggered
Block A, Ulu Klang, Shallow rotational retrogressive failure
December 1993 outskirt of Kuala slide 48 of cut slope behind
Lumpur City the Highland Tower
apartment
Karak Highway -
Failure of upstream
Genting Highland
natural dam during
slip road, Selangor –
June 1995 Debris flow 22 heavy rain triggered
Pahang border, ‘snowball effect’
20km to Kuala
debris avalanche
Lumpur City
Squatters Heavy rain triggered
settlement, Shallow rotational landslide - buried a
January 1999 13
Sandakan Town, slide number of squatter
Sabah houses / huts
Fatal landslides in Malaysia
Date Locations Type No of death Reason
Taman Hillview, Ulu Sliding / flowing of
debris soil of
November 2002 Kelang, outskirt of Debris flow 8
Kuala Lumpur City abandoned projects
during heavy rain
Sliding / flowing of
Taman Harmonis, debris soil from
November 2004 Gombak, outskirt of Debris flow 1 uphill bungalow
Kuala Lumpur City project after a week
of continuous rain
Buried back portion
Bercham, Ipoh City, of illegal factory at
December 2004 Rock fall 2
Perak the foot of
limestone hill
Al-Taqwa orphanage
May 2011 in Semungkis, Hulu Shallow rotational 16 Landslide caused by
slide heavy rains
Langat, Selangor
Fatal landslides around the world
Date Locations Type No of death Reason
Aug 2014 Hiroshima, Japan Debris flow 74 Landslide due to
heavy rains
Oct 2014 Badulla, Sri Lanka Debris flow 16 Landslide due to
heavy rains
Landslide due to
Dec 2014 Jemblung, Indonesia Debris flow 106
heavy rains
Heavy snowfall.
Badakhshan,
April 2015 Debris flow 52 Snow begins to melt
Afghanistan during the spring
May 2015 Salgar, Colombia Debris flow 83 Flooding from heavy
rain
El Cambray, Landslide due to
October 2015 Debris flow 280
Guatemala heavy rains
Why landslides occur
• Although there are many different causes of landslides, they all have
two things in common
• Natural causes
• Heavy Rainfall
• Human causes
• Clear Cutting
Slope Policies History
• The first authority to document hillsite development was the Urban and Rural
Planning Department in 1997
• In June 2002, Minerals and GeoScience Department Malaysia produced
guidelines on hillsite development. Slopes with angle of more than 35° are
classified as the highest risk, where no development is allowed
• Slope Engineering Branch was established in February 2004 within the Public
Works Department of Malaysia
• JKR has also completed a comprehensive National Slope Master Plan in 2008
• In April 2008, the Selangor state government imposed a ban on hillsite
development with slopes having gradient more than 25°
• Ampang Jaya City Council (MPAJ) Slope Engineering Branch was established in
December 2009
Statistic
• Data obtained from reported landslides in 2007 and 2008 showed the
most affected facility due to landslides in Malaysia was roads and
then followed by building, houses and others (Slope Engineering
Branch, 2009)

2008 2007
 Statistic
• Based on the data collected for 2008 and 2007, most of the slope
failures occurred in soil cut slopes (Slope Engineering Branch, 2009)

2008 2007
Statistic
Summary of case study on slope failure (M N Omar, S P Pichan, and M F Rosli, 2015)
Statistic
• Slope failure case studies indicated that 48% of the failed slopes were
due to design issues whereas 23% were failed due to maintenance
issues, 19% due to other factors such as adverse geological condition
or external factors and 10 % on construction issues. (M N Omar, S P
Pichan, and M F Rosli, 2015)
Planning, analysis and design of slope
Site Investigation stages (BS 5930:1991)
• Desk Study
• Involves collecting existing information about the site and put it all together to
build a conceptual model of the site
• Site Reconnaissance
• An early examination of the site by geologist, land surveyor and engineer to give
an idea of the work that will be required
• Subsurface Investigation
• Investigation and collecting sample of detailed geology and subsurface soil
conditions
• Analysis and design of slopes
• Use correct soil properties and methodology for slope design
Slope Maintenance
Geoguide 5 (2003) recommends maintenance inspections can be
divided into four categories
• Routine Maintenance Inspections
• Should be carried out adequately by any responsible person with no professional
geotechnical knowledge (min 2 per years)
• Engineer Inspections for Maintenance
• Should be carried out by a professionally qualified and experienced geotechnical
engineer (min 1 every 5 years)
• Regular Check of Buried Water-carrying Services
• Should be carried out by a specialist leakage detection contractor
• Regular Monitoring of Special Measures
• Should be carried out by a firm with special expertise in the particular type of
monitoring service required
Types of landslides
There are five kinematically distinct types of landslide identified by Varnes
(1978):
• Falls
A fall starts with the detachment of soil or rock from a steep slope along a surface
on which little or no shear displacement takes place. The material then descends
largely by falling, bouncing or rolling
Types of slope failure
• Topples
A topple is the forward rotation, out of the slope, of a mass of soil and rock
about a point or axis below the centre of gravity of the displaced mass
Types of slope failure
• Slides
A slide is the downslope movement of a soil or rock mass occurring dominantly
on the surface of rupture or relatively thin zones of intense shear strain.
Types of slope failure
• Flows
A flow is a spatially continuous movement in which shear surfaces are short
lived, closely spaced and usually not preserved after the event. The distribution
of velocities in the displacing mass resembles that in a viscous fluid.
Types of slope failure
• Spreads
A spread is an extension of a cohesive soil or rock mass combined with a
general subsidence of the fractured mass of cohesive material into softer
underlying material. Spreads may result from liquefaction or flow (and
extrusion) of the softer material.
Fundamental Concept
W = Weight
T = Resisting Force (Shear Strength)
P = Disturbing Force (Weight)

T
P

W
Factor of safety
•  𝑇
𝐹 =
𝑃
If T > P,
F > 1.0 : slope stable

If T < P,
F < 1.0 : slope unstable

If T = P,
F = 1.0 : slope critical
Factor of safety
References FOS

BS 6031: 2009 1.2

JKR Road Works 1.2

Hong Kong Geo Guide 1.4

Britain National Coal Board 1.5

Conceptual Model

𝛽 
Conceptual Model
The force parallel to the inclined plane is what pulls it down the
slope

𝑃=𝑊𝑠𝑖𝑛
  𝛽

𝛽 
Conceptual Model
Small angle = small pulling force P

𝛽  W

Large angle = large pulling force

P
W

𝛽 
 Conceptual Model
The normal force, N is what contributes to a force the resists movement down the slope

P
𝑁
  =𝑊𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝛽

𝛽 
Conceptual Model
Friction keeps the block from sliding

Friction between
𝐿𝑒𝑡
  𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒=∅
soil grains

𝐹𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
  𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒=𝑁𝑡𝑎𝑛 ∅

N Friction
P

𝛽 
Conceptual Model
Cohesion between the grains also contributes to keeps the block from
sliding
Cohesion between soil
grains
𝐿𝑒𝑡
  𝑐𝑜h𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛=𝑐

N
Friction
P

W
Cohesion

𝛽 
 Conceptual Model
  𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛+ 𝑐𝑜h𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝐹=
𝑃

  𝑊𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝛽 𝑡𝑎𝑛 ∅+𝑐

𝐹=
𝑊𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝛽
N Friction

P
W

Cohesion

𝛽 
Conceptual Model
If water present,

  ( 𝑊𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝛽 −𝑢 ) 𝑡𝑎𝑛 ∅+𝑐

𝐹=
𝑊𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝛽
zw
𝑢=𝛾
  𝑤 𝑧𝑤

N Friction

P
W

Cohesion

𝛽 
Thank You