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HIGHWAY SLOPE MAINTENANCE

Report No. FHWA-RT-88-040

December 1988
 FOREWORD

The Kentucky Transportation Center at the University of Kentucky is pleased to have had the
opportunity to develop the document, which is the course manual for a workshop on Slope
Maintenance and Slide Restoration for Highways. The purpose of this manual is to provide
reference material and a training aid to first level road maintenace supervisors who, in most cases,
are not engineering graduates, These superviSors are often called upon, however, to make quick
technical decisions in emergency situations that demand a high level of expertise. We have
attempted to provide this technical information in non-technical language.

Additional copies of the report can be obtained from the Office of Implementation, Engineering
and Highway Operations Implementation Division ,6300 Georgetown Pike, McLean, Virginia 22101,
Phone (703) 285-2346.

NOTICE

The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors who are responsible for the facts
and accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the, official
views or policies of the Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration, The
Kentucky Transportation Center, nor the University of Kentucky. This report does not constitute
a standard, specification, or regulation. The inclusion of manufacturer names and tradenames are
for identification purposes and are not to be considered as endorsements.
 Technical Report Documentation Page
1
1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient's Cotolog NO.
FHWA-RT-88-040
I 4. 1 1 t I e ond Subtitle
I I
I 5. Report Date I
1 Slope Maintenance and Slide Restoration P U 6. Performing Orgonixation Code

7. Authorls)
8. Performing Orgon~zotionRepor* NO.
Tommy C. Hopkins; David L. Allen; Robert C. Deen;
and Calvin G. Grayson
9. Perform~nqOrgonixation Name ond Address 10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS)
The Universly of Kentucky Transportation Center HHl-20-06-88-52
College of Engineering, University of Kentucky 11. Controct or Gront NO.
533 South Limestone
Lexington, Kentucky 40506-0043 13. Type of Report and Period Coveted
12. Sponsoring Agqncy Nome ond Address Final Remrt
Federal ~ G h w aAdministration
~ I August 28,1987 to
Officeof Implementation
6300 Georaetown Pike
McLean, ~;ginia 22101-2296 I
I IS. Supplementary Notes

FHWA Contracting Officer's Technical Representative - Chien-Tan Chang, HRT-10

Each year U.S. highway agencies spend millions of dollars in maintaining highway embankments, slopes, and
other earth structures as well as removing rock falls and soil debris from roadways and repairing landslides.
Activities from maintaining highway slopes and restoring landslides often cause traffic slow dawn and stoppage
that creates serious safety hazards and consumes significant highway maintenance and construction funds.
In addition, economic losses due to the inconvenience to the traveling public is often immeasutable.
During 1984 and 1985, as part of a continuing project to evaluate and improve maintenance activities, a study
on slope maintenance and slide restoration was undertaken by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA),
Office of Implementation. This joint effort by engineers from the FHWA and six state highway agencies (that
is, California, Kentucky, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wyoming) developed guidelines for slope
maintenance and slide restoration. These guidelines reflect the collective experience of the six state highway
agencies and are documented in FHWA report (TS-85-231) entitled "Guidelines for Slope Maintenance and
Slide Restoration."
I

This technical note was developed and based on the above report for use by Technology Transfer Centers
funded through the Rural Technical Assistance Program of the Federal Highway Administration in conducting
training of the subject title.
This manual represents one of the many contributions of Dr. Robert C. Deen to the transportation research
, and education community. Dr. Deen died on March 25, 1988, while completing the editing of this manual.
17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statem&
Slope Restoration No restrictin. Copies of this report are available from the
Slide Highway Office of Implementation, Engineering and Highway
Soil Mechanics Operations Implementation Division, 6300 Georgetown
Maintenance Pike, McLean, Virginia 22101, Phone (703) 285-2346.
19. Security Clossif. (of this report) ( 10.
I
Security Classif. (of this pogo) ( 21. No. of Pages ( 22. Price I
Unclassified Unclassified I 300 I
Form DOT F 1760.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed pope outhorixed
 METRIC (Sl*) CONVERSION FACTORS
APPROXIMATE CONVERSIONS TO S1 UNITS APPROXIMATE CONVERSIONS TO SI UNITS
Symbol WhonYou Know MuMply By T O M v Symbol wh.clYou Know MuMptyBy 10- srclaol

LENGTH LENGTH
millimetres 0.039 Inches
in inches 2.54 millimetres metres 3.28 feet
fl feet 0.3048 metres metres 1.09 yards
yd yards 0.914 metres kilometres 0.621 miles
mi miles 1.61 kilometres

AREA
AREA mm* miilimetres squared 0.0016 square inches
in* square inches 645.2 millimetres squared mm* ma metres squared 10.764 square feet
it* square feet 0.0929 metres squared ma kma kilometres squared 0.39 square miles
square yards 0.836 metres squared ma ha hectores (10 000 m3 2.53 acres
yd'
mia square miles 2.59 kiiometres squared km*
ac acres 0.395 hectares ha MASS (weight)
0 grams 0.0353 ounces 02

MASS (weight) kg kilograms 2.205 Ib

Mg megagrams (1 000 kg) 1.103 short tons T
ounces 28.35 grams
pounds 0.454 kilograms
short tons (2000 Ib) 0.907 megagrams
VOLUME
mL millilitres 0.034 fluid ounces 11oz
L litres 0.264 gallons gal
VOLUME ma metres cubed 35.315 cubic feet ita
ms metres cubed 1.308 cubic yards yd'
11 o; fluid ounces 29.57 millilitres
gal gallons 3.785 litres
ita cubic feet 0.0328 metres cubed TEMPERATURE (exact)
yd' cubic yards 0.0765 metres cubed
OC Celsius 915 (then Fahmnhelt OF
NOTE: Volumes greater than 1000 L shall be shown in ma. temperature add 32) tommature

TEMPERATURE (exact)
OF Fahrenheit 519 (after Celsius
temperature subtracting 32) temperature These factors conform to the requirement of FHWA Order 5190.1A.

'SI is the symbol for the International System of Measurements

 TABLE OF CONTENTS NOTES

I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 (This space is for notes)

I.A. BACKGROUND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
I.B. PURPOSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
I.C. SCOPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
II. SLOPE MOVEMENTSIPROCESSES . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1I.A. WHY AND HOW SLOPES FAIL . . . . . . . . 13
I . EXAMPLES OF MOVEMENTS ON SLOPES 15
1I.C. CAUSES OF SLOPE MOVEMENTS . . . . . 21
Ill. RECOGNITION AND IDENTIFICATION . . . . . . . . . . . 24
1II.A. TERRAIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
111.8. SIGNS OF MOVEMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
II1.C. INSTRUMENTATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
111.0. SOIUROCK IDENTIFICATION . . . . . . . . . 50
IV. MAINTENANCE PRACTICES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
1V.A. INVENTORY OF SLOPE PROBLEMS . . . . 56
1V.B. SLOPE MAINTENANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
1V.C. DRAINAGE MAINTENANCE . . . . . . . . . . . 74
1V.D. ROAD SURFACE MAINTENANCE . . . . . . 82
1V.E. UTILITIES CONSTRUCTION . . . . . . . . . . 83
V. STABILIZATION METHODS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
V.A. BASIC APPROACHES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
V.B. REPAIR METHODS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
V.C. ECONOMICS OF REPAIR METHODS . . . . 197
VI. LEGAL LIABILITIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
V1.A. SAFETY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
V1.B. LEGAL ASPECTS OF SLOPE MOVEMENTS.204
V1.C. RISK MANAGEMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
APPENDIX A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
APPENDIX B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
APPENDIX C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
APPENDIX D .................... .
.. . . .... 289
APPENDIX E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
 I. INTRODUCTION

I.A. BACKGROUND NOTES

Slide Problem
The maintenance of slopes and the restoration and
correction of slides on highways has been identified by a
number of agencies as a major and continuing problem
involving considerable expenditures of funds. Each year,
highway agencies in the United States spend millions of
dollars in maintaining highway embankments, slopes, and
other earth structures; removing rock falls and debris from
roadways; and repairing landslides. Such activities often
cause restrictions and sometimes disruptions of traffic flow,
creating serious safety hazards and resulting in economic
losses due to the inconvenience to the traveling public.
Maintenance crews must take corrective action to return
slopes to a usable and stable condition, to restore the
facility to normal operating conditions, and to minimize
hazards to the traveling public. Various routine activities
may minimize the potential of slope failures.

Major and catastrophic failures of earth slopes are frequent

occurrences around the world. These failures are often
related to natural phenomena such as earthquakes and
floods or to insufficiencies in design elements of major
construction projects. Major slope failures "make the news"
because of their sizes and quantities of material involved or
because of significant losses and injuries to life and
property. Failures lead to formation of investigative teams
to study the probable causes of the failures and to identify
corrective measures to restore the slopes to their original
function and to minimize possible reoccurrences.
Investigations of such failures may involve sophisticated and
highly theoretical analyses by geotechnical engineers, as
well as experts from other disciplines.

The extent to which slope failures impact upon highway

agencies in this country is not fully known. There is no
doubt that large slope failures, which are reported in the
newspapers and on television and radio news programs,
are major items in highway budgets. Major slope failures
often cost millions of dollars to restore the highway facility
to a safe and usable condition. These failures significantly
affect the highway budget.

User costs are often immeasurable. Direct costs to

highway agencies related to slope maintenance and slide
restoration may not be accurately reflected in maintenance
records. This is largely due to procedures currently used
for allocating costs to various and numerous maintenance
activities. The repair of a roadway surface due to
settlement may be charged to asphalt patching when in fact
the settlement is a result of movement of materials within
the embankment or cut slopes. Tracking costs for
maintenance and restoration of slopes as well as user costs
associated with such failures is extremely.difficult.

There are several thousands of miles of roadway under the

jurisdictions of various State and local highway agencies in
the United States. In many jurisdictions, large numbers of
slope failures, some of which may not require any
significant maintenance attention while others must be given
attention to maintain the facility in a safe and operating
condition, are common occurrences. Since most highway
agencies do not maintain an inventory of slope failures, it is
almost impossible to develop a reliable measure of the
problem of slope failures. It is understood, however, that
the problem is significant.

This workshop is based in large part upon the Federal

Highway Administration's report entitled 'Guidelines for
Slope Maintenance and Slide Restoration",
FHWA-TS-85-231. That report is the result of efforts by
personnel from state highway agencies in California,
Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Texas, and Wyoming.
Additional information and discussions have been added
where appropriate.

Economics of Slope Movements

Not only are records relating to the number of slope failures

inadequate and sparse, information relative to the
expenditures to remedy slope failures is also generally
unknown. Expenditures of time, personnel, equipment, and
materials to correct and remedy slope problems are not
maintained by most highway agencies. Even if such a
cost-accounting system were in place in a highway agency,
the problem of assigning ALL costs associated with the
maintenance of a slope is extremely difficult. Many
activities are often more directly related (from a cost-
accounting point of view) to other aspects of highway
maintenance, such as guardrail maintenance, drainage
maintenance, etc.; while in many cases, maintenance
activities on those elements of the highway are to correct
problems due directly or indirectly to a slope failure.

The magnitude of the slope maintenance problem faced by

the maintenance supervisor is unknown but is estimated to
be extremely large. The geotechnical engineer in Indiana
estimated an expenditure of $960,000 annually over the
past seven years on minor landslides and erosion control
areas. In Missouri, approximately $550,000 (0.3 percent of
the maintenance budget) was expended. Another $1.1
million from construction monies was spent. In Ohio, the
annual cost of repair of minor slips and slides is over $1
million (approximately one percent of the total maintenance
budget).

In addition to the cost of maintenance in terms of

personnel, equipment, and materials mentioned above,
there are other social and economic costs to the highway
agency as well as the general public. It is obvious to most
that there is destruction of public property ;hen a highway
slope fails. Not only is the slope itself damaged, but other
adjacent elements of the highway also may be affected in a
negative manner. In some situations, private property also
may be subjected to damage as a result of the failure of a
slope on a highway and may result in a financial burden on
the property owner. Often, when a slope fails and
maintenance activities require closure or restriction of traffic
flow in order to restore the slope to a safe and operable
condition, there are significant inconveniences and user
costs such as delays and increased vehicular costs.

Role of Maintenance
The role of maintenance is to control the natural
deterioration of a highway facility. With regard to the
deterioration of a highway slope, some basic functions of
maintenance are as follows:

o Insure the safe passage of motorists and keep the road

open if possible,
o Perform routine slope maintenance,
o Implement temporary measures in an attempt to halt, or
delay, the deterioration of the slope,
o Monitor and report the deterioration of the highway slope,
and
o Perform slide restoration on small slides.

The deterioration of a highway slope based on costs may

be assigned to one of the following categories:

o Routine maintenance -- At this stage only routine

maintenance is needed. The slope problem is only minor.
For example, the problem may involve the removal for the
first time of small quantities of rock or soil debris which has
fallen onto the roadway or the roadway has settled or
sagged and required patching for the first time. Other
routine actions might include clearing of a blocked drainage
ditch, sealing cracks, or repairing slope erosion and
re-establishing vegetation.
o Extraordinary Maintenance -- The deterioration has
reached a stage where the slope problem continues to
reoccur and extraordinary and temporary measures and
costs are incurred to halt or delay the slope movement and
maintain traffic flow until more permanent slide restoration
measures are imposed. As an example, slope movements
of a particular highway may have reached a stage where
more than one patching has been performed, pavement
cracks have been sealed on several occasions, and the
guardrail has been repaired on different occasions. Another
example might include a situation where large rock debris
has fallen onto the highway on different occasions and
required expensive removal.
o Slide Restoration -- When the deterioration of the slope
has reached a condition where routine and extraordinary
maintenance costs approach or represent a sizable portion
of the costs of restoring the highway section to its original
condition, or to a condition better than the original condition,
then remedial repairs should be implemented. However,
corrective actions may be taken in cases where a real
danger threatens the traveling public, although extraordinary
costs may not be involved. At this stage, the highway
slope has failed or moved to such a state that the situation
poses a real danger to the traveling public. At this stage,
the traffic lanes may have to be closed or the roadway may
have to be completely closed.
Each agency or locality should develop an accounting
system that monitors maintenance costs of a given section
which is experiencing slope problems.

Routine maintenance is the responsibility of the

maintenance supervisor. Also, he usually will be involved in
performing extraordinary maintenance. Extraordinary
maintenance may normally be performed under the
guidance of the maintenance engineer. With regard to
performing slide restoration, the, maintenance supervisor
may or may not be directly involved. Whether the
maintenance supervisor becomes directly involved and
assumes the responsibility of slide restoration depends on
the following factors:

o The skills and capabilities of maintenance personnel and

available equipment,
o Whether or not the maintenance supervisor feels he is
knowledgeable enough of the problem,
o Prohibitive cost of implementing a slide stabilization
method, and
o The size of the slide and the depth and position of the
failure plane or surface of sliding.
 Each of these factors must be considered in making a
decision on slide restoration.

To aid the maintenance supervisor in making this decision,

it is useful to classify the slide problem according to the
size of the fill. For example, the height of the fill, as
measured from the toe of the fill to the top of the shoulder,
may be classified according to one of the following
categories:

o small fill -- 20 feet or less

o medium fill -- 20 to 50 feet
o large fill -- greater than 50 feet

In many instances, from a viewpoint of available

maintenance equipment and materials' handling capabilities,
slides that occur in fills measuring less than about 20 feet
. could probably be repaired by many maintenance
supervisors and crews. However, there are situations
where the maintenance supervisor may not be able to
handle a small slide because of budgetary limitation. For
example, suppose that the supervisor has determined that a
particular stabilization method can be applied. Suppose
that the technique cost 200 dollars per linear foot (as
measured parallel to centerline). Although the slide may
only be 20 feet in height, the slide may be 500 feet in
length (parallel to centerline). The total cost to repair the
slide is (500 feet x 200 dollarsift) equal to 100,000 dollars.
If the maintenance supervisor's total yearly budget is only
400,000 dollars, then slide restoration may not be feasible.
In terms of budgetary restraints the slide restoration may
represent a major investment. However, suppose the slide
is only 200 feet in width. The cost, in this case, to repair
the slide is 40,000 dollars. Hence, the supervisor may feel
that he can repair the slide with his forces. It is suggested
that a small slide may be defined as one that is less than
20 feet in height and the cost to repair the slide is less
than an amount to be determined by the maintenance
supervisor. The maximum amount to be spent at a
particular location should be determined by the maintenance
engineer, geotechnical engineer and maintenance
supervisors. For example, it may be predetermined by
maintenance supewisors, maintenance engineers, and
geotechnical engineers of a given locality that the
maintenance supervisor will not spend more than 25,000
dollars to repair a slide. At another locality, the value may
be fixed at 50,000 dollars. If the amount of slide
restoration exceeds this predetermined value, then the
geotechnical staff should be contacted. In the case of
county or city maintenance supervisors, the local political
unit should be contacted and given the necessary
information concerning the cost of slide restoration. The
local political unit should seek the advice and assistance of
a consulting geotechnical engineer.

Slides in medium and large embankments may or may not

be repaired by the maintenance supervisor. For example,
deep-seated failures (greater than a height of about 20 feet)
need to be examined by a geotechnical engineer as well as
the maintenance engineer. In a deep-seated failure, the
failure plane is located several feet, or several tens of feet,
below the surface of the fill. Slides of this size will
probably require a major investigation and analysis to
determine the most appropriate repair method. However, if
the slide is less than about 20 feet in height, although the
fill height is greater than 20 feet, the maintenance
supervisor and crew may still be capable of repairing the
slide. For example, suppose an embankment measures 80
feet in height; a failure measuring 10 feet in height and 50
feet in width occurs at the toe of the fill. Although the fill is
classified as large, the maintenance crew could probably
repair this failure based on the advice of the geotechnical
and maintenance engineer. It is good policy to seek the
advice of the geotechnical and maintenance engineers
before implementing a slide restoration method. By working
with and seeking the advice of the geotechnical engineer
who is familiar with local conditions and the types of slides
that occur in a locality, pre-engineered restoration methods
may be developed for many small slides. Hence, the
maintenance supervisor may be able to repair many small
slides without needing the assistance of the geotechnical .
engineer in every case.

WIDTH t 50 FT

Toe slump in a large highway embankment

Q
1I.B. PURPOSE

This workshop, and accompanying manual, is intended to

provide guidelines for state, county, and city maintenance
supervisors who are responsible on a daily basis for making
decisions related to the maintenance of slopes and slide
restoration.

1I.C. SCOPE

This workshop and manual discuss the maintenance of

slopes and methods of restoring slides. Features and
problems that may be detected and addressed by typical
highway maintenance crews are emphasized. Topics to be
discussed are as follows:

o Slope Movements and Processes -- Different types of

highway slope movements and why slopes move in certain
ways are discussed in simple terms.
o Recognition and Identification -- The many features that
may indicate slope problems and the need for preventive
maintenance are described.
o Maintenance Practices -- Maintenance practices that may
aid in minimizing slope problems are described. Practices
that should be performed and avoided are emphasized.
o Stabilization Methods -- Various methods of repairing,
protecting, and restoring, or reinstatement, of highway
slopes are discussed.
o Legal Liabilities -- a brief discussion of legal liabilities and
safety measures are described.

All cases, sketches, and photographs (in the oral

presentation) are used to illustrate concepts. Slope stability
and remedial design analysis of highway slopes are
EXCLUDED from this workshop. In slide problems
requiring these types of analyses, the maintenance
supervisor snould contact the maintenance engineer and
the geotechnical staff (or geotechnical consulting engineer).

Even though this workshop is not directed towards review

of major slope failures, sketches and photographs of
selected examples of major failures may be used to
illustrate certain engineering and maintenance problems and
strategies. The emphasis of this short course is upon
those more commonly occurring minor slope failures to
which the first-line maintenance supervisor must give
attention. However, maintenance crews may aid in
preventing major slope failures by being alert and identifying
early signs of distress that foretell major slope movements.
Some early preventive maintenance activities may minimize
the development of major slides from what appear to be
only minor problems. Very often, the maintenance
supervisor is not in a position nor has resources available
to call upon investigative teams of geotechnical engineers
and others to study and evaluate the situation. The
maintenance crew must respond immediately and make
decisions regarding slope movements and maintenance
activities.

A number of sketches and tables summarizing many of the

features that foretell problems with slopes and some of the
actions that may be taken to minimize those problems are
shown in APPENDIX A. These few pages might be
removed from the manual and carried in maintenance
vehicles for ready and quick reference. In APPENDIX B,
suggested slide and culvert inventory forms are presented.
Also, as an appendix (C) to this manual, some aspects of
slope stability analysis and slope design are presented for
those who might want to review this subject.

It should be noted that terms used to describe slope

conditions may differ from one part of the country to
another. Terms and illustrations in this manual are
common but may not be universally used. Sketches are
included to picture characteristics being defined or
illustrated. Local terminology should be used to identify
those situations and circumstances. It is extremely
important that the language used to communicate with
others be familiar to them so there is a definite
understanding of conditions being described. As an
example, the plane or zone separating unstable (moving)
soil or rock from stable material on a slope may be referred
to as the "failure plane," the "slip plane," the "sliding plane",
or the "shear surface." These different terms all refer to
the plane or zone along which movement occurs.

Failure plane or slip surface of a highway slope

failure

12
1I.A. WHY AND HOW SLOPES FAIL

Any object or material placed on a slope will have a

tendency to move down that slope. This tendency towards
downhill movement, in a large part, is a result of the action
of gravity. Gravity is a force that tends to draw out bodies
or objects of the earth's sphere toward the center of the
earth.

Material placed on a slope

All objects and materials placed on a slope do not

necessarily move downward, however. There are other
forces, acting in opposition to the force of gravity, that tend
to hold the object or material in place upon the slope.
These resisting forces often may be considered in terms of
the strength of the particular material on the slope. If the
resisting forces due to the strength of the material are
greater than the force of gravity acting upon the material,
the slope will remain stable and the material will not move.
If the driving or gravity forces acting upon the material are
greater than the resisting forces provided by the strength of
the material or some kind of retaining structure, then the
material wil move downward.

Materiais on slopes that are of concern to highway

v i m and their maintenance crews are soil and rock.
Many dopes are composed entirely of soil or entirely of
rock while other slopes may contain various mixtures of soil
and rock.

Soils alien fail along distinctive surfaces that may be

-wad UxYw estimated by field inspections. Many soil
slope failures have been observed to occur along a surface
approximated by a circular arc. Other slopes have been
observed to fail along a series of circular arcs. Also, many
soil slope failures have been observed to occur along a
surface consisting of a series of planes. Theories have
been developed that may be used to analyze slope failures
aloiq some well defined geometric shape such as the
circuhr arc or a plane. When the water content of the soil
is very hrgh, the soil may move downward. Downward
movements of soils on slopes may occur very gradually and
extetd wer a number of years. Other soil slopes have
been obsenred to have failed rapidly and as a result might
create sudden catastrophic situations for the driving public
and adjacent property owners.

Slopes consisting primarily of rock do not have distinctive

kiilwe surfaces. The failure is a result of fragments
breaking from the rock mass and falling or rolling down
slope. Rock slope failures more typically are very rapid
and occur over a short period of time.
Mudflow slide above roadway

WEDGE (above or below the roadway). This type is usually

larger than a mudflow and the failure plane is wedge
shaped. Wedge-shaped slides usually occur along a
distinctive failure plane. Usually the failure plane in the
middle and lower portion of the slide is a soft clay layer of
low strength or a silt layer sandwiched in between two clay
layers. The failure mass of soil oftentimes slides along
bedrock.

Wedge-type slide above roadway

16
Wedge-type slide below roadway

ROTATIONAL (above or below the roadway). This type is

similar to a wedge failure except the failure surface is more
circular. Rotational slides usually occur in fairly
homogeneous materials. The failure plane is usually
circular and deep, and the mass of soil fails as a unit,
although several scraps may be observed in the upper
portions of the slide. Rotational slides may occur in the fill
or in the fill and foundation soils (subsurface failure).

Rotational slide above roadway

Rotational slide below roadway

BLOCKSLIDE ABOVE ROAD. This type usually consists

of a massive block of soil or rock moving as a unit.
Blockslides usually occur along a distinctive failure plane, or
natural joints in rocks or soils. The failure plane usually
consists of weak materials or joints. A blockslide may fail
as a single unit of material or numerous units may fail at
different times. These types of slides are extremely
dangerous because they fail instantaneously without any
warning.

BLOCK MAY BE ROCK OR SOIL

/

Blmk8lide above roaduwy

ROCKFALL FROM DIFFERENTIAL WEATHERING. This
type usually consists of large boulders falling onto the
roadway. These boulders are mostly competent (hard) rock
underlain by rocks that weather more quickly. This causes
the competent rock to lose support and fall onto the
roadway.

Rockfall from differential weathering

ROCKFALL FROM MASSIVE ROCK SLOPES. This

consists of rock debris that falls from rock slopes that are
close to the roadway. Rockfall from massive slopes occurs
as a result of rock weathering, rainfall, snowmelt, and
freezing and thawing. Very often the massive rock is
jointed. Water gets into the joints and exerts a force
against the rock, causing chunks of rock to fall. Alternately,
the water freezes in the joints. When water freezes to ice
it expands and forces chunks of rock to fall. Water also
seeps along the joints eroding contact points between
pieces and causing rockfalls.
Rockfall from a massive rock slope

ROCKFALL FROM TALUS SLOPES. This type consists

of a mass of highly weathered boulders and some fine
materials that move onto the roadway. This type of
material is prone to failure because of groundwater
seepage and seepage into the talus pile from rainfall and
snowmelt.

Rockfall fiom a talus slope

20
The above sketches are repeated in APPENDIX A. Details
have been added in an attempt to indicate those
characteristics that are significant in identifying the type of
movement as well as suggesting the nature of the problem.
Included with the sketches are features to look for in
observing the slide area as well as the meaning of those
particular features. Also contained in the APPENDIX A are
various courses of actions available to a maintenance crew
to remedy problems that have been observed. Additionally,
certain courses of action have been indicated that should
be a part of routine and day-to-day maintenance activities
in order to minimize problems.

II,C. CAUSES OF SLOPE MOVEMENTS

Earth materials on a slope become unstable and tend to

move downward either when the driving forces of gravity (or
other external loads or forces) increase or when the
strength (resisting force) of the material is reduced so that
the resisting forces are decreased. It is the relative
relationship of the driving forces to the resisting forces that
is of importance in analyzing the stability of a slope and to
select various alternative corrective actions that may be
applied to bring these two forces into proper relationship to
one another.
Even though the action of gravity is constant at a particular
site, the driving forces acting upon the earth material in a
slope may be changed and altered in a number of ways.
When a building or highway pavement or a railroad track
is placed on or at the top of a slope, the loads imposed by
those structures and traffic add to the forces of gravity
tending to move the material downward.
In some parts of the country, liquefaction resulting from
vibrations due to vehicular loads and earthquake forces
may induce what is referred to as a quick condition and
greatly reduce the shear strength of the material because of
unusually high increases in pore pressures. In those areas
of the country subject to earthquakes, liquefaction may be a
potentially serious problem that should be evaluated. When
a mass of soil liquefies, it is changed into a liquid.

Forces of earthquake and gravity acting on a slope

Side casting of material over the shoulder of a highway

slope also increases the forces tending to move the
material downhill. Side casting, therefore, cannot be used
alone to restore the grade and profile of a pavement
deformed by a slope movement. Care also must be used
in storing or disposing of soil and rock accumulated when
cleaning ditches or slopes. Rather than sidecasting these
materials at the top of the slope, it is much better to place
the wasted materials at the toe of the slope. By placing
the materials at the toe, the stability of the slope is
increased.
Driving forces also may be increased by the addition of
significant amounts of water to the soil as a result of
rainfalls or floods. Rather than changing the driving forces
that tend to move material downward, the stability of the
slope may be altered by either reducing or increasing the
resisting forces (shear strength of the soils). Soils are
generally sensitive to the water content and their strengths
may be altered significantly by controlling or not controlling
the presence of water in and around the slope area.
Theories explaining the strength of soils show that when
pressures in the water contained in the pores or voids of
the soil increase, the strength of the soil decreases
accordingly. Water added to the material on the slope as a
result of a rainfall not only increases the weight and
therefore the driving forces acting on the slope but also
may increase pore pressures and therefore decrease the
shear strength of the material. In addition to rainfall, pore
pressures in soils also may be increased as a result of
saturation of the soil mass because of damming of surface
or subsurface drainage. These changes on conditions
associated with water emphasize the need to control water
flow and drainage in and around a slope. It is important
that as much water (surface and subsurface) as possible be
diverted from the area. Provisions should be made to
remove or drain water that gets into the earth slope as
quickly as possible.

Forces tending to move the material down the slope may

be increased as a result of the removal of earth material
near the toe of the slope by erosion or undercutting. This,
in effect, increases the angle of the slope and therefore
brings the force of gravity more into play.
Some soils are subject to large deformations or changes in
dimensions under their own weight or under constant
loading. The strength of a soil may be greatly reduced if
the material is deformed and strained to very large degrees.
On rock slopes, in particular, many materials have a
tendency to degrade and weather when exposed to the
actions of wind and rain. Many shales, for example, have
a high susceptibility to weathering. They degrade to clays
which have a much lower strength than the shale.

A slope is stable when the resisting forces (shear-strength

of soils or rock) are greater than the driving forces (gravity,
external loads, sidecasted materials at top of slope, water
loads and seepage forces, etc,, I). A slope is unstable
when the resisting forces are less than the driving forces.

Ill. RECOGNITION AND IDENTIFICATION

1II.A. TERRAIN
Landform and geology make some areas more prone 10
slides than other areas. These areas should be identified
and cataloged.

III.A.1. RegionallGeological Approach

Major geological and phaiographical regions of the

contiguous United States
24
III.A.1.a. Areas of Clay Shales
Certain rocks appear to be sound and durable when first
excavated. However, because of the high clay content of
these rocks, they breakdown into soil-like material when
exposed to air and water. These rocks are referred to as
clay shales.

Clay shales generally weather to weak clays that are

susceptible to water, freezing, swelling, and creep (slow,
long-term movements). This causes embankments to
slump (dips in pavement), bridge approaches to need
patching, and complete embankment failures. These areas
are particularly widespread in many portions of the country.

III.A.1.b. Steep Natural Slopes

with Thin Soil Covers

MOUNTAINOUS AREAS - ROCKY SLOPES

Mqjor areas of the contiguous United States

containing rocky slopes and thin soil covers
 soil cover

Thin soil covers on steep natuml slopes

1II.A.l.c. Mountainous Areas with

Highly Weathered Rocky Slopes
In mountainous areas where deep cuts must be made, high
rock faces may be a problem. The action of rain dissolving
rock, particularly shale seams, and freezing of water in
crevices in the rock may loosen fragments or boulders. In
western states where there may be little or no soil cover,
rock' debris slides are common.

III.A.1 .d. Areas with Particularly Troublesome

Geologic or Soil Formations

Some geologic formations may, by nature,present conditions

that are landslide prone. If the formation has weak soil or
rock layers interbedded with competent (strong, brittle) rock,
slides often will occur along those weak layers. Some
formations have rock that are very susceptible to
breakdown during weathering, producing much debris. The
chemical composition of rock and the reaction of that rock
with ground water may be an important factor in the
behavior of a formation. Rocks that have higher porosities
will permit more water into the stone and will be more
susceptible to freezing.
Geologic beds sloping toward roadway

Some soils are susceptible to vibration, because of the

arrangement of their particles. When these soils are
subjected to vibration, the structure of their particle
arrangement collapses (similar to a "house of cards") and a
landslide results.

HOUSE OF CARDS ARRANGEMENT (UNDISTURBED)

HOUSE OF CARDS ARRANGEMENT (DISTURBED)

Two types of soil particle arrangements

27
Other areas have soils subject to flowing like water
(liquefaction). When these soils have a large amount of
water in them and are vibrated by an earthquake or
blasting, water pressure (pore pressure) builds up in the
soil, and the soil loses all or most of its strength. As a
result, a landslide occurs.

LIOUEFACTION AREAS

Areas in the contiguous United States susceptible to

liquefaction

Some soil areas are subject to erosion. River banks, the

toes of hills, the toes of embankments, and steep hillsides
are particularly susceptible to erosion. Deep gullies may
result from flowing water. Erosion removes support from the
toe of man-made or natural structures or landforms, and
landslides will result.

III.A.1 .e. Flood-Prone Areas

Areas subject to frequent flooding are prone to landslides.
One landslide mechanism in flooded areas is erosion from
rapidly flowing water. A second mechanism is from a
condition known as "rapid drawdown", which results when
 the soils become saturated during periods when water
levels are high. As flood waters rapidly recede, the soils
do not drain as quickly as the water level falls; therefore,
the soils remain nearly saturated with a consequent loss of
strength, and a landslide results.

TYPICAL FLOOD-PRONE AREAS

Qpical flodprone areas of the contiguous United

States

FLOOD WATER LEVEL

/-

NORMAL WATER TABLE 'NORMAL WATER LEVEL

___------

RECEDING FLOOD WATER

Illustration of the principle of rapid dmwdown

lll.A.2. VULNERABLE LOCATIONS

Some sites are vulnerable to landslides because of

conditions existing at a particular locale. Often these
conditions are related to the geometry of the location, to
prevailing drainage patterns, or to a very localized geologic
or soil condition.

lll.A.2.a. Undercutting Rock Slopes Where

Bending Planes Dip toward Roadway
When bedding planes of a geologic formation dip into the
roadway, undercutting that formation in such a way to
produce an unsupported toe will often cause slippage along
weakened lanes in the formation.

Sliding along dipping bedding planes undercut at toe

of rockslope

lll.A.2.b. Naturally Occurring Springs

Springs located at toes of embankments may soften the
soil, causing it to lose strength and allowing the
embankment to fail. If springs occur at the toe of a cut
slope, on the uphill side of an embankment, the side-hill
embankment may become saturated and eventually cause
the embankment to fail.
30
Natumlly occurring springs on highway slope8

lll.A.2.c. Side-Hill Cut-and-Fill Sections

Side-hill cut-and-fill sections are particularly prone to
landslides. The toe of the cut slope on the uphill side is
subject to erosion and loss of toe support (undercutting).
The side-hill fill portion of a cut-and-fill section may be
weakened by ground-water saturation. Also, if the interface
between the original ground and the fill material is not
constructed (benched), failure of the fill may occur along
that plane.

lll.A.2.d. Side-Hill Fill Sections

(See lll.A.2.c.)
Benching of natural ground u d r a side-hill fill
section

lll.A.2.e. Cut Slopes

(See lll.A.2.c)

Cut slope
Cut elope

III.A.2.f. Poorly Drained Locations

Drainage is one of the most important factors involving
landslides. Subsurface water may saturate and weaken the
soils of embankments, foundations, and natural soils. The
result is often a landslide. Surface water, if not properly
drained away from the earth structure, also may saturate
the soil or infiltrate rock structures.

Poorly drained highway locations

lll.A.2.g. Vertical or Nearly Vertical
Rock Faces near Roadway '
These locations are always a hazard. Because of the
proximity of the rock face to the roadway, rock debris is
nearly always present. Ditches are usually clogged, and
debris often will fall onto the driving surface. Many rock
falls are due to weathering, either from freezing and
thawing or from differences in the ate of weathering
between soft soil or rock layers and competent (strong)
rock layers.

debris
-
roadway

Falling debris b r n vertical or nearly vertical faces

near roadway

lll.A.2.h. Very High Fills

When highway embankments or fills are over approximately
20 feet in height, the embankment will creep or slump
under its own weight. This happens over a very long
period of time (10 to 20 years). Usually the sides of the
embankment develop a noticeable bulge. The surface of
the roadway may have a slight "dip".
Settlement of very high highway fills

1II.B. SIGNS OF MOVEMENT

Most landslides do not occur without some advance

warning. Maintenance personnel should be trained to look
for these signs. If a slide is discovered in the early stages,
steps often may be taken to prevent further movement,
prevent major failure, and save the cost of extensive repair.

One of the early tasks of the maintenance supervisor is to

determine the location of the failure or slip plane so as to
assess the extent (horizontally and vertically) of the
unstable mass. Attempts to identify the source of the
problem and mode of failure are important since the
corrective action must be related to eliminating the source
of the trouble.

III.B.l. Tension Cracks in Roadway or

on Slopes above Roadway
Soil is very weak in tension and it only takes a small
amount of movement at the top of a slope before the soil
"breakswand a crack forms. Tension cracks in the roadway
indicate movement has started. These cracks permit water
to enter and further soften material along the failure plane
as well as add additional water pressure to the moving
mass. Tension cracks above the roadway indicate the
natural slope or cut slope is in the early stages of
movement.
35
Development of tension cracks a t the top of the
roadway slope or cut slope

111.8.2. Escarpments in or above Roadway

Escarpments indicate that the mass of soil or rock has
already failed and moved. Some landslides will have more
than one escarpment, as the soil mass often has a
tendency to move in "blocks".

Development of escarpments in or above rmdway

111.8.3. Sunken Guardrail
Guardrails are installed to match the grade of the roadway.
If there is an obvious dip in the guardrail, but none is
observed in the roadway, this probably indicates that
shallow movement is occurring within the embankment and
involves only the shoulder but not the driving lanes.
However, if there also is an obvious dip in the roadway,
this would indicate a major portion of the embankment is
involved in the movement. Dips in the guardrail at bridge
approaches indicate that the approach embankment andlor
foundation have settled or that the embankment is creeping.

Dip in guardrail

111.8.4. Dips in Grade

For long and high embankments, dips in the grade usually
involve all driving lanes. This type of movement may be
associated with slumping or creeping of the embankment
under its own weight.

Dips in grade also may be associated with culverts located

under large fills. In many cases, these dips may be
attributed to settlement of the backfill around the culvert
and are not related to slump or creep.

Dip in highway gmde

111.8.5. Debris on Roadway

Debris of soil or rock on the roadway may indicate an
unstable slope above the roadway. This debris could be
the forerunner of a massive rockfall or slide. A continuing
problem at a particular site would require maintenance
personnel to take measures to protect the motoring public.

111.8.6. Bulges above, on, or below Roadway

Most slides in soil masses will have a bulge at the toe of
the slide where the sliding mass has accumulated and
"piles up". This bulge indicates considerable movement
already has occurred and that movement will probably
continue until complete failure occurs.
W E T SLOPE

**

Bulges above, on, or below highway roadway

111.8.7. Poor Drainage (Surface Water)

o Blocked Culverts: A culvert that does not permit water
to flow properly may cause water to pond next to the toe of
embankments. This condition will facilitate saturation of the
embankment toe, cause the soil to lose strength and
hinder the ability of the soil at the toe to resist the weight
of the soil higher on the slope. Consequently, a landslide
may result.
o Broken Paved Ditches: Paved ditches that are broken
permit surface water to flow under the remaining portion of
the ditch. This may erode the embankment or it may
permit surface water to saturate portions of the
embankment.

Broken paved ditch

o Water Ponding above, below, on, and in Median of
Roadway: Ponding water is always an undesirable source
of saturating water. Water ponding above the roadway may
cause a cut slope to become saturated and slide onto the
roadway. Water ponding in a ditch or in a median may
saturate the entire embankment or further saturate a
weakened failure plane in an embankment. Water ponding
at the toe of the embankment will weaken the toe and may
cause a landslide.
o Drainage Structures Discharging onto Slopes:
Pipes, culverts, ditches, or other drainage structures that
permit water to flow onto an unprotected embankment slope
may be a major factor in causing landslides. Water from
these structures may saturate a soil structure or severely
erode the slope.

Slope erosion caused by discharge f b m drainage

structure

40
111.8.8. Poor Drainage (Subsurface Water)
o Springs on or at Toes of Slopes:
Springs indicate the presence of the ground-water table as
it intercepts the ground surface. Springs also may indicate
where water from a water-bearing rock formation has
saturated a portion of an embankment or cut slope. Areas
around springs will be particularly vulnerable to landslides.

Indicationu of the presence of ground water table by

springs near toe of slope

o Light and Dark Areas on Slopes: Differences in color

may indicate distinct differences in the amount of water
from one area of the slope to another. Again, areas
containing the greater amounts of water will be more
vulnerable to landslides.
o Soft or Muddy Areas on Slopes: Although no free or
flowing water may be present, a soft or muddy area on a
slope could indicate an area that is saturated and is subject
to movement.
o Vegetation: The type or condition of vegetation growing
on slopes may indicate the presence of subsurface water.
Cattails or willow trees are particularly good plants to warn
maintenance personnel of subsurface water. Grassy areas
of a slope that stay green in dry seasons are sometimes
indications of subsurface water.

Cattails or willow trees warn of subsurfme seepage

111.8.9. Erosion
o Toe of Embankment Slopes: Surface water from paved
ditches or other drainage structures may erode the toe of
an embankment, removing supporting soil and causing a
landslide.
o Toe of Cut Slopes: Rapidly flowing water in drainage
ditches often cause severe erosion at the toe of cut slopes.
Also, poor practices when cleaning ditches may undercut
the toe of cut slopes and cause landslides.
o On Slopes of Embankments: Surface water from
broken paved ditches or other drainage structures often i$
the source of this erosion. Poor maintenance practices are
usually the cause of this type of erosion.
Erosion of toe of cut slope and toe of fill

111.B.10. Changes in Features

More subtle signs of earth movements may include trees
that are tilted from vertical. Tilted trees at the toe of a
slope that are now growing vertically indicate an old
landslide that moved many years previously. However, the
movement has stopped and the tree is now growing
vertically again. A tree growing in a continuous gentle
curve may indicate a very gradual and slow creeping
movement. Telephone poles and fen6es that have sunk or
are tilted out of alignment are also good indicators of earth
movement.

Tilted or curved t q e s
Leaning telephone poles

111.B.1 1. Changes in Structures

o Bridges: Bridge abutments that tilt in relation to the
bridge beams or abutments that move toward the ends of
the bridge beams indicate that the approach embankment is
moving or creeping toward the bridge. Settlement of bridge
approach pavement slabs indicates that the approach
embankment is settling or slumping.

BRIDGE
ABUTMENT

SEAT

Tilted bridge abutments

o Retaining Walls: Retaining walls are structures used to
hold back soil slopes. However, if the soil continues to
move excessively, the wall will tilt from the vertical and in
severe cases will actually overturn. Cracks in retaining
walls also may be evidence of soil movement behind the
wall.

Cmcke in retaining,wall or tilted retaining wall

o Buildings: Buildings located in slide areas may provide

evidence of earth movements. The most notable evidence
arecracks in foundations or in masonry walls. Buildings
also may rise or fall in elevation, depending on their
locations in the slide area.

111.B.12. Examine Adjacent Development (logging,

mining, etc.) for Changes that Affect the Roadway and
Slope
Development along highway rights of way may change
topography, drainage patterns, soil conditions, and any
number of other factors that are significant to landslides.
Any new development or changes adjacent to the roadway
should be cataloged and carefully observed over a period
of time by maintenance personnel.

1II.C. INSTRUMENTATION

Various instruments and methods may be used to

determine the size of a landslide, how rapid it is moving,
the depth of failure plane, the direction of movement, the
location of ground water in the slide, and the water
pressure in the unstable slide material. It is critical that
instrumentation that is installed in a slide be carefully
protected from damage. Often instrumentation must provide
months or even years of data; and if they are destroyed,
then valuable data may be lost. Instruments may be
protected by stakes, flagging, fence posts, or any other
appropriate means. Maintenance andlor construction
personnel should be fully informed about the location,
purpose, and operation of instrumentation.

Protection of geotechnical field instrumentation

III.C.1. Piezometers
Piezometers are used to measure water pressure in the
soil. It is important to know the fluid pressure in the soil.
Higher water pressure reduces the strength of soils, thereby
making the earth slope less resistant to sliding. Piezometers
usually are installed with a drill rig at some predetermined
depth. The drill hole is sealed below and above the depth
at which the piezometer is installed. This permits the
piezometer to measure water pressure only at the desired
depth. Pressure tubes are run from the piezometer to the
surface. Pressure readings are taken periodically as the
need arises.
*

clay clay

C I

bedrock
Qpical cross section of piezometer installation

Observation wells are utilized to obtain information about

the free water table in the subsurface. These wells are
formed by installing a standpipe (may consist of downspout)
in drilled or augered holes. After sufficient time is atlowed
for the water level in the standpipe to reach equilibrium, the
elevation of the water table is determined by lowering a
measuring device (stringline, chain, etc.) to the water
surface.
lll.C.2. Slope Inclinometers
A drill rig also is used to install slope inclinometers. A hole
is augered through the moving landslide mass and usually
5 to 10 feet into stable soil or bedrock. A special hollow
plastic casing is installed in the entire length of the hole
and the hole is backfilled with gravel, sand, or grout. The
bottom portion of the casing (5 to 10 feet) is located in
stable soil or bedrock so that it cannot move. The upper
portion of casing is free to move as the landslide moves.
The casing has vertical grooves on the interior wall in which
an electronic "torpedo" rides. The torpedo measures the
deviation of the casing from the vertical at various depths in
the hole. If the landslide is still moving, the casing will also
move. Periodic readings will indicate if the slide is moving,
the depth at which it is moving, and the rate of movement.

INTERIOR GROOVES FOR TORPEDO WHEELS

ELECTRICAL CABLE
TORPEDO

Side view and top view of slope inclinometers

lll.C.3. Ground Surveys

Establishing a series of survey monuments in the vicinity of
a slide is very helpful in determining surface movements in
the unstable area. A series, network, or gridwork of hubs,
stakes, or iron pins may be precisely located and elevations
and alignments taken on each monument. Subsequent
periodic surveys reveal the relative horizontal movement of
the monuments to each other as well as any elevation
changes. This information defines or indicates the aerial
extent of a slide and the rate at which it is moving.

Tracking slope surface movements using survey

monuments placed in a pattern of gridlines

lll.C.4. Simple Methods

Drain tile or downspout may be installed in a landslide
instead of slope inclinometers. By lowering a rope or tape
in the tile until the rope or tape can go no further because
the tile or downspout has closed off, an indication of the
location of the failure plane may be obtained. Unlike slope
inclinometers, these methods will not yield the rate of
movement.

Cross-sectional view of movement of drain tile or

downspout
If cracks are present in a slide, one may obtain information
about the rate and growth of a slide by measuring the
length and width of cracks.

Measuring the width, length, and growth of cracks in

the pavement or slope

II1.D. SOIUROCK IDENTIFICATION AND

PROPERTIES

The mechanical and engineering behavior of soil and rock

have a tremendous influence on the probability of a
landslide occurring at a particular site. These properties
will influence the size, shape, and rate of movement of a
soil or rock mass.

Discussions presented in this subsection are primarily for

information and for a complete coverage of the topic of
slope stability. However, it is important that maintenance
crews have an elementary background and understanding
of the properties and characteristics of soils and rocks. It is
these materials (i.e., soil and rock) from which slopes are
made. An appreciation of the characteristics and properties
of soils and rocks will assist in determining the extent of an
unstable mass and in evaluating possible causes and
potential remedies.
50
III.D.1. Soil
Soil consists of individual particles that usually are not
compacted very tightly (not consolidated). In addition, the
particles usually are not cemented very well and can easily
be broken apart. Some soils are the result of weathering
of rock. Some are the result of deposits at the bottoms of
oceans, lakes, and rivers. Other soils are the result of
deposits of fine particles that have been carried by wind
and some soils are the result of glaciers that have melted,
leaving the debris carried by the glacier to become soil.

III.D.1 .a. Geologic Formation

Knowing the geologic formation from which soil was formed
may yield much information about the behavior of the soil.
Marinedeposited soils, residual soils (from the weathering
of rock in place), glacial soils, and wind-blown soils behave
differently because of their different geologic origins. The
types of minerals in a formation are important to behavior.

LIMESTONE

SHALE

COAL
I.::...... .:. !..I.
...
.
.
....a ':
I.
SANDSTONE

Cross-sectional view of a typical geological formution

51
More specifically, the types of clay minerals present in a
geologic formation may have a strong influence on the
landslide behavior of a soil. Some clay minerals absorb
more water than other types. Those clays that absorb
more water are more likely to cause landslides than those
that absorb less water.

III.D.1 .b. Basic Characteristics

o Particle-size Distribution: Sizes of soil particles range
from large boulders and coarse gravels to particles smaller
than the naked eye can see (clay sizes). Between these
two extremes are fine gravels, coarse sands, sands, fine
sands, and silts, in descending order of size.
Coarse-grained soils usually are less likely to present
landslide-related problems; whereas silts and clays are
much more prone to landslides.

In most cases, a very general classification of a soil

may be made visually by the following rules-of-thumb:

o Gravels -- Very large particle sizes, all or nearly all of

which are large rock fragments clearly visible to the eye.
o Sands -- Much smaller particle sizes, but still clearly
visible to the eye. The particles will not stick together but
will pour loosely when dry.
o Silts -- Particle sizes are much smaller than sands. The
particles are visible to the eye only with difficulty. The soil
feels slightly gritty. A small lump will crush easily between
the fingers.
o Clays -- Particles cannot be seen with the naked eye.
Soil feels sticky when wet and can be easily molded
between the fingers. When dry, a small lump can be
crushed between the fingers only with great difficulty.
Generally water flows more rapidly through gravels and
sands than through silts and clays, which tend to hold
water. The behavior of silts and clays is more sensitive to
changes in water content. If gravels and sands contain
more than about 20 percent passing the No.-200 sieve, flow
of water is significantly reduced. As a general rule of
thumb, gravels and sands have greater strengths than silts
and clays.
o Plastic Behavior: The engineering behavior of clay soils
is influenced by the amount of water in the soil. If a
particular clay contains a large amount of water, it will act
more as a liquid and will flow easily under a small
disturbance. If water is removed from that soil by drying or
drainage, the soil eventually ceases to act as a liquid and
begins to act more as a highly plastic material. The water
content at which this occurs is known as the liquid limit. If
more water is removed from the soil, the soil eventually
ceases to act as a plastic, and it will act as a semi-solid.
The water content at which this occurs is called the plastic
limit. These limits are determined in the laboratory using
standardized procedures. The greater the range of
plasticity of a clay soil, the more apt it will be to lead to
landslide- related problems.

above liquid limit-

soil acts as a liquid

above plastic limit -

soil acts as a plastic

below plastic limit -

soil acts as a solid

Sketch itlustrating the definitions of atterberg limits

53
o Natural Water Content: This is defined as the weight of
the water in the soil divided by the weight of the dry soil
(expressed as a percentage). It is important for the natural
water content of clays be kept at or below the plastic limit.
This minimizes the possibilities of landslides.

Natural water content illustration

o Unit Weight: The unit weight is defined as the weight of

the soil per unit of volume (for example, 100 pounds of soil
per cubic foot of volume). The unit weight of a soil is
controlled by the weight of the minerals that comprise the
soil particles and by how closely the soil particles are
packed. Usually, the denser the soil (higher unit weight),
the more likely it is to withstand movements that are
associated with landslides.

Illuetration of the unit weight of soil

54
 111.0.2. Rock

lll.D.2.a. Geologic Formation

As with soil, much information may be gained about rock if
its geologic formation is known. lnformation about the
bedding planes, such as how steeply and in what direction
the beds dip and thickness of bedding, is important in
understanding slides in rock formations. lnformation on the
type of rock, its mineral composition, how it was deposited,
and how it weathers is important.

lll.D.2.b. Basic Characteristics

o Unit Weight: The unit weight of rock is important in
determining the forces that initiate a slide.
a o Slake Durability: Many rocks (most notably shales)
have a tendency to degrade or breakdown when subjected
to water and mechanical manipulation (this includes working
with bulldozers, hauling in trucks, and working with
compaction equipment). Shales will degrade to clays. A
laboratory test known as the slakedurability test is used to
determine this characteristic. A shale having a
slakedurability indL of less than 90 is usually considered
a poor shale and could present landslide problems if used
in embankments.
o Freeze-Thaw Durability Freeze-thaw durability is an
important factor in determining the probability of slides in a
rock formation. Obviously, the greater the resistance of
rock to degradation from freezing and thawing the less
a
likely rockfalls or slides are to occur.

lll.D.2.c. Shear Strength Properties

In general, there are two laboratory tests used to determine
the shear strength properties of .rock. These are the triaxial
compression test and the unconfined compression test.
The basic testing procedures are the same as for soil,
except that loads are much higher in the case of rock.

lll.D.2.d. Other Characteristics

Results of strength tests on rock may sometimes be
misleading. Intact rock specimens are tested in the
laboratory and, consequently, the shear strengths are for
unfractured rock. In the field, most rock deposits are
crisscrossed with many cracks, fissures, solution channels,
points, and bedding planes. These features are planes of
weakness that often control the behavior of the rock mass.
In nearly every case when a slide or slope failure occurs in
rock, failure will be through these weak zones.

IV. MAINTENANCE PRACTICES

1V.A. INVENTORY OF SLOPE PROBLEMS

IV.A.1. Methodology

Maintenance supervisors, or other designated personnel,

should establish and maintain an inventory of all highway
slides, slipouts, rockfalls, and sections of highway showing
distress. Distress signs, or preslide symptoms, are shown
in APPENDIX A for several typical highway slides. Also,
any drainage facilities located near or within the distressed
section of highway or slide should be inspected. The
purpose of the highway inventory is to provide information
so that an evaluation of a particular fill or cut slope can be
made. Benefits of an inventory program of slides are as
follows:
o Aids in identifying potential slide areas.
o Aids in defining the scope of a potential highway slide.
o Aids in determining the cause(s) of the highway slide.
o Traces the progression of a potential slide from year to
year.
o Provides vital information for establishing a priority
program for allocating monies and repairs.
o Provides vital and historical data for the geotechnical staff
(or consulting engineer) to review in cases involving
medium and large slides, or slides that may require the
attention of the geotechnical engineer.
o Provides a means of "opening up" communication
among maintenance supervisors, maintenance engineers,
and geotechnical engineers.
o Aids in establishing future budgetary requirements.
o Aids in establishing an appropriate course of action.

It is recommended that the maintenance slide inventory and

maintenance records be reviewed periodically by the
geotechnical engineering staff or consulting engineer. In
cases where city and local officials may not have access to
the state's geotechnical staff, it is recommended that
consideration be given to retaining a geotechnical consulting
engineer. City and county officials should consider using a
geotechnical consulting engineer that is knowledgeable in
slide problems to conduct and help establish the slide
inventory system. This review should be a joint effort
undertaken by the maintenance supervisors, maintenance
engineers, and geotechnical engineers.

By conducting a joint review, slides or potential slides that

need the attention and further study by the geotechnical
staff may be identified. Also, the joint review affords an
opportunity to the maintenance engineer and supervisor to
obtain the opinions of the geotechnical engineers regarding
repairs or further studies that may be considered for a
particular small slide. In certain localities, such as
mountainous areas or areas prone to sliding, establishing
an inventory of slides may represent a large undertaking
since there may be numerous problems and sites.
Establishing the inventory system may require a temporary
reallocation of personnel.

Maintenance records and costs should be used as major

factors in establishing a slide inventory system.
Maintenance records may be used effectively by identifying:
o Areas of numerous overlays or patching,
o Areas of pavement cracking, and
o Locations of previous slope repairs.

Present maintenance accounting systems within a locality

should be tailored, or revised, to trace maintenance costs of
slides or potential slides.

During the initial stages of developing the slide inventory

system, the three identified areas listed above should,
perhaps, be inspected first. Later, as time permits, the
inventory could be expanded to include

o All fill and cut slopes greater than certain critical

steepness and height (officials of each locality should
establish the critical parameters -- it is suggested that all
fills larger than 50 feet and slopes of 2 horizontal to 1
vertical or less be inspected periodically.),,
o All surface and subsurface drainage features, and
o All known slides and slipouts, or suspected areas that
may be prone to sliding.
58
Inspections of particular sites should include a written
record and notes of any abnormal conditions. The
purpose of site inspections is to determine or classify
the condition of a highway fill or cut slope. Site
inspections are best performed during periods when foliage
of trees, bushes, etc., has fallen. Ground conditions are
better viewed during periods when leaves have fallen and
other foliage is dormant. Suggested guidelines for
classifying the conditions of an inspected site might consist
of the following:

o VERY SERIOUS -- Immediate repairs are necessary to

restore the roadway to a safe condition. Examples of a
"very serious" condition might include dropping of traffic
lanes, or shoulder, or massive rocks have fallen onto the
roadway which would impede and pose a danger to the
normal flow of traffic. Such conditions require an
immediate investigation to determine the causes, evaluate
future dangers to motorists, and develop a method of repair
or protection. This situation should be brought to the
attention of the maintenance engineer and geotechnical
staff, or consulting engineer immediately.
o SERIOUS -- Investigation is needed to determine the
cause of the distress and of repairs the type that may be
needed. Examples might include a pavement located on a
fill section that has settled several inches and has required
numerous overlays, or patching, or cracks in the pavement
have been filled on numerous occasions. Another example
may include frequent rock falls onto the roadway. The
situation should be discussed with the maintenance
engineer and geotechnical staff or consulting engineer.
o MEDIUM -- The potential that a problem may become
serious or very serious exists. A limited investigation is
needed and follow-up inspections are needed. The
situation should be closely monitored. Examples of this
situation might include minor settlement of the roadway
(less than or about 2 inches), slight settlement of the
guardrail, or small amounts of debris are discovered on the
roadway.
--
o MINOR Some maintenance repairs may be needed.

IV.A.2. Survey Form

To aid the inspector in gathering physical distress data,
sample slide and culvert inventory forms are presented in
APPENDIX B. Some items that should be included on or
with the survey form are as follows:

o Location -- district, county, route, etc.

o Type of slide -- rockfill, mud flow, rotational, etc. (see
APPENDIX A for typical failures).
o Contributing factors -- Subsurface drainage, side casted
material, etc.
o Inspection data
- rate of movement,
- effect on roadway,
- utilities affected,
- adjacent properties involved,
- maintenance activity,
- discharge from drains,
- size of slide.
width.
height (toe of fill to top of fill or toe of cut slope to
top of cut slope).
- classification of size of slide
small,
medium,
* large.
o Additional noteslsketches
o Photographs
o Cross-sectional sheet
o Estimated repair method
o Estimated repair cost
o Follow-up report (if corrected)

Useful items to have on hand when an inspection is made

are as follows:

o Sketch pad or notebook -- a sketch(s) of the site

should be prepared showing such features and distressed
signs (see APPENDIX A) as:
- alignment of guardrail posts, sign posts, poles, fences,
and trees,
- cracking of the fill or cracking at the top of a cut
slope,
- settlement of the fill and roadway,
- drainage (surface and subsurface structures, such as
culverts, etc.),
- sloughing,
- seepage, spring areas, and ponding,
- other distress signs,
- date of sketch,
- sketched by (name) and telephone number,
- district, county, route, mile post, or station number (if
available) or automobile mileage from a known
landmark,
- north arrow.
o Camera -- Obtain 35mm colored photographs or slides of
the slide or distressed section. Photograph an over-all
view of the site, toe of the fill, roadway, and other physical
distress signs. If photographs are used, then have the
photographs developed to a size measuring 4 inches by 6
inches (Note: photographs measuring 3 inches x 5 inches
are usually too small to view details of physical distress
signs). Some consideration might be given to using only
35mm colored slides, since these would be convenient to
engineer. Photographs or slides should be mounted and
dated in plastic mount holders which may be obtained from
any photographic supply company. In emergency
situations, Polaroid photographs, or comparable
photographs, are useful since photographs may be obtained
immediately. Combine the plastic mounted photographs cv
slides with other inventory data.
o Cloth tape and hand level -- These items can be used
to obtain a cross section(s) of the distressed fill as it exists
at the time of the inspection. Cross sections of the
distressed fill or cut slope may give important clues as to
the type and cause of failure that may be occurring. For
example, as shown in the sketch below, the toe of the fill
has eroded (tension cracks and springs are indicated on
the cross section). Distress signs should be located on the
CUT SLOPE I

BULGE I
DITCH

I
/
/
L
-

I
I
' TENSION CRACKS

Illustration of a sample sketch to include in the d i d .

inventory
62
sketch (measured from a known reference point such as a
guardrail, culvert, etc.). Also, the distance from the toe of
the slope to right of way (if it is known) or from the top of
the cut to right of way should be indicated on the cross
section. In some cases, the right of way may be
determined by talking to adjacent property owners or
checking courthouse records. If no physical evidence such
as a fence is evident during the inspection, then make a
note that right of way is unknown. As shown in the sketch,
the presence of cattails and green grass in the lower
portion of the fill may indicate that subsurface water
(ground water) is intersecting in the lower portion of the
slope. This condition represents an important cause of the
slide.
o Compass -- Used to determine north arrow for sketch.

Once the above information is obtained and reviewed,

recommendations on a course of action should be indicated
on the inventory form. Suggested categories of
recommended actions might include:

o No maintenance is needed; follow-up survey should be

made.
o Only maintenance repairs are needed (specify).
o Maintenance repairs are needed (specify); behavior
should be monitored and other action taken if problem
worsens.
o Behavior should be monitored; geotechnical action
needed; maintenance forces cou!d probably perform needed
action; borings or soundings may be needed to define
bedrock. Stabilization method should be implemented.
o Behavior should be monitored; geotechnical action
needed; slide probably too large for maintenance forces to
implement stabilization method; field instrumentation needed
to monitor movement.
o Emergency maintenance repairs are needed;
maintenance and geotechnical engineers need to be
contacted immediately.
o Other recommendations and comments.

If the slide is classified as medium or large, or if the slide

is such size that the maintenance supervisor and crew
cannot perform the necessary corrections, then the
geotechnical engineer may be required to analyze the
conditions of a site.

Each state or locality should give consideration to

computerizing the slide inventory and inspection data. The
sample forms in APPENDIX B could easily be modified
and adapted for the computer. Computer formats could be
developed for the sample inventory form in APPENDIX B
by each state or locality. By developing a computer
inventory system, data can be manipulated so that
distressed sections of a highway may be easily identified.
Also, a computer inventory system would aid maintenance
personnel in establishing priorities and deciding which
highway sections should receive the most attention. Each
state (where slides are a major problem) should consider
establishing a slide control center for the purpose of
monitoring and reviewing the data. These data would aid
in defining the magnitude and scope,,of the slide problems
within each state. These data may be useful for obtaining
increased funding for maintenance activities in the future.

1V.B. SLOPE MAINTENANCE

Many landslides can be prevented or minimized by careful

and knowledgeable maintenance practices. If maintenance
personnel are familiar with the factors that cause or worsen
slides, more responsive and effective maintenance efforts
will reduce costs to the maintenance agency and
inconvenience to the public.

IV.B.l. Surface Maintenance

IV.B.1.a. Erosion

o Regularly inspect erosion-control elements. These

include ditch checks, all paved ditches, pipe and culvert
headwalls, slope paving, rip-rap, and all vegetation.
o Maintain interception ditches. This will prevent rapidly
flowing surface water from running over fragile slopes.
o Slopes should be reseeded immediately after repairs.
When reseeding, straw or some form of netting should be
used to help hold the soil and seed in place until sod is
established.
o Curbs, dikes, or berms that are not properly maintained
may permit surface water to erode soil slopes. These
should be repaired and maintained in proper working order.

Surface maintenance reparr'm

IV.B.1.b. Vegetation

o Vegetation is one of the better means of controlling

erosion. In addition, sod, trees, and shrubs help to beautify
the right of way, providing a greenbelt along the highway.
Grass roots hold the soil in place, preventing it from being
transported by moving water. Root systems of trees and
shrubs not only hold the soil in place but also help to
reinforce the slope.
o Vegetation in drainage ditches should be controlled. The
vegetation should not be so heavy that the ditch becomes
clogged and water collects behind the vegetation.
However, if the ditch is unpaved, enough grass should be
in the flowline to prevent erosion.

Areas on s l o p where vegetation may be usefil or

ehould be controlled

o In some cases, water-loving plants (grass, willow trees,

cattails) may be planted in wet areas to absorb the excess
moisture in plant growth, thereby reducing the likelihood of
a landslide.
o Although noxious weeds may be a problem in some
areas, it is advisable not to spray vegetation in locations
that are prone to slides.
o Special care should be given to sodded slopes. In dry
seasons, the grass should not be cut too short and
scalping of the ground should be avoided. Where possible,
sod should be watered in the dry season. When wet and
soft, do not put mowers on the slopes. Resulting ruts allow
water to stand and infiltrate into the earth material. This
tends to reduce the strength of the soil. For particularly
troublesome slopes, the sod should be fertilized in the
proper season.
POF(DED WATER

MAINTENANCE
EOUlPMENT
(00NOTMowWHEN
SLOPE IS WET)

Asem of the olope where water may pond

IV.B.1.c. Rockfall
o When rock faces are close to the roadway, there is a
danger of weathered rock falling onto the roadway. These
faces should be inspected reggarly and probably should be
scaled periodically.
o Where there is space between the roadway and rock
face, rockfall barriers may be placed to prevent debris from
encroaching onto the driving lanes. Where little space is
available, screens may be placed over the rock face to
prevent rock from falling onto the driving lane.
o All fallen rock should be removed immediately.
o It is very important not to undercut rock slopes when
ditches are being cleaned.
 Use of w i n mesh on slope to protect roadway

rock fallout area C

, barrier I
I
I

Use of barriers to protect roadway porn falling rock

C o m t and incomct methodr of sloping the toe of a

cut slope above a ditchline
IV.B.1.d. Irrigation

o If vegetation on the right of way is being watered, be

certain there are not leaks or other damage that might
allow excess water to saturate a localized area of the
slope.
o Water the vegetation only to the point to maintain proper
growth. Excessive watering may saturate the entire slope.

IV.B.2. Small Slide Maintenance

When a small slide has occurred, maintenance personnel

can do a number of things to prevent the slide from
becoming worse, or to slow or stop slide movement. These
are as follows:

o Always direct surface waters away from the slide area.

This can be done using pipes or paved ditches.

Method of directing water away porn the slide ama

69
 - - -- - - -
ROADWAY

Realignment of dminage pipe to divert drainage fiom

the slide area

o If there is excess water in the slide area, providing some

mode of drainage would be beneficial. Horizontal drains
are helpful, in many cases, where subsurface water is a
problem. Ditches and pipes are best for draining ponded
surface water.

WATER

Control of subsurface seepage using horizontal dmins

70
0 Establishing vegetation will help to absorb some excess
water and prevent erosion.
o All surface cracks should be sealed to prevent water from
saturating the slope.

Sealing of cracks to prevent infiltration of rurface

water into fill

o If material and right of way are available, the side slope

of a small slide could be flattened. This will provide more
side support.

Flattening a ride elope to repair a highway rlope

failure

71
o Materials that are very weak or are susceptible to water
(hard to dry) should be removed, if possible, and replaced
with a material having a higher shear strength.

HERE

R e p k i n g weak nuaterials with strong materids to

repair a highway slope failure

o The movement of all known slides or unstable areas

should be regularly monitored. This will help to determine if
maintenance efforts are working.

There are a number of things maintenance personnel

should avoid when performing maintenance work on small
landslides. These are as follows:

o Do not excavate the toe of a slope.

o Do not remove any lateral support for a slope or
embankment.
o Do not perform any type of excavation or earth work that
would permit water to pond in the slope area.
o Do not load the top of the fill (side casting). This will
add a driving force to the slide.
 /
00 NOT DUMP WASTE MATERIAL HERE

The poor practice of 'sidecasting or dumping waste

materiul at the top of a elope

o Do not block any drainage structure, including ditches,

pipes, or culverts.
o If a slide continually causes the driving surface to sink or
settle, frequent patching of the surface will only add more
weight to the slide. This practice should be avoided and
the slide should be properly repaired.

Continuow patching of a section of highway pavement

73
1V.C. DRAINAGE MAINTENANCE

Proper drainage of surface and subsurface water is one of

the most important aspects of maintaining stable slopes.

IV.C.l. Surface Maintenance

Proper management of surface water will greatly assist in
the prevention of landslides.

W.C.1.a. Maintaining Surface Runoff

o Always divert water from a slide area or an unstable
slope. This will help to prevent erosion and saturation of
the slope.
o Always keep pipes and drainage channels free of dirt,
debris, and vegetation.

Blocked dminage and ponding in dminage channel

o If any joints have separated in a drainage pipe, they

should be repaired immediately. This will prevent saturation
of the slope or embankment and also minimize erosion
around the pipe.
 separated joints

Pipe with separated joints

o Do not use rigid pipe in a landslide or an unstable area.

A rigid pipe cannot accommodate the movement that is
occurring in the area without separating at the joints.

rigid pipe
unstable area

Rigid pipe in unstable area

o Do not allow erosion to occur around the ends of pipes.

Always use head walls and slope protection on the inlets
and outlets of pipe. This will help to prevent erosion around
the pipe.

Inlet and outlet protection of pipes

o Always use the proper pipe for the job. Do not use a
pipe that is too small and will cause water to back up.
Always use flexible pipe in an area where movement is
occurring. In areas where the water is acidic, use only
pipe that is not affected by acid.

1 1
WATER FWOW

PIPE TOO SMAU/' 1

Ponding water caused by inadequate pipe size

o Do not permit drainage pipes to terminate too short,

allowing water to discharge onto the slope. Again, erosion
or saturation of the slope could result.

Waferflowing onto slope became pipe ia too short

IV.C.l .b. Maintaining Surface Drainage

o Do not over excavate ditches. This may remove toe
support of an embankment or cut slope. This also may
permit water to pond in the ditch, and this water may
saturate the embankment.

DONOtOVEREXCAVATt

ROADWAY

Over excavation of highway slope

o Do not divert water toward the slide or slope.

Water diverted to slope

IV.C.2. Subsurface Drainage Systems

All subsurface drainage systems in landslide areas

must be maintained.

IV.C.2.a. Do's
The following is a list of items that should be done to
maintain subsurface drainage:

o Geotextiles should be used around all drainage gravel.

This prevents fine clays and silts from filling the void
spaces in the gravel, resulting in clogging of the gravel.

,,;;*..-:,t. GEOTEXllLE FABRIC

*,*r;Z,* ....
o$'J

AASHTO * 57 STONE
1 COLLECTOR PIPE

Recommended method of constructing drainage gravel

o All drainage systems should be cleaned on a regular

basis.
o Flexible pipes should be used in all collector systems.
o Pavement edge drains should be used in slide areas.
These drains help to collect surface water that gets into the
pavement structure through cracks in the surface and
through paving joints.
o Access should be provided to all drainage systems in
order to maintain and clean them.
o All large pipes should have cleanouts installed at regular
intervals.
Large pipe cleanouts

o All non-functioning systems should be carefully evaluated

for proper repair and repairs should be made as quickly as
possible.
o All utility installations should be monitored to insure that
damage does not occur to existing subsurface drainage
systems.

IV.C.2. b. Don'ts

A number of things should not be permitted when

maintaining subsurface drainage. These are as follows:

o Do not use any features on any subsurface system that

would hinder or prevent maintenance activity.
o Do not use rigid collectors on subsurface drainage
systems.
o Do not construct a structure with a granular backfill that
will not drain (bathtub design). This typa of structure will
only serve to saturate the embankment.
Bathtub drainage condition caused by poor drainage
material

IV.C.3. Structures

IV.C.3.a. Do's
Maintenance personnel should remember the following
items when performing maintenance work around highway
structures.

o Provide drainage for bridge ends. This will prevent

erosion around bridge abutments and will minimize high
pore waterpressures behind abutment walls.

Bridge end drainage

o Be certain that filtration materials behind abutment walls
and retaining walls are performing properly. These filtration
materials help to minimize high pore pressures.
o Maintain all drainage structures such as pumping
stations, diversion structures, siphons, and irrigation
systems.
o Be certain that expansion joints at bridge ends are
maintained and that they are performing properly.

IV.C.3.b. Don'ts
The following items should not be permitted when
maintaining highway structures:

o Do not permit the use of rigid slope paving where water

may get behind it. This could produce high pore pressures
or cause frost heaving in the winter.

PROVIDE WEEP HOLES

AND GRAVEL BEDDING

Weep holes in rigid slope paving

o Do not permit water to be channeled behind headwalls,

abutments, or retaining walls. This will cause high pore
pressures behind these structures. Be certain that
filtration materials behind abutment walls and retaining
walls are performing properly. These filtration materials
help to minimize high pore pressures.
 geotextile fabric

gravel

new

Drainage behind mtaining walls

1V.D. ROAD SURFACE MAINTENANCE

IV.D.1. Crack Sealing

Seal all surface joints, cracks, and edges that have a
potential to permit water to enter the subgrade or
embankment.

Sealing of pavement and slope cracks

IV.D.2. Patching
All potholes and uneven settlement should be patched to
prevent standing water that could saturate the subgrade.
Patching of potholes and areas of uneven settlement

IV.D.3. Overlays
Overlays (covers entire pavement surface) should be
considered when the pavement has many cracks from
fatigue or temperature changes.

1V.E. UTILITIES CONSTRUCTION

IV.E.l. Makecertain subsurface drainage is not disturbed

by installation of utilities.

IV.E.2.Excavation should not be permitted to cause

instability in an adjacent slope.

IV.E.3.Backfill should be properly compacted to be certain

settlement does not occur. Settlement would permit water
to pond.

IV.E.4.AII trenches left open for any period of time should

have drainage provided to prevent water from standing in
the excavation and saturating the surrounding soil.
IV.E.5.AII vegetation should be restored to excavated slopes
to prevent erosion.

Reseeded a m of slope repairs

 V. STABILIZATION METHODS

To aid the maintenance supervisor, this portion of the

manual (and workshop) includes a description and
discussion on the various methods that may be used to
stabilize a slope failure or to provide a slope protection
system. The purpose of stabilization is to restore the
highway section to an original condition (or in some cases,
to restore the section to a condition that is better than the
original condition).

It should be noted that the same principles used to repair

large slides are generally applicable to repairing small slope
failures. Also, it is important to understand that there are
several different ways of repairing a small slope failure.
Each case must be examined to determine the most
economical and appropriate method.

This section has been divided into three parts:

o Basic approaches -- A discussion of the fundamental

approaches and basic concepts involved in stabilization and
protection methods.
o Repair methods -- The various repair methods that may
be used to stabilizelprotect a slope are described. The
type and mode of failure where the method could be
applied are indicated.
-
o Slide economics A quick method of estimating the
costs of several repair methods is described.

When a highway slope fails, or rock debris falls onto the

highway, the maintenance supervisor must decide on a
course of action. Suggested general steps involved in
reacting to a slope failure include the following:

o ALWAYS EVALUATE THE SAFETY OF THE SLIDE -

DON'T ASSUME THAT THE SLIDE IS SAFE (when there
is doubt, especially in medium and large slopes, contact the
geotechnical engineer).
o Obtain preliminary information (use the inventory form in
the APPENDIX B -- this form serves as a checklist of items
that the supervisor should observe during inspection of the
failure. GATHER ESSENTIAL DATA BEFORE TAKING
ACTION.
o Monitor the slide and record location (notify responsible
person).
o Select a repairlprotection method -- IN MEDIUM AND
LARGE SLOPES, or if there is uncertainty about conditions
of a small slide, seek advice from the maintenance and
geotechnical engineer.
o Inspect repairedlprotected slope periodically.

A more detailed description of each of the above steps is

described in the APPENDIX B. Since a slope has failed,
the maintenance engineer must decide if it is necessary to
contact the state's geotechnical staff or a consulting
engineer or if he should proceed and select a method of
stabilization. With regard to this decision, the course of
action will depend on:

o The experience and capabilities of the supervisor in

dealing with slope failures of a similar nature
o The size of the fill, depth of the failure plane, and size of
the slide
o The type and mode of failure.
Strict rules cannot be formulated for making this decision.
However, some general guidelines are suggested and
discussed below.

Experience is obviously developed and obtained over a

period of time by dealing with different types of slope
failures and finding satisfactory solutions, that is, selecting a
slope stabilization method that works for similar types of
slope failures. The geotechnical staff, maintenance
engineer, or consulting engineer should aid the
maintenance supervisor in this sense by helping them (with
the information in this manual and knowledge of local
conditions) to identify situations and showing them that
certain methods of stabilization could be applied to similar
situations.

The size of slide involved, depth of the failure plane, size of

fill, and type of slide are significant factors in deciding on a
course of action. The following steps are suggested:

o Determine type and mode of failure (review section in

APPENDIX A entitled " Typical Slides on Highways").
These are as follows:

- Small debris falls from cut slopes -- Seek advice

and assistance from the maintenance engineer,
geotechnical engineer and geologist.
Stabilizationlprotection methods are described in
Section V.B.7.
Rockfall Pom differential weathering

- Large, massive rockfall from cut slopes - Seek

advice and assistance from the maintenance
engineer, geotechnical engineer and geologist.
Stabilizationlprotection methods are described in
Section V.B.7.
CONTACT OWNERS DIVERT WATERS
ABOUT ADJACENT FRGM SLQE AREA

(POST WARNING SIGNS-.

IN EMERGENCIES. POST FLAGMEN1
Example of recommended actions by maintenance
supervisor for a blockside ( for other typical slope
failures, see APPENDIX ly
 - Long, shallow failures -- Seek advice and assistance
from the maintenance and geotechnical engineers if
the slide is greater than about 20 feet in height or if
there is some uncertainty about the slide and method
of repair. Usually the failure plane or surface of
sliding occurs at the interface of soil and rock line.
Fill and foundation soils slide along the top of the
bedrock. Stabilization methods are described in
Section V.B.3. Generally, these methods are
expensive.

FAILURE MASS

Long shallow highway slope failure

- Subsurface failure in fill and supporting foundation

soils (deep-seated, rotational and wedge-shaped
failures) -- Seek advice and assistance from the
maintenance and geotechnical engineers. Subsurface
failure is the condition where weak soils below
original ground cannot support the weight of the fill.
Some types of subsurface failures are illustrated
below. This type of failure is characterized by a
"hump" at the toe of the slope.
 SUBSURFACE FAILURE

HUMP

WEAK FOUNDATION SOILS

Subsurface failure in weak founhtion soils and fill

Toe slump in h r g e fNI and soils below original

ground
If the slide is still in an active state, that is, complete
collapse has not occurred, rows of survey stakes placed
parallel to centerline can be useful in determining if a
subsurface failure is occurring.

In small slides and small fills or cut slopes (less than

about 20 feet), the maintenance supervisor may be able to
construct a stabilization method based on the advice and
direction of the geotechnical engineer. Some methods of
repair that might be considered are discussed in sections
V.B.l.a, b, and c; section V.B.3 (in particular section
V.B.3.h); and methods in section V.B.4 in combination with
methods in section V.B.2.

- Small rotational toe failures of the slope -- These

types of slips are illustrated below. These types of
failure need immediate attention.

Toe slump and potential elumps in fill

Toe slumps may eventually lead to large- scale

failures because the failure plane eventually
Toe elump in fill above reinforced concrete culvert

Slump in upper portion of fill

Rotational elide below roadway

Rotational elide above roadway

progresses up the slope and affects the outer traffic

lane. Oftentimes the toe slump occurs in the fill
material, that is, the failure plane passes through the
soil that was placed when the fill was constructed.
However, as shown above, a portion of the failure
plane may pass through weak foundation soils. If the
toe slump and slide are small (less than about 20
feet) and the maintenance supervisor feels
knowledgeable enough of the situation, then a repair
method might be selected and implemented. If there
is doubt, then seek advice and assistance from the
geotechnical engineer. If the toe slump occurs in a
medium (20-50 feet) or large fill (greater than 50
feet), notify the geotechnical engineer and get advice.
Some methods of repair that may be considered are
discussed in sections V.B.l.a, b. and c; section V.B.2;
and section V.B.3.h.

- Surface, or fill slides (mudflows) -- Surface slides

occur in cohesive soils (clays and silty clays) that
were used to construct the fill. Usually this type of
failure is about 2 to 5 feet deep and appears some 5
to 10 years after construction of the slope. This type
 of failure is a mudflow and is caused by plastic flow
of the soil. This type of failure occurs after many
wetting and drying cycles and is usually most
prominent in soils that have a liquid limit and plastic
limit equal to or greater than 50 and 30 percent,
respectively. During dry periods, cracks open up.
The soils are very plastic, sticky, and have a high
clay content. The clays tend to swell when exposed
to water. During wet periods the open cracks
provide pathways for water to infiltrate into the slope.

Mudflow slide below roadway

Mudflow slide above roadway

94
As the water content approaches the liquid limit of the
soil (the soils swell and increase in volume), there is
a loss of strength. Once this occurs, the soils flow.
Movement progresses up the slope until the outer
traffic lane is affected. Usually, the maintenance
supervisor assumes the responsibility of repairing the
slope. However, if the fill slope is greater than about
20 feet, the supervisor should seek advice from the
geotechnical engineer because the cost of repairing
the slide may represent a sizable portion of his
maintenance budget. (see decision chart in Appendix
E concerning surface slides -- mudflows -- and
subsurface failures.

o Study drainage of fill, roadway, slope and structure

(see section V.B.2).
o Summarize and review inventory data.
o Select slide stabilization method (section V).
o Perform cost comparisons of selected stabilization
methods (quick cost estimates of some methods can
be obtained from the information described in section
V.C.).

In fills involving medium and large slides, or

subsurface failures, the geotechnical engineer will
perform the following:

o Determine the depth of failure -- slope inclinometers

may be installed to determine depth to failure plane.
o Determine depth of water table -- water observation
wells or piezometers may be installed.
o Sample failed materials.
o Determine strength of materials.
 o Classify soil from Atterberg Limits and particle-size
tests; determine natural water contents.
o Obtain cross sections; define site geometry,
o Review geology of site and other historical
documents pertaining to the site.
o Perform stability analysis of failed slope and check
the stability of repair method selected for correction.
o Compare costs of selected method and select a
method having the lowest cost.

V.A. BASIC APPROACHES

V.A.1. Modify Slope Profile

The slope may be altered so the driving forces tending to
cause failure are decreased or the resisting forces tending
to stabilize the slope are increased. For example, removing
the top portion of a fill decreases driving forces. Placing a
soil mass at the toe of the failure increases the resisting
forces.

V.A.2. Control Drainage and Seepage

Water is the primary cause of most highway slope failures.
Methods of stabilizing a slope failure are usually combined
with methods of controlling water in the failed area.

The strength of soil or rock consists of two parts: a

cohesive part and a frictional part. Cohesion is that part of
strength that binds soil or rock particles together. The
frictional part occurs when one part of the soil mass slides
past another part of the mass. These two parts of the
strength of soils and rock resist failure.

Water affects strength of soil or rock by reducing the

cohesion (softening) and by reducing the frictional strength
component. Soil or rock softening usually occurs when it is
exposed to water over a prolonged period. If water rises or
seeps into a highway fill or cut slope, the strength of the
soil or rock is lowered. Conversely, if water is lowered or
removed, the strength is increased. Controlling surface
drainage and subsurface seepage are essential remedial
actions in highway slope failures.

When a slide occurs on a highway slope, the cohesive

component of strength is essentially reduced to zero along
the failure plane. Also, there may be a reduction in the
frictional component. Hence, on the failure plane, the
strength of the soil or rock is reduced, although the strength
of the material above and below the failure plane usually
may be much greater. Therefore, a slope that once stood
on a 2 horizontal to 1 vertical slope may not remain the
same or stand for a long period of time.

V.A.3. Construction of Stabilizing Structures

The purpose of stabilizing structures is to increase forces
resisting failure. This is usually done by placing a mass of
earth or a retaining structure at the toe of the slide.

V.A.4. Removal and Replacement

The entire unstable mass or a portion of the slide (normally
the top portion) may be removed and replaced with a more
suitable or stronger material. By replacing the weakened
material with a stronger material (such as stone or gravel),
the forces resisting slope movement are increased. A
portion of the excavated slope may not be replaced. The
driving forces tending to move the slope downhill may be
reduced by removing the upper portion of the unstable
mass and replacing it with lightweight material.
V.A.5. RelocationlAvoid Problem
In some circumstances, the solution to a particularly
troublesome slide problem may involve relocating the
highway into a more stable situation. This approach avoids
the problem area.

V.B. REPAIR METHODS

V.B.1. Modify Slope Profile

Reshaping the slope to increase its stability may be
accomplished by several methods. Methods commonly used
are as follows:

o Flatten slope.
o Soil and rock berms at toe of slope.
o Shear trenches.
o Benching.
o Excavation

V.B.1 .a. Flatten Slope

Regrading and flattening the slope of a highway fill or cut
slope is a primary and economical method used to repair
small failures. This is a common and reliable method of
correcting a slide. In the case of a highway fill slip, this
method usually causes minimal disturbance to the existing
pavement and fill. In the case of a cut, generally sufficient
material may be removed to permit the passage of traffic.
Remember that proper signing is essential for the safety of
the traveling public as well as the maintenance crew.

Slope flattening often is easier to construct and less

expensive than other remedial methods. However, if
additional right of way is required, the cost may be
prohibitive. Also, the time delay to acquire the right of way
may contribute to an aggravation of the instability. When a
cut slope or the slope of the original ground under a CI is
very steep, it may be impractical to flatten the slope.

Slope flattening is normally used to correct deep rotational

failures in clayey soils.

--mSOLS
lo5

Deep-seated, rotational failure

/ 1lORIGIWAL
; SLOPE

FAILURE PLANE

Cross section illustrating the concept of flattening a

highway slope
Typically, the failed slope is regraded so the new slope is 3
or 4 horizontal to 1 vertical. Do not regrade the slope to
the old slope - this usually is not a permanent solution.
Since the slope failed, regrading to the same slope will
usually insure that failure will occur again. Since failure
occurred, the soil h the failure zone is weaker than the soil
above and below the failure plane.
Slope flattening may also be used to repair small toe
failures in the fill as illustrated below.

Toe slump in fill

: SLOllED DRAINAGE PIPE

Using a flattened slope to correct a toe slump

Slope flattening also is useful for repairing small slides
where the slope in the toe area is steep (2 horizontal to 1
vertical or steeper). Theover steepened slope may be the
result of erosion or may have been constructed originally.

FLATITNOD SLOPE

Over steepened slope near toe of highway slope and

use of a flattened slope

An approximate method for estimating the flattened slope

based on the original steeper slope is given in APPENDIX

Basic steps for flattening slopes are as follows:

o Obtain slope profile when feasible. Locate the failure

scarp at the top of the failed mass (point a), and the bulge
on the slope at the toe of the failed mass (point b), when
the slope profile is obtained. On a plotted cross section,
sketch a circular arc through these two points, and any
others known or estimated on the failure surface. It is this
arc that approximates the location of the failure plane. The
circular failure arc that passes through these two points (a
and b in the sketch below) is located by trial and error
using a compass. The center of the circle is moved around
and the radius of the circle is varied until a circle is located
that passes through the two failure points.
Method of approximating the failure plane and eire of
elide
o Divide the slope line segment cc' into two equal parts.
Construct a perpendicular line at point d. Usually, the
center of the failure circle that passes through points a and
b is located slightly above the line perpendicular to the
slope. Determine flattened slope. Generally, a 3 or 4
horizontal to 1 vertical slope may be used. Use the flatter
slopes for the more clayey or silty slopes. Make sure the
flattened slope covers the toe area of the failed slope.
When the material of the flattened slope is placed as
shown in the sketch, most of the additional weight is to the
left of the vertical line through the center of the circular
failure arc. This adds to the driving forces and will not
stabilize the unstable slope.
HIGHWAY

LFAILURE PLANE
incorrect application of a flattened elope
o Look on site (within right of way) for suitable borrow
material. Clean, durable stone, such as limestone,
sandstone or washed bank gravel, is preferred. However, if
these higher quality materials are not available, use what is
available, except for organic soils. Waste materials from
other slope failures, ditch cleaning, slope cleaning, etc. may
be used. It is good policy during ditch and slope cleaning
to stockpile waste materials for future use. Stockpiles
might be located close to highway sections showing distress
as determined from the inventory. Alternately, at fill
sections showing distress, the waste materials could be
placed at the toes of the distressed fills.
o Remove failed material partially or completely (cut
slightly below the failure plane to remove as much soil as
possible). Suggested limits of excavation are shown in the
sketches.

aT-.oRIGINAL
'. SLOPE

FILL HEIGHT hI '\

\2 : 1
/

LIMITS OF EXCAVATION

Suggested limits of excavation for various slopee

 ORIGINAL SLOPE

FILL HEIGHT

LIMITS OF EXCAVATION

Suggested limits of excavation for various slopes

Be extremely cautious when removing failed material --

this operation may lead to a larger failure. Work quickly
and around the clock if necessary to place material back at
the toe of the failure. If practical, do not remove more than
about 50 to 100 linear feet of the failed material at a time
(this is about the minimum distance that equipment can
operate). Replace the material immediately.
o If the material removed is wet (equipment sinks into the
soil), then dry the material by grading back and forth until
the water content is about equal to the plastic limit.
Alternately, the optimum water content may be estimated
using the liquid and plastic limits of the wet soil and the
accompanying graph. (Adding a small amount of hydrated

LIQUID LIMIT

Chart for estimating the optimum water content of a

soil
or quick lime when available can aid in drying the soil and
improve workability. This is effective mainly in clayey soils.
If the soil sticks to your hands, then most likely lime will
work. Use two to six percent lime by weight of failed
mass. The soil also may be dried using a plow or disc.)
o Place a drainage blanket on the lower portion of the
distressed area when soil is used to construct the flattened
slope. A drainage blanket is a relatively thin course of
free-draining material (sound, clean, non- degradable rock),
and is usually 1 to 3 feet thick. The blanket is relatively
permeable and drains water that may enter the slope
area. The drainage blanket (and slotted PVC or perforated
collector pipes) intercepts ground-water seepage before it
enters the slope zone and drains the water that might
infiltrate the slope from rainfall and snowmelt runoff. The
drainage blanket should be protected from clogging by
enclosing it with a geotextile filter fabric, or by designing the
blanket as a filter. If the flattened slope is constructed
entirely of clean stone (on fines), the drainage blanket may
be omitted. However, geotextile fabric or filter aggregate
should be placed against the excavated soil slope before
placing the stone.

BLANKET AND FILTER, A

7 COLLECTOR PIPE

Dminage blanket un&r a flattened slope

105
 .
RAINFALL OR SNOWMELT

SOIL \!LmTf

COLLECTOR PIPES/ FAILURE PLANE

(GRAVITY DRAIN) EXCAVATION LIMITS
GEOTEXTILE FILTER
FABRIC OR
FILTER AGGREGATE

Use of a dminage blanket under a flattened slope to

control surface seepage porn rainfall and snowmelt
and ground water seepage

RAINFALL OR SNOWMELT
\
FLATTENED SLOPE

COLLECTOR PIPE

Use of geotextile filter fabric and slotted pipe to

prevent infiltration of soil into flattened slope
constructed of stone
Another scheme of internal drainage is shown in the
sketches below. After excavating the unstable material,
trenches are dug (using a backhoe) into the slope at
approximately 5-foot intervals. The sides and bottom of the
trench aie lined with geotextiles before backfilling with free-
draining stone. Geotextile fabric is placed on top of the

GEOTEXTILE DROPPED TRENCHES CONSTRUCTED

INTO TRENCHES ' USING BACKHOE

Plan view of scheme using stone-filled trenches

FLATTENED SLOPE

T.
GEOTEXTILE FILTER FABRIC
TRENCHES
STONE
SLOTTED DRAINAGE PIPE
Cross-sectional view of internal drainage scheme of
stone-filled trenches
stone before placing soil on the slope.

o Regrade and place the flattened slope against the

drainage blanket and distressed area.
o Reseed the flattened slope (if soil is used).
o Inspect repaired slope periodically to monitor
performance.

V.B.1.b. Earth and Rock Berms

Earth and rock berms are used to provide a counterweight
in the toe area of a failed slope. Berms usually are
applied to correct deep rotational failures (which usually
occur in cohesive soils -- clays and silty clays). Also,
berms are used to repair small slides where the toe area of
a slope may be over steepened as a result of erosion or
poor construction. Small toe failures, a condition that may
lead to larger failures, may be corrected by earth and rock
berms.

HlaHwAr Q BERM

.
w N E 2
.----/ /
0

Uue of earth and rack berma as a counterweight in the

toe area:of a failed slope
 WEAK FOUNDATION SOILS

Deep-eeated, rotational failure

yh
CLEAN STONE WRAPPED

Important component8 of a benn

Typically, the volume of the berm should be approximately

114 to 112 of the unstable soil
mass and should extend beyond the toe area of the
failure. Caution should be exercised in placement
of the berm. It should not be positioned in a
manner that would increase the driving forces on
the failure mass.
Steps involved in constructing the berm are essentially the
same as those in constructing flattened slopes.
Nondegradable rock is preferred for constructing berms.
However, almost any type of soil or rock (including shales)
may be used. Caution should be exercised when the
berm must be constructed on soft soils since there is
the danger a failure may occur in the berm. In this case,
a high-strength geotextile fabric might be considered and
placed on the soft ground as shown in the scheme in the
accompanying sketch.
I

I
GEOTEXTILE OR
PLASTIC GRIDS
SOFT GROUND

Suggested approach for constructing a berm on a soft

foundation

The factor of safety of a flattened slope with a berm Is

usually higher than that of a flattened slopewithout a
berm.
3H: 1V FLAlTENED SLOPE : Fz1.2
3H : 1V FLAlTENED SLOPE WITH BERM : Fd.5

-
LLOPE
FLATTENED S--. - ORIGINAL SLOPE
/

BERM
I
&He
-/7,
0
/- ANALYZED
I I SURFACE

FOUNDATION SOILS

Comparison of the stabilities of a flattened slope and

a berm coupled with a flattened slope
110
A flattened slope with a berm is a good remedial
combination.

FLATENED SLOPE we'

\ I 9'

3' BORROW B L A N ~ 'STABILIZING KEYWAY

Flattened slope and berm

V.B.1 .c. Shear Trenches

Shear trenches or shear keys provide increased shearing
resistance to failure and also may serve as a subsurface
drain. A shear trench is frequently a good supplement to
flattened slopes and berms. Shear trenches should extend
the entire length of the failure, and should be keyed into
rock. Coarse nondegradable rock should be used to backfill
the shear trench. The rock should be compacted in place
(maximum lift thickness of 2 feet). When stone is used, a
crawlor tractor may be used for compaction.The rock fill
should not have more than five percent passing the
No.-200 sieve when used as a drainage course.
Sandstone, limestone, and washed river or bank gravel are
good backfill materials.
Recommended designs of a shear trench and shear key
are shown in the sketches. Trench back slopes may usually

SANDSTONE BER
SAND SURFACE
SHEA
LURE SURFACE

Stability principle of a shear trench

WITH GEOTEXTILE FILTER FABRl

Important components of a shear trench

be constructed between 1 to 1.5 vertical to 1 horizontal.

Since excavation of the trench may be near the toe of the
failure, stability of the standing embankment is critical.lt is
best to construct shear trenches during the dry season of
the year. Excavation of the trench should not be
performed in segments exceeding about 50 feet.
Immediately backfill each 50-foot segment before excavating
flattening is difficult and sloughing occurs as shown in the
sketch. Benching helps to control erosion and catch debris
of small slides. Slope benches so that runoff is collected
and conveyed from the slide area.

Benching also is used where slope flattening or berms are

used. Recommended general design considerations are
shown in the sketch. It is a good practice to place a
drainage blanket (1 to 2 feet thick for small slides) on top
of the benched slope before backfilling. If the stone is
exposed to clay or silts, then it should be wrapped in a
geotextile fabric. Also, installing PVC slotted pipe in the
drainage blanket is good practice. The pipe should be
sloped (approximately two percent grade) to convey water
away from the slide area.

ORIGINAL GROUND

/ L----

BENCHING

Benching of original ground under a highway

embankment
V.B.1 .em Overall Considerations
When using slope flattening, berms, benching, and shear
trenches, certain economic and feasibility factors must be
considered:

Right of Way: Do not encroach onto adjacent property

with the flattened slope or berm. The supenrisor should be
aware of property lines near the slide to avoid litigation.
Property lines of distressed highway sections should be
determined before the section fails when possible. An
inventory system can be used effectively to identify potential
slide locations. Property lines may be studied before the
slide occurs.

Topography of Site: There may be cases where slope

flattening and berm construction are not feasible because of
the rough topography of the site. The toe of the highway
slide or top of the cut slope may not be readily accessible.
The feasibility of using slope flattening and accessibility of
equipment for distressed highway sections should be
studied in advance when possible.

Availability of Suitable Borrow Materials: When

possible, use coarse (nondegradable) rock fill.
Nondegradable stone does not break downwhen exposed to
air, water, and freezing and thawing. Limestone, hard
sandstone, sand, washed river and bank gravel are
examples of suitable borrow materials. Clay shale is not
suitable since it degrades when exposed to water. Consult
a geotechnical engineer about local aggregates that are
considered nondegradable. However, good rock fill may
not be available or is uneconomical at many slides.
Usually, materials at the site will be used. All materials
should be compacted. Study the sites identified in the slide
inventory and identify suitable borrow materials and haul
distances -- plan ahead.

Available Personnel and Equipment: Learn the

capabilities of your personnel and equipment. Ask yourself,
"If this highway section failed, is the necessary equipment
and skilled personnel available to repair the failure?"
Discuss the problem with your personnel and explore ways
a potential slide identified during the inventory might be
repaired. Trust the instincts of the employee on the
bulldozer. He will know when a particular operation is
unsafe. If the job appears too large, contact a higher
authority or a knowledgeable contractor andlor geotechnical
engineer. If an engineer andlor contractor is contacted,
obtain a reference list of landslide repairs he has managed
or designed. Make sure the engineer and contractor have
experience in landslide repairs.

Budgetary Constraints: Many budgets are usually not

prepared with the notion of repairing a highway failure. Do
not attempt to spend $350,000 on a slide when the
maintenance budget may be only $1 or $2 million per year.
Use of the inventory system will permit some preplanning
so that some small slides may be corrected and remedial
actions taken to minimize failures.

V.B.2. Drainage
Surface drainage and subsurface seepage into highway fills
and cuts are a major cause of highway failures. Control of
surface and subsurface seepage is essential to prevent or
halt failures. Drainage methods should be used early in the
treatment of failures or distressed highway sections. A
variety of surface and subsurface methods may be used:

SURFACE WATER DRAINAGE MEASURES

Surface ditches
Divert surface waters
Seal joints, cracks, fissures
Regrade slope to eliminate ponding
Pave surface of slope
Seeding

SUBSURFACE DRAINAGE MEASURES

Horizontal drains
Drainage blankets
Cutoff walls
Vertical well points
Seepage tunnels

V.B.2.a. Surface Waters

Construct Surface Ditches: Open surface ditches may be
used to reduce ponding and to comtrol runoff within the
distressed area. Open ditches also may be used to
surround a slide area to prevent the entry of water into the
unstable mass. Be cautious of using open ditches within
the slide or distressed area. This could aggravate the
situation and contribute to further distress. Study the
situation carefully and be sure water is conveyed to a point
outside the distressed area. Surface ditching may be as
simple as cutting or making an unlined channel to
constructing a channel lined with clay, rock, or plastic.
Surface treatment may include surface drains and other
surface repairs.
Divert Surface Waters: Small streams of surface water
running into the distressed area or onto the failed slope
may be diverted by cutting an open drainage ditch around
the head of the slide so that runoff is diverted away from
the slide. Also, a drainage ditch lined with stone, filter
fabric (geotextile), and slotted drainage pipe (shown in the
sketch) may be used to intercept subsurface seepage and
convey it away from the distressed area. As shown in the
sketch, the stone is completely wrapped with geotextile.
The drainage or filter fabric allows water to pass into the
stone, but it blocks the movement of small soil particles
into the stone. As a result, the stone drainage blanket
does not become clogged by small soil particles.

CLAY CAP

COLLECTOR PIPE

Geotextile filter fabric around drainage gravel

Seal Joints, Cracks, and Fissures: Surface water flowing

into an open crack may significantly affect the stability of a
highway slope failure in progress (shown in the sketch).
Tension cracks develop at the head of slopes because soil
cannot withstand large tensile forces (tending to pull soil
apart) over a period of time. Tension cracks may extend
several feet into the fill. As shown in the sketch, for a
tension crack measuring 18 feet deep and filled with water,
a force of about 10,000 pounds acts against the potential
failure mass. This force would be large enough to cause
complete failure in many cases. Therefore, it is essential to
seal all joints, cracks, and fissures observed in a distressed
area. In emergency situations, use plastic sheeting to
cover open cracks and joints until the maintenance crew
can provide a more permanent solution. Position the
plastic sheeting so runoff is conveyed away from the
cracks. Cracks may be filled and sealed with asphalt or fat
clay. The repaired cracks should be inspected periodically
and repaired again if necessary. Reopening of a repaired
crack is a sign that movement of the slope is continuing.

M CRACK

FAILURE PLANE 7

Illustration of the large force exerted against a

potential failure mass caused by a tension cmck filled
with water

Regrade Slope to Minimize Ponding: Ponding of water

on any part of a highway slope should be eliminated.
Ponding of water on the slope reduces the available
strength of the soil or rock, since ponded water eventually
seeps into the slope. Ponding may often be eliminated by
regrading the slope. Four particular areas on the slopes of
highways that should be constantly watched are as follows:

o Ponding of water on top of the slope, such as in

depressed medians of separated highways.
o Ponding of water in the drainage ditch that parallels the
roadway.
o Ponding of water along the toe of a highway fill.
o Ponding of water in ruts left by mowing equipment
operating on wet, soft slopes.
PONDED WATER

PONDED WATER

EEL TRACKS FROM

WERS OR OTHER
MAINTENANCE
EQUIPMENT
(DO NOT MOW WHEN
SLOPE IS WET)
h a u on slope whem ponding water m a y occur

POTENTIAL URGE
FUTURE FAILURES

SMML SLUMP

Crose-sectional view of ponded waters on a slope and

potential problems that may develop
The toes of highway fills are highly vulnerable to ponding.
High concentration of stresses occur in the toe area and
anything that disturbs that area may cause complete failure.
Ponding saturates the soils and reduces strength available
to resist failure (prolonged soaking softens clay soils. As
clay soils absorb water and swell, a gradual decrease in
the cohesive component of strength occurs). A high water
table (top of pond) reduces the frictional component of
strength.

Ponding commonly occurs in depressed medians and at

toes of fills. Ponding of water at the toes of highway fills,
for example, was a common occurrence along a stretch of I
71 in Kentucky (between Louisville, Kentucky, and
Cincinnati, Ohio). Many small failures were observed along
this stretch of interstate. The small failures would
eventually lead to major failures.

Ponding may be eliminated in many cases by regrading the

slope. This action may require placing additional material
in the ponded area and building additional ditches. Do not
allow mowing equipment on the slope when the soils are
wet.

Pave Surface of Slope: Paving is another surface

treatment that is applied in critical locations to control
erosion and to collect, control, and redirect surface seepage
or runoff. This method is used to prevent runoff from
entering the unstable mass or to convey water from the
unstable mass.

Seeding: Vegetation may be used to control erosion of

unstable masses. This method provides a protective
surface on the slope and is used as a means of lining
ditches. Roots of plants and grasses absorb moisture and
aid in preventing infiltration of water into the unstable mass.
Seeding and the establishment of vegetation always should
be used in the reconstruction of slope failures. In some cut
slopes, seeding may not be practical because of the
steepness and nature of the materials on the slope. On fill
slopes, vegetation also serves another purpose -- the
prevention of small shallow slides. Roots form a matrix or
a mat that hold soil particles in place. This matting helps
resist failure and aids in holding the top few feet of soil in
place. Roots of vegetation generally increase the strength
of soil. Consult a geotechnical engineer or plant pathologist
in the local area for a list of native plants and grasses that
form a thick mat of roots, absorb water, and are adaptable
to the local climate.

VEGETATION

MARRAM GRASS -

- DOUGLAS FIR

Roots of vegetation

Subsurface seepage areas may be detected by observing

"green areas" on the face of highway fill or cut slopes
during dry periods. It is best to view the slope at a
distance to detect different colorations of vegetation on the
slope. These areas should be staked or flagged for future
reference and treatment, and noted in the slide inventory
file.

FAILURE PLANE
(SLOUGHING)

Prevention of shallow sloughing of a slope using roots

of vegetation

V.8.2.b. Subsurface Waters

Horizontal Drains: Horizontal drains are a good early
treatment to intercept subsurface seepage at side-hill
highway fill and cut slopes. This technique often is the most
economical drainage measure. The method is appropriately
applied at sites where deep failure has occurred and is very
useful in intercepting pervious water-bearing strata before
the water reaches the failure mass. This method lowers
the water table in the slide mass (or intercepts the seepage
before it enters the slide mass) and therefore increases
shear strength.

Installation of horizontal drains usually consists of inserting

a slotted PVC pipe or perforated metal pipe, measuring
about 1.5 to 2.0 inches in diameter, into cased horizontally
drilled holes. Special drilling equipment is used for this
purpose. The pipe is usually placed on a 3 to 20 percent
grade to allow gravity drainage. The casing prevents
collapse of the hole. An example of the use of horizontal
drains to repair a landslide is shown in the sketch.

FOUNDATION
HORIZONTAL DRAINS

Horizontal drains

SOIL AND WEATHERED ROCK

L ORIGINAL GROUND
ROADWAY
I
DRAINS

TTRESS

EMBANKMENT REPAIR
I 75 (TN)

Repair of embankment using horizontal dmins and a

rock buttress

In smaller slides, cased water observation wells should be

installed in the distressed area as a minimal measure
before installing horizontal drains. These wells aid in
locating the ground- water table. Casing for observation
wells may be slotted PVC pipe or perforated metal
(galvanized) pipe (e.g., downspout). Several holes are
drilled into the downspout. The casing prevents collapse of
the hole and the slots and holes in the casing allow water
to enter. The use and cost of installing horizontal drains is
wasted if the ground-water table is below the distressed
area. Observation wells should be monitored over a period
of time (several days or even weeks), when possible, to
establish the ground-water level. On highway fill or cut
slopes where "green areas" of vegetation, in contrast to
lighter areas of vegetation, have been observed, installation
of horizontal drains may be a good possibility. Hence, the
slide inventory may prove valuable in selecting sites for
applying horizontal drains.

Horizontal drains usually are positioned in the lower portion

of the slope and below the toe of the slope in natural
ground. Frequently, drains are installed in rows. In difficult
terrain, they may be installed in a fan-shaped pattern.
Usually, at least two rows of drains are needed to be
effective. To prevent clogging by fine materials and roots,
the drains are wrapped with a geotextile filter fabric and the
last 15 to 20 feet of the pipe (near the ground surface) is
left unslotted.

Routine maintenance and monitoring of horizontal drains

should be performed periodically. Discharge rates should
be measured. Also, wells and piezometers should be
monitored to determine if the horizontal wells are effective
in lowering the ground-water table.
In large slides, it is good practice to perform subsurface
exploration so that:

o Embankment conditions may be defined.

o Foundation conditions may be defined.
o Ground-water levels may be defined.
o Piezometers or cased water observation wells
may be installed.

Drainage Blanket: Drainage blankets are used to collect

and control subsurface or ground-water seepage. Drainage
blankets also control and collect surface seepage that
infiltrates from rainfall and snowmelt runoff. The blanket
consists of pervious drainage material. Sound, durable rock
fill (such as washed river or bank gravel, limestone, or hard
sandstone gravel) should be used to construct the blanket.
To be most effective, the rock fill should not contain fines
(zero percent passing the No.-200 sieve). Consult a
geotechnical engineer for information on good drainage
materials.

Drainage blankets normally should not be placed directly on

clayey or silty clay soils. Fines from these soils will
eventually infiltrate into the rock fill and clog the drainage
paths. Small amounts of fines, as low as five percent
passing the No.-200 sieve, may significantly reduce the
permeability or capacity of the drainage blanket to convey
water. Geotextile fabric or filter aggregate,such as concrete
sand or similar material,may be used as a filter against
many fine-grained silty and clayey soils. Asphalt sands
may be used as a filter against silt-sized soils (nonplastic).

Typical applications of drainage blankets are as follows:

o Drainage blanket placed beneath reconstructed fill.

BLANKET AND FILTER. 7

Dminage blanket under flattened slope and berm

o Drainage blanket placed beneath flattened slope or

berm.

RETAINING WALL

GRANULAR BACKFILL
BLANKET AND FILTER
'COLLECTOR PIPE

Dminage blanket under backfill behind retaining wall

o Drainage blanket placed beneath shear trench backfill.

SHEAR TRENCH
BACK FlLL

COLLECTOR PlPE

Drainage blanket beneath shear trench backfill

o Drainage blanket placed beneath backfill behind a

retaining wall.

COLLECTOR PlPE

Dminage blanket under refon8tructed fill

o Drainage blanket placed as an interceptor trench-filled

toe drain.
FlLL SLOPE

NATURAL GROUND

OR PLASTIC
FILTER FABRIC
PLACED ALONG CLEAN, COARSE
TRENCH BOlTOM
I
'
, DRAINAGE AGGREGATE
ANDBACKSLOPE

COLLECTOR PIPE

Drainage blanket placed as an interceptor

toe trench drain
128
Thickness of the drainage blanket should be a minimum of
1 foot when the blanket is placed on fine-grained soils. A
thickness of 3 feet is preferred. For small slides, the
blanket may be thinner (1 to 2 feet thick). When the fill
consists of sound durable rock or clean sand, the blanket
may be eliminated or reduced in thickness. Filter
aggregate or filter fabric should always be placed between
the fill soil and drainage blanket. Perforated or slotted pipe
should be embedded in the drainage blanket to convey
water from the distressed area.

Cutoff Wall: Cutoff walls are used to control seepage and

often are used with hydraulic structures such as earth
dams. The intent of cutoff walls is to decrease the quantity
of seepage or increase the flow quantity (but reduce pore
pressures) by providing drainage relief structures. Methods
used include the following:

o Sheet-pile cutoff wall.

o Compacted barrier of impervious soil.
o Grouted or injected cutoff.
o Slurry trench.
o Impervious mixed in-place walls.
o Drainage relief trenches.

The first five methods have limited application for correcting

highway slides, particularly when applied to smaller slides.

Drainage relief cutoff trenches are sometimes used to

intercept subsurface seepage before it enters highway fills.
However, based on past experience, interceptor drainage
trenches, when used at the uphill side of fills, are ineffective
because of their shallow depth. Usually, the maximum
 DRAINAGE RELIEF CUTOFF TRENCH
/

l -2--- -L A
FT MAX.
---- I

PERVIOUS LAYER --=-

Dminage relief cutoff trenches

depth of a drainage trench that can be constructed

economically is about 10 feet. This depth often is too
shallow to intercept seepage before it enters the fill.
Careful study of site conditions and geometry should be
made before using drainage trenches on the uphill side.
Use of this technique should be limited to very shallow
highway failures and failures in cut slopes. Drainage
trenches are more effectively applied at the toe of fills.

Vertical Drain Wells and Well Points: Vertical drainage

wells are sometimes used on the up slope side of highway
fills to intercept subsurface seepage before it enters the
SOIL COVER AND PAVED DITCH

HORIZONTAL DRAIN

Vertical drain wells with belled bottoms as a means of

highway fill. Vertical drains are more effective than
"
drainage cutoff trenches because they can be extended to
greater depths. The vertical wells are either pumped
directly or joined with horizontal drains. Pumping should be
considered a temporary control measure because of the
high expense. Well points (vertical drainage) are
sometimes installed at slide locations when making repairs.
For example, well points might be used to lower the
ground-water table when constructing shear trenches and
aid in maintaining stability.

Typical features of pumped vertical well points when placed

upslope are as follows:

o Well diameters are 6 to 12 inches.

o Vertical wells are spaced on 20- to 30-foot centers.
o Sound, clean durable rock (no fines) are used to
backfill.

Typical features of vertical drains joined by horizontal drains

are as follows:

o Vertical drains are placed up slope of the fill on 4- to

5-foot centers.
o Diameter of vertical drain should be about 2 to 3 feet
(Drill rigs normally used for installing caissons or drilled-in
piers for building foundations are available in most areas to
install these drains.).
o Bottoms of vertical drains are belled using a special
belling drill tool so the drains are interconnected at the
bottom.
o Horizontal drains are connected to the vertical drains to
provide gravity drainage.
o When vertical drains are not interconnected, interception
of the vertical drains with horizontal drains is difficult
at horizontal distances in excess of about 100 feet.
Greater lengths of horizontal drains may be used when
the bottoms of the vertical drains are connected.
o For every ten vertical wells, two to four horizontal wells
are needed to drain effectively.
o Vertical holes usually are backfilled with sand. For
nonplastic soils, asphaltic concrete or comparable sands
may be used. For silty and clayey soils, concrete sand is
satisfactory.
o Vertical observation water wells (perforated pipe or
slotted PVC) are installed during installation to monitor
ground-water levels and to determine the effectiveness of
the drainage system.

In some situations (as in cut-fill transitions), interconnected,

belled bottoms of the vertical drains may be sloped to
induce gravity flow to remove the water as shown in the
sketch. A careful study of the site (possibly by a
geotechnical engineer) is required to design an effective
drainage system.

ORIGINAL GROUND 3 - 20 PERCENT

FOR GRAVITY DRAINAGE

Vertical drains as a mecute of controlling eubeurface

seepage
Seepage Tunnels: Seepage tunnels are used to correct
large slides and in cases where major structures are
threatened. This method is not applied to small slide
corrections.

V.B.3. Retaining Structures

Retaining structures are used to correct highway failures by
increasing the forces tending to resist failure. Generally,
the retaining structure is placed at the toe of the distressed
area or slope failure. Types of structures used in highway
slide corrections include:

o Concrete walls.
o Earth and rock buttresses.
o Crib walls.
o Gabion walls.
o Piles and caissons (drilled into rock).
o Tiedback walls.
o Tied piles.
o Reinforced slopes.

Retaining structures frequently are misused because the

failure mass may be several times larger than the wedge of
soil retained by the structure. Also, retaining structures are
expensive to build.
I

FAILED SLOPE

Sliding wedge dope failure

133
 3:l FLATENED SLOPE
ORIGtNAL HIGHWAY SLOPE

RETAINING STRUCTURE

ROCK LINE

Misuse of a retaining structure

To be effective, the wedge of soil supported by the wall

should be similar or larger in size to that of the failed
mass. Typically, the slope of the supported wedge ranges
from about 1 horizontal to 1 to 2 vertical. If the failure

SOIL WEDGE
SUPPORTED BY WALL
\

FAILURE PLANE

Comparison of soil wedge supported by a retaining

wall and the sliding failure mass

mass is much larger than the wedge of soil that thewall can
potentially retain, a tieback system or some other method of
stabilization may be required. As shown in the sketch, the
supported mass (wedge) may be increased by increasing
the depth of the wall.
 SOIL WEDGE
SUPPORTED BY WALL
GRAVITY WALL
(CRIB, CONCRETE,
ETC)
I

OF WEDGE

Soil wedge supported by wall in relation to depth of

wall

Some potential applications of retaining structures are as

follows:

o Small slides with small dimension in direction of

movement.
o Slides with steep toe slopes.
o Backward extension of failure into larger mass not
likely.
o Used primarily to support slope flattening and berm fills.
HIGHWAY

L i f PLArrENED SLOPE
ORIGINAL SLOPE

ORIGINAL GROUND /
RETAINING WALL

Application of a retaining structure a t the end of a

berm and flattened slope
o Used where right of way andlor borrow material is
limited.
o Long shallow slides.

HIGHWAY

Long shallow highway slope failure

SAFETY BARRIER
RETAINING STRUCTURE

REGRADED SLOPE

ORIGINAL GROUND

Application of a retaining structure to repair a long

ahallow highway slope failure
V.BS.a. Concrete Walls
Because of foundation requirements and construction costs,
concrete walls may have limited application in repairing
highway failures. Concrete walls are susceptible to
cracking as a result of differential settlement (i.e., one point
of the wall settles more than another). Other types of
structures usually can be constructed at less expense.
Types of concrete retaining walls include the following:

o Gravity concrete wall -- mass of concrete resists

overturning and sliding caused by the retained wedge.
Steel reinforcement (except for some steel to counteract
wall expansion due to fluctuations in temperature) usually is
not used.
o Semi-gravity concrete wall -- mass of concrete, reinforced
with steel bars, resists overturning and sliding caused by
the retained wedge. Generally, the semi- gravity wall is
slightly thinner than the gravitv concret~wall

CONCRETE
REINFORCING
STEEL BARS

GRAVITY SEMIGRAVITY

Gmvity and semigmvity retaining etructuree

o Cantilever concrete wall -- in this design, the footing width

in front and back of the wall are sufficiently wide so the
columns of soils in front and back of the wall rest on the
concrete footing and aid in resisting failure and maintaining
stability. Reinforcement is used to hold the concrete
together and stiffen the wall. This type of wall is much
thinner than the gravity and semi-gravity walls.
o Counterfort concrete -- this design is essentially the same
as the cantilever wall except counterforts are used to
strengthen the wall. The concrete counterfort wall is slightly
thinner than cantilevar walls and is reinforced with steel
bars.

COUNTERFORT
TOE SLAB I
I I
HEEL SLAB

CANTILEVER COUNTERFORT

Cantilever and counterfort retaining structure8

Positive drainage behind concrete walls is essential to

maintain stability. Weep holes andlor drainage blankets
should be used. Retaining walls should be inspected
periodically.

Portable, precast concrete walls may be used effectively to

repair small highway slides. In one locality, county officials
use portable, precast concrete wall units to correct many
failures. These failures basically are less than about 10
feet in height and are caused by the erosion of the toes of
the highway fills by streams. Each precast concrete wall
unit measures 8 feet in length and 4 feet in height. The
base of each concrete unit measures 1 foot. The width at
the top of the unit is 6 inches. Steel reinforcement bars
and hooks (for lifting) are included when the concrete is
poured into a specially designed concrete form. The
precast concrete units are poured at the concrete plant and
stored until they are needed. The length of the concrete
units are limited to 8 feet so that they will fit in a dump
truck. A large rubber- tired backhoe is used to load the
units into a dump truck and unload and place the units at a
particular slide location. The rubber-tired backhoe is also
used to excavate a portion of the slide and shape the area
of the slide before placing the portable concrete wall units.
After the concrete units are placed, they are tied .pa
together using reinforcement bars that are orginally placed
during precasting. About 2 feet of a reinforcing bar
portrudesfrom each end (backside) of the wall unit. The
portruding bar of one unit is threaded through an "eyeu
bolt (placed during precasting) of an adjacent unit. The
wall units are anchored using precast concrete anchor
blocks. The portruding reinforcing bars of the anchor
blocks and wall units are tied or bolted together. The
anchor blocks are placed behind the wall at a height of
one-third of the height of the wall from the bottom of the
wall. The walls are backfilled with material from the
streambed so that it is not necessary to import backfill
materials. The wall units are sometimes double-stacked or
a gabion wall may be constructed on top of the wall units.
Occasionally, the wall units fail. In this case the wall units
are lifted, placed back to the original position,and backfilled.
Generally, a small slide can be corrected in less than 4 or
5 hours using a 3 or 4 man crew.

V.B.3.b. Earth and Rock Buttresses

Earth or rock buttresses are used to reinforce the toe area
of the slope as shown in the sketch. To be effective, the
volume of the buttress should be 114 to 112 the volume of
the slide mass. The buttress should extend 5 to 10 feet
below the failure zone to provide an adequate shear key.
By using nondegradable rock fill (no fines passing the
No.-200 sieve), slopes of rock buttresses may be
constructed as steep as approximately 1 horizontal to 1
vertical (provided water is intercepted by the rock buttress

SOIL AND WEATHERED ROCK

ORIZONTAL DRAINS

Rock buttrees used to repair a highway slope failure

Toe slump in fill over a reinforced box culvert

140
 UNSLOllED DRAINAGE PIPE

Repair of u toe slump over a box culvert using a rock

buttress

or by a drainage blanket before it enters the buttress).

Slopes of earth or soil buttresses (mixtures of soil and rock)
should not be greater than about 2 horizontal to 1 vertical.
The amount of fines (percentage passing the No.- 200
sieve) in the mixture should be limited to a maximum of
about 20 percent.

Slump in fill near toe of slope

 SLOTTED, FLEXIBLE

WRAP STONE WITH GEOTEXTILE

FILTER FABRIC

Repair of toe slump ueing a rock buttress

Slump in fill near top of elope

 DRAINAGE PIPE (UNSLOTTED)

Repair of a slump near the top of a slope using a rock

buttress

If fill material of the failed slope contains fine-grained soil,

then filter aggregate or geotextile filter fabric should be
placed next to the fill material before placing the rock or
earth buttress. Generally, a drainage blanket should be
placed on the filter fabric to intercept the ground-water table
as shown in the sketch. The drainage blanket should be 2
to 3 feet thick and should be constructed of sound and
clean (no fines) nondegradable rock.

V.B.3.c. Crib Walls

Crib walls are suitable for repairing small slides
(approximately 20 feet or less in height) and for preventing
the undercutting of the toe of slopes. Crib walls are more
versatile than rigid retaining walls because they can
withstand fairly large vertical and lateral movements (also
differential movements) and not lose stability.
 \ HEIGHT OF SLIDE EQUAL TO
OR LESS THAN 20 FT)

Use of a crib wall prevent undercutting of toe of slope

Components of a crib wall consist of a series of

interconnected cells usually 8 to 12 feet square. The cells
(headers and stretchers) usually are constructed of wood
(old railroad ties and treated timber have been used in
GRANULAR BACKFILL
FACE CELLS

Components of a crib retaining wall

small slide repair), metal, and precast reinforced concrete

struts. Backfill consists of granular materials (smaller than
about 12 inches) such as crushed stone or sand. As the
wall is constructed, the backfill should be compacted in thin
lifts (6 to 12 inches). Space between stretchers should be
limited to a maximum of 8 inches to retain the backfill.
Crib walls should be battered toward the supported fill when
the height of the wall exceeds 12 feet. Slope of the batter
should be 1 horizontal to 6 vertical. Additionally, lower
cribs should be placed behind the wall (for added support)
when the wall is battered. The additional lower cribs also
enlarge the wedge of soil that can be retained by the wall.
Approximately 10 to 20 percent of the wall height should be
placed below finished grade at the toe. When the backfill
behind the wall consists of fine-grained soils or contains
significant fines, filter fabric should be placed on the fine-
grained soils (clays and silts) behind the wall to prevent
clogging of the backfill. The top of the wall should rise
above the backfill so that loose fine material does not wash
over the wall and into the backfill. This condition would
clog the crib-wall backfill. Whenever practical, the wall
should be placed on firm rock, or, when this cannot be
achieved, the wall should be placed on compacted fill or
the natural soil (if firm), It may be desirable to construct a
granular working platform at the start of construction of the
crib wall. A granular drainage blanket (with collector
pipe(s)) consisting of clean nondegradable rock should be
placed behind the wall.

V.B.3.d. Gabion Walls

Gabion walls are effective in situations where erosion
control is important and should be considered as part of
designs involving berms or flattened slopes adjacent to
rivers and streams when waters from flooding may seep
into the slope. Gabion walls are economical up to a height
of about 20 feet. At greater heights, other wall systems
may be more economical. A Gabion wall is a gravity type
of structure. The Gabion wall is a flexible type of wall and
 HIGHWAY

Plan view of etream eroeion at the toe of a highway

Pu

DEEP FOUNDATION

Toe e m i o n of a highway slope a-ent to a etream

 FAILURE

Portion of gabion wall buried below original ground

W. T.
FROM STREAM FLATTENED SLOPE

-1 GABION WALL

HIGH WATER

/ FAILURE
PUNE
BURY 10 TO 20
PERCENT BELOW
BEDROCK ORIGINAL SLOPE
(LOCATE ON BEDROCK
SEEPAGE OF STREAM IF POSSIBLE)
INTO FILL

Wee of a gabion wall to prevent erosion of toe of

highway fill

can withstand some vertical and horizontal movements

without failing. Other advantages include:

o foundation footings are' not required.

o unaffected by frost heave.
o self-draining.
o easy to erect.
The gabion wall consists of interconnected wire mesh
containers filled with nondegradable rock (see the sketch).
Typically, the wire mesh is 11-gauge galvanized or coated
(plastic) steel wire to minimize corrosion and it is woven in
a hexagonal pattern. Openings are about 3 to 4 inches.
Typical lengths of gabion containers are 3, 6, 9, and 12

STONE FILL
FACE OF WALL

- wiw-L STEEL WIRE MESH

Components of a gabion retaining wall

feet. Ends of the gabion containers typically measure 1,

1.5, and 3 feet (square). Gabion containers are backfilled
with nondegradable stone (stone size must be greater than
the openings of the container). Generally, the size of stone
used ranges from 4 to 8 inches. The zinc coating should
conform to ASTM (American Society for Testing Materials)
641-71 and to U.S. Federal Specification LL-W-461H finish
5class 3. Construction of the gabion consists of placing the
containers next to and on top of each other. The
containers are joined together at all contact surfaces using
13-gauge steel wire. The gabion wall should be battered
on a slope of 1 horizontal to 6 vertical. About 10 to 20
percent of the gabion wall height should be located below
final grade at the toe of the slope. The wall should be
founded on firm rock, silty soil, or compacted fill, A
geotextile filter fabric should be placed behind the wall
when the backfill consists of fine-grained soils.

Erosion of the toes of slopes along streams is a frequent

occurrence. This situation often occurs at sharp bends in
the stream. The bottom of the gabion wall should be
founded on bedrock to minimize undercutting. For narrow
streams, the gabions might be extended across the bottom
to reduce erosion and undercutting. Gabions may be used
to line the entire channel throughout the distressed area.

\ GABION CHANNEL LINING

GABION MATTRESSES

GEOTEXTILE FILTER FABRIC

Lining channel of atream with gabion mutt~esaeato
prevent atmambed erosion
'

Using gabion walls, as a method of stabilizing small

hiahwav slides. is a tmhnin~m that mnnu m a i n t a n a m
in a given locality. A wealth of design and construction
information is available from manufacturer's literature.
Gabions are supplied folded flat and tied in pairs for ease
of handling.

Steps in erecting a gabion wall consist of the following:

o Assembly.
- Remove flat gabion and stampout kinks.
- Fold front and back panels to a right angle by stepping on
the base along the crease. Fold up the end panels and
then fasten to the front and back panels using wire
projecting from the upper corners of each panel.

Flat gabios,

DOUBLE LOOP

SINGLE LOOP

Method of looping lacing wire

- Lace all vertical edges of ends and diaphrams.

To lace, cut a length of lacing wire about 1 112 times the

distance to be laced (the length should not exceed 5 feet).
Loop and twist wire at the comer and lace with single and
double loops at about five (5) inch intervals. Fasten the
other lacing end by looping and twisting.

Typical gabion baskets

Gabion mattress
o Installation.
- Smooth ground surface (when possible locate first row of
gabions on bedrock when possible. If this is not feasible,
locate on natural ground or a compacted layer of hard,
durable rock)
- To facilitate backfilling, place gabions at the site front to
front and back to back (Note: sub-assemblies can be
constructed at the maintenance yard--the number of
gabions assembled at the yard depends on the number that
can be handled at one time. These sub-assemblies could
be constructed during slack periods and kept on hand for
future use).
- Lace all contact surfaces of the gabions. The base of the
empty gabions that are placed on top of a backfilled row
must be laced.
- Stretch a row of empty gabions by backfilling the first
gabion on one end and using a come-a-long at the other
(applies to 3-foot high gabions). Inspect all comers during
stretching and relace any openings between edges or
comers. Continue stretching during the placement of stone.

Stretching a gabion basket using a come-a-long

o Filling
- Fill gabion with hard, durable rock that has been
graded between 4 to 8 inches.
- Mechanical filling is desirable and is usually used.
Filling of the gabion may be performed by using earth
 handling equipment such as a payloader, gradall,
crane, conveyor, or modified bucket.
- To prevent damage to the top edges of the
diaphragms and end panels, place rebars along the
top edges of each mesh panel and lace the rebars to
prevent movement. Alternatively, pliable metal may
be bent and placed over the vertical panels to deflect
the stone as it is placed.
- Dump the stone when the bucket is at its lowest
distance.
- Place the stone in one-foot lifts. After each lift, two
connecting wires should be placed between each lift
in each cell of all exposed faces.
- Be sure to lid mesh be stretched tight when wiring
the gabion is wired closed to prevent movement of
the fill.
- During filling,some hand labor may be needed to
prevent large voids in the backfill by adjusting the
stone fill.

V.B.3.e. PileslCaissons
Piles and caissons (or drilled shafts), placed in rows to form
a pile or caisson retaining wall and to provide lateral
restraint, have commonly been used by maintenance
personnel to repair highway slides. Piles may be driven or
pushed into place or piles may be placed in drilled holes.
Caissons are constructed by drilling a hole 2 to 3 feet in
diameter, installing reinforcing steel (an H-pile or steel
cage), and backfilling with concrete. This method can be
applied rapidly and is frequently used in the early treatment
of a highway slope failure. This method of slide correction
frequently has been misapplied to large slides. Either a
single row or several rows may be used to form the wall.
Use of piles or caissons as a retaining wall

HIGHWAY

-----------

PILES OR CAISSONS

Plan view of row8 of piles or caissons

Pile or caisson walls frequently are placed or installed along

the shoulder of the fill; sometimes pile walls may be
installed along the toe of the fill.
One pattern of installing piks I
There are numerous documented cases of pile-wall failures.

A common practice of maintenance crews in repairing failed

slopes consists of the following (see the sketch):

BACKFILL 1

ORIGINAL GROUND

Common practice used in an attempt to repair a

highway slope failure

o Piles - timber piles, old telephone poles, or OM railroad

rails -- are installed (usually driven) adjacent to the shoulder
of the distressed area.
o Wood planks, steel guardrail, rails, or precast concrete
panels are installed against the exposed piling to form a
retaining wall.
o Backfill is placed behind the wall to extend the
shoulder.

Although this action may be necessary, the added fill

increases the driving forces tending to cause failure, and in
many instances, this solution is only temporary. In an
active slide, additional material must be added periodically
to maintain grade elevation of the shoulder behind the
retaining wall, and this action increases the driving forces.

Pile and caisson retaining walls generally are not effective

in controlling large failures because of the following factors:

o The pile or caisson does not extend below the failure

surface.

HIGHWAY

ROCK / \\

Failure of pilee to intercept failure plane

o The wedge of soil resisted by the pile or caisson wall is

much smaller than the failure mass of soil (as a result, the
failure mass passes below the pile wall, or shears or bends
the pile wall since the driving forces of the failure mass are
much greater than the resisting forces of the wall).
o This method does not control subsurface seepage.
o Cohesive soils (clays) may flow around and through
openings between the piles or caissons. Cohesive soils in
the plastic range do not mobilize the arching effect
sufficiently to minimize this flow. The flow-through problem
is very pronounced for soils having a plasticity index greater
than 30 and a liquid limit greater than 50.

FLOW OF SOIL A

Flow of roil around pik8

o The pile wall, by nature, is a flexible structure and may

bend as the slope moves.
Detailed cost analyses should be performed when a pile
wall system is considered as a repair method. Although
successes of the method have been recorded, there are
many unsuccessful applications on record. On an
individual case- by-case basis, the repair method may
appear to be economical. Considering the probabilities of
failure, however, it does not take many unsuccessful
applications to negate any cost savings that may be
realized on a particular slide repair.

The advice of the geotechnical staff or a geotechnical

consulting engineer experienced in landslide repair should
be obtained when possible before installing pile walls. In
large slides, detailed subsurface exploration and design
analyses must be conducted before pile walls are
recommended.

However, in small shallow slides or as a temporary

measure, pile or caisson walls may be effective when the
depth to competent (firm) rock or stable material is about
20 feet or less. Critical factors that must be considered
when piles are used are as follows:

o Pile spacing (if piles are spaced too far apart soil may
flow between piles).
o Pile bending strength (if piles are flexible, then the pile
row may bend as the soil mass moves).
o Pile depth (if the tips of the piles are not located below
the failure plane of the slide, the entire pile wall will move
with the slide).
o Pile anchorage (pile wall may be very flexible without
anchorage of the wall and the pile wall may distort or move
as the failure mass moves).
When piles or caissons are used in repairing small slides
or as a temporary measure, the following approximate
guidelines are suggested:

o Spacing between individual piles should be less than 3

feet.
o Pile or caisson should be anchored into competent
bedrock and extend across the failure plane. Competent
bedrock consists of unweathered and unbroken rock.
o The size of the failure mass should not be much larger
than a wedge of soil (theoretical mass) with a failure plane
rising at a slope of about 1 horizontal to 1 vertical.
o About 114 to 113 of the total pile length should be
anchored into stable bedrock or soil. If the pile is anchored
into stable soil, about 1/3 of the total pile length should
extend below the failure surface.

o If the piling is fixed at the slip surface (anchored in stable

rock), about one pile per 100 cubic yards of moving mass
is needed -- maximum depth of the moving soil is 12 to 15
feet.
o If the piling is anchored into stable soil below the slip
surface, about one pile per 50 cubic yards of moving mass
is needed -- maximum depth of the moving soil is 10 to 12
feet.
o When piles are used, the primary consideration should be
to use steel piles placed into predrilled holes and backfilled
with concrete (a less expensive method used successfully
by the Kentucky Department of Highways for temporary
support or in treating shallow slides consists of placing
railroad rails in predrilled holes and backfilling with
concrete, sand, or pea gravel. Spacing of the piles is
less than 3 feet and the method is used when the depth
to firm bed rock is less than 20 feet. The design procedure
is shown in APPENDIX D).
o Pile walls may be made more effective by anchoring into
firm bedrock andlor by using anchor blocks. The anchor

TIE ROD

ANCHOR BLOCK

PILE WALL
OR PILES

Using blocks to anchor the tops o f piles or p i k wall

block should be positioned as shown in the sketch to

develop full resistance. For @ ranging from 18 to 38
degrees and assuming a wall height of 20 feet, the distance
from the face of the wall to the anchor block ranges from
68 to 26 feet. The distance x between the wall and the
anchor may be estimated from

where y = height of wall and

@ = angle of internal friction of the soil.
Another scheme, as shown in the sketch below, for
achoring the tops of piles makes use of drilled-in steel
cabel or piles.

PILES OR I AND
\ HIGHWAY PILE WALL

ORIGINAL GROUND

ROCK SURFACE

One approach of anchoring the tops of piles using

cables or raIe

Seek the advice of geotechnical engineers when

considering a tiedback wall. A detailed subsurface
investigation is desirable. A number of specialty companies
provide design1 construct services. Rely on the advice of a
geotechnical engineer as to the applicability of tiedback
walls. Obtain bids from two or more of those specialty
companies.

V.B.3.f. Tied Piles

When piles are used as a retaining structure, they should
be anchored by cables to firm bedrock or to concrete
anchor blocks buried upslope from the landslide. The
sketches show schemes for tied piles or pile walls.
Anchoring the piles or walls increases the resisting capacity
of the structure.
 BITUMINOUS OVERLAY
STEEL CABLE

Anchoring the tops of piles at side-hill fill location

BITUMINOUS OVERLAY
\ ,STEEL CABLE

Anchoring the tops of piles at a built-up fill location

BITUMINOUS OVERLAY
STEEL CABLE

Anchoring the tops of piles at a built-up fill

V.B.3.g. Tledback Walls

Ground anchors, or tiebacks, are structural elements (rods)
that are anchored into soil or rock and that act to restrain a
wall retaining an earth mass. Hence, this type of wall is
referred to as a "tiedback" or 'anchored" wall (see the
sketch). This method may be applied to walls higher than
20 feet. To use this method to correct large slides, a
thorough subsurface exploration and design analyses
should be made. Tiedback walls have been used for over
40 years in Europe where they were introduced. This
technique was introduced in the United States several years
ago, but only recently has it gained some usage in highway
slide restoration. Permanent tiedback walls should not be
used when the liquid limit of the soil is greater than 50
or when the liquidity index is greater than 0.2. Liquidity
index (LI) is defined as

LI = (w - PL) 1 PI

where w = natural water content,

PL = plastic limit, and
PI = plasticity index.

Also, tiedback walls should not be used when the soils are
organic.

Major components of a tiedback wall are as follows:

o Soldier piles - steel piles and lagging, sheet piling,

cast-in-place diaphram walls, etc.
o Prestressing steel -- single or multiple strands of wires,
strands, or bars.
t bonded length -- the portion of the prestressing steel
fixed in the primary grout.
t unbonded length -- the portion of the prestressing steel
not fixed or not bonded.
o Anchorage -- a plate and threaded nut (anchor head) that
permits prestressing the steel. This is mounted on the face
of the wall.
o Grout -- a portland cement based mixture.

FACING

GEOTEXTILE

GROUT
STEEL TIEBACKS

Components of a tiadback wall

The wall and tiebacks are installed as excavation proceeds

downward. Generally, tiedback walls are less expensive
than concrete walls. It is also important that positive
drainage be provided.

V.B.3.h. Reinforced SlopesMralls

Failed highway slopes may be reconstructed reasonably
inexpensively using a reinforcing material and the failed soil
of the highway slip. The slope or wall is reconstructed by
alternating layers of soil and reinforcing material as shown
in the sketches.
 GEOTUCnLE
OR PLASTIC GRIDS

SOIL

Installation of geotextiles or plastic grids to reinforce

a highway slope

Major components of reinforced soil walls consist of the

following (see the sketch):

FACING

CONNECTION

Mqjor conrponents of a reinforced soil wall

Mq*or components of a reinforced earth wall

o Backfill material (granular material such as sand and

gravel with less than 15 percent passing the No.-200
sieve).
o Reinforcement strips (thin, wide, long strips of galvanized
steel, fiberglass, etc. that have high tensile strength and a
rough surface). (Another type of reinforcement is a
high-strength plastic (polymer) sheeting. The strips are
regularly spaced in the horizontal and vertical directions.
o Skin or facing units (metal plates, reinforced concrete
panels, geotextiles etc.).

To be effective, reinforcement should be placed across the

old failure plane of slope failures when possible, or, as
shown in the sketch, the reconstructed reinforced slope is
slightly flattened (made flatter then the original slope).
 HIGHWAY
GEOTEXTILE
OR PLASTIC GRIDS /
ORIGINAL SLOPE

COMPACTED SOIL 1
EXCAVATION LIMITS

View of alternating layera of geotextile fabric and

compacted soil layers

However, the reinforced slope does not have to be as flat

as an unreinforced slope. The flattened reinforced slope
should extend beyond the toe of the failed mass. The
concept of reinforcing the reconstructed slope involves
increasing the resisting strength along the failure plane or
forcing a potential failure plane to extend deeper into the
soil. By forcing the failure plane deeper, the length of the
failure is extended and the factor of safety is usually
increased (when compared to the original failure surface
and the factor of safety of the old failure plane).

In repairing small landslides, reinforced slopes should be

considered as an alternative to other more conventional
methods. Two areas where reinforced slopes should be
considered in repairing highway fill slips include:

o Reconstructing fill slopes.

o Retaining structures.
Toe slump in fill

Toe slump in fill

 ONE BASE (WRAPP

Repair of a toe slump using a reinforwed elope

PAVEMENT

GEOGRlD FACING
-
GEOGRlD REINFORCEMENT

Reinforced retaining w i l l

Advantages of reinforced walls and slopes are as follows:

o On-site and failed (unstable) materials usually may be

used.
o Space may be saved when right of way or other
conditions are restricted.
o Fill requirements may be reduced when compared to
unreinf orced slopes.
169
o Provides an economical alternative and may be less
expensive than other conventional methods.
o Provides a means of building over weak foundations.
o Tolerates large horizontal and vertical movements.

This small slide, as shown in the sketch below, illustrates a

situation frequently encountered by maintenance. This is a

I
I ROADWAY
F

GEOTEXTILE OR
PLASTIC GRID

FAILURE PLANE

DRAINAGE BLANKET

Reinforced slope

case where a reinforced slope could be rebuilt using a

reinforced slope. The sliding material is excavated to firm
strata. Next a drainage blanket is placed, then the
reconstructed slope is reinforced with geotextiles or plastic
grids.

Steps involved in reconstructing a failed slope or retaining

wall are as follows:

o Obtain cross section of old slope.

o Remove the failed material.
o Determine geometry and dimensions of reconstructed
slope or wall (plot a cross section).
o Perform natural water content tests, liquid and plastic limit
tests, and particle-size distribution tests. To obtain these
soil test data, it may be necessary to contract with a
geotechnical testing laboratory. These data are used to
obtain engineering classifications of the materials, and to
obtain an indication of performance.
o Dry the material to a water content less than the plastic
limit and then determine the water content of soil. If the
liquid limit and plastic limit are known, the optimum water
content of the soil may be estimated. In this case, dry the
material to the water content estimated from the sketch in
V.B.1.a. If the plasticity index is greater than about 12
percent (or if test values are not available and the
soils are "sticky" and cling to your hands), then the addition
of three to six percent (by dry weight of soil) of hydrated or
quick lime will aid in drying the material and improve
workability of clay soils.

o Determine excavation limits -- see the sketches in

Section V.B.1 .a.
o Place layer of reinforcing material at bottom of
excavation.
o Place a layer of compacted soil on top of the reinforcing
material. Suggested loose lift thickness is 6-12 inches.
The soil should be compacted to 95 percent of standard
compaction (ASTM D 698 or AASHTO T 99 or your state
specification).
o Place another layer of reinforcing material on top of the
compacted layer and follow with another layer of compacted
soil. This sequence is continued until the top of the
embankment is reached. The thickness of the compacted
soil layer between layers of reinforcing materials typically
may range from 0.75 to 2 feet. Thickness of each
compacted layer depends on the type of soil and other
conditions, such as available equipment, etc.

With regard to reinforced walls, wall heights used in the

highway industry are typically in range of 20 to 50 feet.
However, reinforced soil walls have been constructed as
high as 85 feet.

Examples of various retaining-wall systems using

engineered reinforcement materials are as follows:

o Wrap-around wall.
o Timber-faced wall.
TIMBER FACING

L
Use of timber facing to protect geotextile natericrl
o Masonry wall.
o Gabion wall.

MASONRY FACING

Use of mansory facing to protect geotextile material

GABION FACING

Use of gabion facing to protect geotextile material

Types of materials that may be used to reinforce slopes
and walls are as follows:

o Engineered plastic grid system.

o Engineered geotextile.
o Engineered metal strips.
o Fencing.
o Guardrails.
o Concrete reinforcing mesh.
o Others (use your imagination).

PREDRILLED HOLES

GUARDRAIL FACING

EXCAVATW LIMIT

Repair of a slope failure using recycled guardrail

-
V 1.8.4. Stabilization Methods of Increasing
Shear Strength
There are various methods of stabilization that may be
used to increase the shear strength of soils. These
methods may be broadly divided into groups as follows:
o Mechanical stabilization.
- Compaction
- Densification and drainage
o Chemical stabilization.
- Lime stabilization
- Lime-fly ash stabilization
- Fly-ash stabilization
- Cement stabilization
- Asphalt stabilization
- Waste by-products[AFBC (atmosheric fluidized
bed combustion waste), kiln dust, etc.]
- Freezing
- Electroosmosis

VI.B.4.a. Mechanical Stabilization

Compaction: Compaction is a means of reducing the

volume of a soil mass by application of loads, such as
rolling, tamping, or vibration. When a soil is compacted, air
is expelled from the soil mass without significantly changing
the amount of water in the soil.

When a soil is compacted, the following changes generally

occur:
o strength increases.
+ clays (cohesive strength component increases)
+ sands, gravels (frictional strength component
increases)
o density increases.
o permeability (movement of water through soil) decreases.
o compressibility decreases.
o swell potential increases.
o shrinkage decreases.
Compaction is generally used in most all methods for repair
of highway slips. When considering compaction, materials
are broadly divided into two classes:

o Cohesive soils (soils that contain relatively large amounts

of clays and silts). When these soils are compacted, they
essentially become impermeable. Cohesive soils include
clays, silts, and silty or clayey sands or gravels.
o Cohesionless soils (clean sands and gravels - - when
compacted, these soils remain permeable).

For a given compactive effort, cohesive soils (fine-grained

or dirty coarse-grained soils), have an optimum water
content and maximum dry density. This point occurs at the
top of the dry density-water content curve as shown by the
dashed lines in the sketch below. Cohesive soils are
compacted in most highway projects according to a certain
standard procedure. This is referred to as standard
compaction (AASHTO T 99 or ASTM D 698). The dry
density of cohesive soil is significantly affected by and
sensitive to moisture content when compacted. As the water

WATER CONTENT
Relationship between dry density and water content of
cohesive soils
content increases, the dry density increases to a maximum
value and decreases therafter for the same compactive
effort.

Cohesionless, or coarse-grained, soils are not significantly

affected by compaction moisture. Cohesionless soils that
are insensitive to compaction moisture are soils with less
than 4 percent passing the No. 200 sieve for well-graded
soils, or with less than 8 percent for uniform gradation. A
more complex laboratory procedure is used to define the
compactive state of sands and gravels.

A variety of equipment is available for compacting soils.

The type of soil to be compacted should be matched with
the proper compaction equipment. The intended purpose of
the compacted fill also may be a factor in selecting
compaction equipment. Some important compaction
equipment and the general types of soils most suitable for
compacting with that equipment are summarized below:

o Sheepsfoot Roller
Use to compact fine-grained soils or dirty
coarse-grained soils with more than 20 percent
passing the No. 200 sieve. Need 4 to 6 passes for
fine-grained soils and 6 to 8 passes for
coarse-grained soils; Compacted lift thickness should
be 6 inches.
o Rubber-Tire Rollers finegrained soils
+ use for clean, coarse-grained soils with 4 to 8
percent passing the No. 200 sieve. Need 3 to 5
passes; compacted lift thickness is 10 inches.
 t use for fine-grained soils or wellgraded dirty
coarse-grained soils with more than 8 percent passing
the No. 200 sieve. Need 4 to 6 passes; compacted
lift thickness is 6 to 8 inches.
o Smooth-Wheel Rollers
Use for fine-grained soils. Need 6 to 8 passes;
compacted lift thickness should be 6 to 8 inches. Not
suitable for clean, well-graded sands or silty uniform
sands.
o Vibrating Baseplate Compactors, Vibratory
Compactors
Use for coarse-grained soils with less than about 12
percent passing the No. 200 sieve. This compactor is
best suited for materials with 4 to 8 percent passing
the No. 200 sieve, placed thoroughly wet. Need 3
passes; compacted lift thickness should be 8 to 10
inches.
o Crawler Tractor
Use for coarse-grained soils with less than 4 to 8
percent passing the No. 200 sieve, placed thoroughly
wet. Need 3 to 4 passes; compacted lift thickness
should be 10 to 12 inches.
o Power Tamper or Rammer
Use in situations where access is difficult. Need two
passes; compacted lift thickness should be 4 to 6
inches.

Densification and Drainage: Various methods of

densification and drainage are used in many situations to
stabilize soils; usually these methods are very specialized,
requiring expert advice. These methods include:
o Surface Compaction -- discussed under VI.B.3.c.
o Vibration -- deep deposits. Discussed under
VI.B.3.c.
o Blasting of deep deposits -- applicable to clean
coarse-grained soils.
o Pile driving -- applicable to loose, deep deposits of
coarse-grained soils or sandy silts.
o Drainage by pumping -- see VI.B.3.
o Drainage by gravity -- may be applied to a wide
range of soils and conditions.
o Reduction in excess pore pressures -- vertical sand
drains are an example. This technique is applied to
soft compressible soils to accelerate consolidation
settlement. Material densifies as it is loaded.
o Electroosmosis -- applicable to fine-grained soils.
Sets of anodes and well-point holes are driven into
soil and an electrical potential is imposed between
them. This is a highly specialized method requiring
expert advice.
o Desiccation by transpiration -- applicable to all soil
types. Slopes are planted with vegetation. Roots
absorb water and reduce water content of soils.
Capillary stresses are created by transpiration, which
creates a thin skin of stiff material.
o Dynamic Compaction -- compaction is achieved by
dropping a large weight; soils are compacted by
impact.
o Vibrofloatation - a patented process for obtaining
high densities in sandy soils. A special probe is
jetted into the layer to be compacted. By vibration
and saturation, a quick condition is created in the
sand adjacent to the probe. The sand a short
distance from the probe is densified and additional
 sand is carried to the probe by water jets. As the
probe is withdrawn, additional sand is added.

VI.B.4.b Chemical Stabilization

Chemical stabilization is the altering of soil properties by
adding certain chemical additives to the soil. Addition of
chemicals to soils creates a cementing action, in some
cases, that binds soil particles together and increases
strength. As a means of repairing small slides, chemical
stabilization might be considered in the following situations:

o Working platform at toe of slope -- In this situation, a

chemical additive such as hydrated lime or quicklime may
be used to dry wet soils at the toe of the slide. A working
platform is constructed using the in-place wet soils.
o Flattened slope andlor berm built entirely or partially of
soilchemical mixture -- Depending on the position of the
failure plane, the soil-chemical mixture could be placed in
the lower portion of the reconstructed slope or the entire
slope could be reconstructed with soil-lime mixtures.
o Foundation for retaining structure -- In situations where
firm bedrock may not be accessible and granular material is
not readily available, a firm foundation for a retaining wall
could be constructed using clayey soil-chemical mixtures.

Before using chemical stabilization, the maintenance

supervisor should consult with the maintenance engineer
and geotechnical engineer. Various chemical additives may
be used:
Lime Stabilization: Lime includes all classes of lime and
hydrated lime. Lime is usually applicable to medium-,
moderately fine-, to fine- grained soils (clays and clayey
type soils). To be effective, the plasticity index of the soil
should be greater than or equal to 10 or 12 percent. As a
general guideline, soils that classify as A-4 through A-7
according to the AASHTO classification system (or CH, CL,
MH, ML, SC, SM, GC, GM, SW-SC, SP-SC, SM-SC,
GW-GC, GP- GC, or GM-GC according to the Unified
Classification System) are potentially susceptible to
stabilization with lime.

Percent of lime (based on dry weight of soil) ranges

approximately from three to eight percent. The percent of
lime to add to a clay soil may be determined
(approximated) by various methods:

o pH tests -- Soil specimens are mixed with different

percentages (by dry weight of soil) of lime. The pH value
of each soil- lime mixture is determined and plotted as
shown in the sketch. The point at which the pH value does
not increase significantly with additional amounts of lime is
the optimum percent of lime to add to the soil. These tests
usually may be performed in less than a day.

% LIME
Relationship between pH and percent of hydrated lime
o Unconfined compression triaxial tests -- Soil specimens
are molded using different percentages of lime. The
specimens are cured either 7 or 14 days (a 14-day curing
period is preferred). Unconfined compres- sion strengths
are ploIted as a function of the percentages of lime. The
optimum lime content is that percentage at which there is
no significant increase of shear strength (as shown in the
sketch). This method is a more desirable procedure for
determining the percentage of lime to use for a given
soil. Generally, about one percent of lime is added to the
optimum percent to account for losses of lime during mixing
in the field.

I I

5% LIME
Unconfined compressive strength as a function of
percent of hydrated lime

0 Mt'ional Lime Association method.

o L i i d limit tests -- If the liquid limit (LL) of the soil is
known, then a quick estimate of the percentage of lime to
add may be obtained as shown in the sketch. If the liquid
limit is less than about 50 percent, then the optimum
percent of lime may be approximated by
 P .= percent lime = 0.12 LL.

If the liquid limit is greater than 50 percent, the percent

of lime usually required for stabilization is about 5.5 to 6
percent. These are only approximate values, but for small
slide repairs, the numbers may be sufficient for quick
estimates.

Hydrated lime or quicklime (not agricultural lime) is

especially applicable to situations where clayey soils of
failed slopes are saturated and wet. In cases where berms
or flattened slopes may be used and the foundation soils
and the failed soils are wet, the addition of three to eight
percent lime aids in drying the wet soils quickly. Lime
accelerates the disintegration (or breakup) of clay clods
during mixing, makes the clayey soil friable, improves
workability, and aids compaction. In wet situations, soil-lime
mixtures provide a good working platform for equipment so
that slide repairs may continue even during wet weather.
Since the strength of a soil-lime mixture is generally much
larger than the soil without lime (the addition of lime mainly

--
(0

W lo-
r
2
8 "-
hl-

m -
0 1 I I I 1 I 1 I I I
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
LIQUID LIMIT, LL (%)

Percent of hydrated lime as a function of liquid limit

increases the cohesive strength component), soil-lime
mixtures could be used in a variety of ways with other
repair methods.

General steps in lime stabilization are as follows:

o Determine percentage of lime --For quick estimates on

small slides, use the sketch (or see chart in the National
Lime Association method) to determine number of pounds
of lime per square yard per inch of depth).
o Scarify and pulverize soil -- Grader- scarifier andlor disc
harrow may be used for initial scarification and
pulverization.
o Spread lime -- Special mechanical spreaders (tailgate
type) or bags of lime may be spaced across the lift (see
literature from the National Lime Association for bag
spacing and other construction details). Lime may be
spread either dry or in slurry form. Granular quicklime may
be spread by dump trucks.
o Water -- Water is spread on the layer of lime using a
water truck (if necessary).
o Mixing -- Rotary mixing is the preferred method. On
small jobs, blade mixing or disc harrow mixing may be
more practicable.
o Curing or mellowing period -- Lime-soil mixtures should
cure from 0 to 48 hours. The curing period aids in
breaking down clods of clay.
o Final mixing and pulverization -- Grader- scarifier is used
to loosen layer and rotary mixer is used to perform final
mixing. In small repairs, a disc harrow might be used for
mixing. Rotary mixing is the preferred method.
o Compaction -- The lift of soil-lime mixture (usually 6
inches) should be compacted to 95 percent (or 98 percent)
of standard density (ASSHTO T 99 or ASTM D 698).
o Soil-lime mixtures may be compacted using a sheepsfoot
roller for initial compaction. Final compaction is achieved
using a vibratory steel roller. In small slide repairs, a
sheepsfoot roller may be sufficient to compact the mixture.
o Final curing -- The compacted soil-lime mixture should be
cured (moist or membrane curing) for a minimum of 7 days.
This mainly applies to cases where a working platform or
haul road is being built.

Toe slump in fill

ICALLY STABILIZED

Repair of a toe slump using chemically stabi2ized soils

185
Fly-Ash and Lime-Fly Ash Stabilization: Fly ash is a
by-product or waste product produced when coal is burned.
Millions of tons per year of fly ash are produced throughout
the country by coal- burning utilities. Generally, when used
alone, fly ash is not appropriate for use with fine- grained
soils (particle sizes are usually larger than the voids in
fine-grained soils). Fly ashes usually are used to act as
pozzolans (binders) or as fillers to reduce voids in natural
or blended aggregates (some fly ashes from power plants
burning coal from the west are high in calcium oxide and
may be used with fine-grained soils).

Fly ash is normally combined with lime or cement. Silts are

generally considered to be the most suitable fine-grained
soil for lime-fly ash treatment. Lime-fly ash treatment has
been applied successfully to such aggregate types as
sands, gravels, crushed stone, and slag.

Steps in constructing lime-fly ash stabilized soils are similar

to those described under Section VI.B.4.b. (Lime
Stabilization). Generally, 10 to 20 percent fly ash is used
in lime-fly ash mixtures. Appropriate applications to small
slide repairs are similar to those of soil-lime mixtures.

Cement Stabilization: As noted by the Portland Cement

Association, all soils may be stabilized with cement.
However, granular soils are generally more suitable. A US
Air Force criterion specifies that the plasticity index should
be less than 30 percent for sandy materials. For
fine-grained soils, the plasticity index should be less than
20 percent and the liquid limit should be less than 40
percent for proper mixing of the cement stabilizer. In fat
clays, clay clods are difficult to break down and may pose
a problem in mixing with cement because of the relatively
fast set of cement. Criteria from the Federal Highway
Administration indicate that cement should be applied to
soils having less than 35 percent passing the No.-200 sieve
and the plasticity index should be less than 20 percent.
This implies that soils that classify as A-2 and A-3
(AASHTO classification) are more suitable for cement
stabilization. Cement should not be applied to plastic clays
without careful study of construction details.

Steps involved in constructing soil-cement stabilized soils

are similar to those described in section VI.B.4.b. (Lime
Stabilization).

Bituminous Stabilization: Soils suitable for bituminous or

asphalt stabilization (guidelines offered by the Asphalt
Institute) are as follows:

o Percent passing the No.-200 sieve is less than 25.

o Plasticity index is less than 6.
o Sand equivalent is less than 25.

Generally, soils that classify as A-1-2, A-1-6, A-2-4, A-2-6,

A-3, A-4, and low plasticity A-6 soils are suitable for asphalt
treatment. Guidelines for selecting the percent of asphalt
cement and construction procedures are described
elsewhere. Construction is similar to lime and cement
stabilization. Some applications to small slide repairs are
described under VI.B.4.b. (Lime Stabilization).
Combination Stabilizers: Various combinations of
stabilizers may be used. These include lime-fly ash,
lime-cement, cement-fly ash, and lime- asphalt. Generally,
soils classified as A-6 and A-7 and certain A-4 and A-5
soils may be treated economically with limecement and
lime-asphalt. A knowledgeable geotechnical engineer
should be consulted before attempting to use chemical
stabilizers. If there is successful local experience in
applying a chemical stabilizer for certain types of soils,
then it might be permissible to rely on this experience.

Other Chemical Stabilization: Certain other types of

by-products are under study as soil stabilizers or for
improving engineering properties of in situ soils. Such
products as AFBC (by-product of new oil- or coal-burning
technology -- the process is referred to as Atmospheric
Fluidized Bed Combustion) and kiln dust (by-product of
concrete industry) are currently being studied relative to
possible application as chemical stabilizers. These products
should not be used without careful study andlor consulting
a knowledgeable geotechnical engineer. For example,
AFBC is subject to large swelling when mixed with soil.

VI.B.5. Rockfall Remedial and Mitigation Measures

Rockfalls and cut slope failures are prevalent along many
highways. Many cuts have been made along highways
without the benefit of geologic and geotechnical
investigations. A primary cause of cut slope failures is
rainfall and ground- water flow. Repair methods and
mitigation measures generally may be classified into three
broad groups:
o slope stabilization,
o protection methods.
o warning methods.

VI.B.5.a. Slope Stabilization

Rock slope stabilization is an attempt to prevent rocks from
moving down the slope onto the roadway. Methods
include:

o Excavation -- Complete removal or partial unloading of

the failed mass.
o Drainage -- See Section VI.B.2.
o Shotcrete -- pneumatically applied concrete (maximum
aggregate size is 314 inch). Wire. mesh is used for
reinforcement and rock dowels or bolts anchor the
shotcrete.
o Support and Reinforcement Systems -- These are various
systems such as concrete buttresses, rock bolts, etc.

VI.B.5. b. Protection Methods

Methods include the following:

o Relocation -- The highway is realigned to avoid the

slide.
o Intercepting Sloped Ditches and Berms -- Sloped ditches
and berms are constructed to catch falling rock and
prevent it from entering the highway. The ditch must be
cleaned periodically.
o Wire Blankets -- Wire mesh is draped over the slope and
fastened at the top of the slope with pins andlor cables.
This method is used to control small rock and raveling
slopes and requires periodical cleanup of debris.
 DIRT OR ROCK BERM

Protection of roadway using a drop area and dirt or

rock berm

o Wire Mesh Catch Fences and Catch Nets -- Chain link

fence or gabion wire fence is placed between the shoulder
of the highway and the toe of the slope (right-of-way

STEEL POST ANCHORED

IN CONCRETE

Control of falling rack by draping wire mesh over a

rock slope
fencing is often used since it is usually readily available).
Periodic cleanup of rock debris is required. Catch fences
are used to arrest rocks up to 2 feet in diameter.

Protection of roadway using a chain link fence

o Shaped Catchment Ditches -- This method is useful in

catching and controlling large falling rock (see table and
sketch). The guidelines in the table are useful in designing
new slopes. They are also useful in checking old highway
cut slopes.
o Catch Walls - This method is used to stop rocks from
entering the highway and to provide storage. Catch walls
are constructed of reinforced concrete, gabions, rails and
ties, posts and cables, I-beams, and timbers and posts.
EXISTING GROUND

I \ EDGE OF PAVEMENT

Shaped catchment ditcheu using the Ritchie criteria

o Rock Sheds --This is a positive, but expensive, solution

for rockfall problems. The shed is a roof that provides a
sloping surface so that rocks pass over the roadway.
o Tunnels -- A tunnel is used to avoid all rockfall problems
and is an expensive solution. In certain situations, a tunnel
may be the only solution.
Protection of roadway w i n g a gabion wall

Protection of roadway using a concnte safety barrier

VI.B.5.c. Warning Methods
Warning methods consist of the following:
,

o Patrols -- Rock patrols are used to remove rock after it

has reached the roadway. This method does not solve the
problem.
o Electric Fences and Wires -- This method has been used
primarily by railroad companies. It is a warning system that
stops a train automatically. This method is not feasible for
use on highways.
o Signs -- Signs are used to warn motorists of falling and
fallen rock. This method does not solve the rockfall
problem.
o Surveying or Monitoring Methods -- A variety of
techniques may be used to monitor the downward
movement of rock. However, since rock landslides occur
instantaneously, these methods are not too practical.
Additionally, this method does not solve the problem.

VI.B.6. Removal and Replacement

In certain instances, unstable materials may be completely
or partially removed and replaced with more appropriate
material. Usually, when partial removal is used, the top
portion of the slide is removed and replaced with lightweight
materials. This approach decreases driving forces.
Generally, unit weights of embankment or fill materials
range from 100 to 130 pounds per cubic foot. By replacing
the top portion of the embankment with lighter materials
with smaller unit weights, the forces (weights)tending to
cause failure are reduced. Some lightweight
materials thatare used for replacement include
the following:
o Lightweight aggregate (such as expanded shale) --
Expanded shale aggregate is a manufactured product made
by heating certain types of shales to about 2,000 degrees
Fahrenheit. The unit weight of the aggregate is about 50
to 90 pounds per cubic foot -- about half to three quarters
of the unit weight of compacted soil. Use of this material is
probably restricted to areas or locations close to sources.
Haul distances would be a major factor in using this type of
material for replacement.
o Elastizell -- Elastizell is an engineered lightweight
concrete manufactured in various classes by the Elastiell
Corporation of America. Unit weights range from 18 to 80
pounds per cubic foot. This material can be batched,
mixed, and placed at the job site with specialized
equipment.
o Sawdust -- Where a slide is located close to sources of
sawdust, this material may be considered as a replacement
alternative. Compacted sawdust fill weighs about 40
pounds per cubic foot. However, moisture penetration may
eventually cause sawdust to rot. Good drainage in the
slide area should accompany the use of sawdust. Also, the
fill should, preferably, be encapsulated with asphalt or clay
to minimize water penetration. This method, in areas
where the material is economical and readily available,
could aid in halting a potential failure.
o Cinders -- Cinders are produced when coal or wood is
burned or partly burned. However, burning does reduce
the coal or wood to ashes. Cinders are usually light weight
and have high strength. They should be considered as a
replacement material for the top portion of a slide and
where sources of this material are located near the slide.
VI.B.7. RelocationlAvoid Problem
In certain landslide situations, the only feasible solution may
be to relocate the highway to avoid the problem.
Relocation usually involves an alignment ehange. The
manner in which the alignment is changed depends on
geometrical standards of the highway and geometry of the
site. For example, relocation of a section of interstate
highway (or comparable roadway) would generally be very
costly. Relocation of a section of interstate highway, if this
is the only solution, probably would be done because of the
high standards of this roadway andlor high traffic volumes.
Relocation of an interstate may involve extensive
realignment and costs. To construct the relocated section
to geometrical standards lower than interstate standards
would not be acceptable. In rural areas, however, for
low-volume roads, relocating the highway with decreased
geometrical standards might be an economical solution.

A typical situation on rural low-volume roads that often

occurs is an embankment slip that completely destroys the
roadway. The only immediately available solution to the
maintenance crew is to build a detour (up slope of the
failure) around the failure to allow traffic to pass the slide
area. A sharp curve must be built into the alignment. This
may be a dangerous practice if the toe of the cut slope
must be excavated to construct the detour -- this action
may activate a large failure in the cut slope. A permanent
solution may involve spending several thousand dollars,
which may be a large percentage of the maintenance unit's
total annual budget. Consequently, the only economical
solution may be to build around or over the slide, or to
direct traffic over alternate routes.
V1.C. ECONOMICS OF REPAIR METHODS

One of the first questions asked by administrators and

others when a highway slide occurs or when a section of
highway shows distress is, "What will it cost to repair this
slide?" or "What's the bottom line?" Preliminary cost
estimates are needed and necessary to determine whether
or not the maintenance unit has the necessary equipment
and budget to repair the slide or if outside help is needed.
Additionally, a cost estimate is needed if the repair work is
let to contract. Such estimates may be used to judge the
reasonableness of bids by contractors. In certain instances,
the magnitude of the cost of the repair will dictate the
remedial method or may result in taking no major action.
Hence, preliminary cost estimates are needed to determine
the most appropriate response to the highway failure.

When a flattened slope or berm is considered as a means

of repairing a slide, the accompanying sketch may be used
to obtain a quick cost estimate. The data in this sketch
were compiled from records (and reports) of the Kentucky
Department of Highways. The data represent both
engineering estimates and actual bids on some sixty
highway fill failures (and distressed fills) on a stretch of 1 75
between Lexington, Kentucky, and Cincinnati, Ohio. In the
sketch, the cost per linear foot (parallel to centerline) of the
berm andlor flattened slope is shown as a function of the
height of fill, as measured from the toe of the slope to the
top of the fill. Circled points represent engineering cost
estimates; square (darkened) points are actual bid prices.
Each square point represents a group of slides. Although
considerable scatter is present, there is a reasonable trend
between the cost per foot and height of fill (the trend line is
based on a linear regression analysis).

Dimensions of a slope failure required to estimate

Es
slope repair costs

1200-

3
a an
Elow
o EmuG.
g m- m elo (GROUP OF SLIDES)

S "1200
0 0
0 . o m

---,-a-

o--lo & & & & ;O &

HEIGHT OF FILL (FT)

Repair cost of berm and I or flattened slope per linear

foot of dope failure and height of fill ( or height of
slope failure )

To illustrate how this approach may work, consider the

following example:

Given: Height of fill = 20 feet

Width of highway slide = 200 feet

Determine: Estimated cost of flattened slope

and(or) berm
198
Solution:

Enter the sketch at 20 feet and move vertically upward until

the trend line is intercepted. From that point move left
horizontally until the y- axis is intercepted at $175 per foot.

Estimated cost = ($175/ft of slide) x 200 ft

= $35,000

Another approach to obtain a quick estimate for a flattened

slope, the yardage required to flatten the slope (assuming
the original slope is 2 horizontal to 1 vertical) to 3
horizontal to 1 vertical and 4 horizontal to 1 vertical are
shown in the accompanying sketch as a function of the
height of fill (measured from the toe of fill to the top of the
fill). For the 3:1 flattened slope and for a fill height of 250
feet, the volume of additional soil required is 7.4 yd3 per
foot of slide (width). For a 4:1 flatten slope, the volume is
14.8 yd3 per foot of slide. If the cost per cubic yard of soil

60-

E - FLAT GROUND UNE

W
ct
Y
0
- ORIGINAL SLOPE - 2 H :1 V

i? 30-
6
p 20-
3
g 10-

0'
HEIGHT OF FLATF'ENED SLOPE (FEET)

Volume of fill in cubic yards as a function of height of

3H:IV and 4H:IV flattened slopes

199
(in place) is known in a given locality, then the estimated
cost may be calculated. For example, assume the cost is
$7.00 per cubic yard. Then, for a 3:1 slope,

Est Cost = (7.4 yd3/ft of slide) x 200 ft

x $71yd3 = $10,360

and for a 4:1 flattened slope,

Est Cost = (14.8 yd3mof slide) x 200 ft

x $7/yd3 = $20,720

These estimates do not include expenditures for replacing

guardrail, drainage stone, and other material and labor
costs).

When other repair methods are considered, cost data

compiled by the California Department of Transportation (in
cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration) may
be useful. The accompanying data, compiled in 1981,
pertains to four different wall systems: reinforced concrete
wall, reinforced soil wall (geotextiles), reinforced concrete
crib wall, and metal crib wall. Since the data were
published in 1981 (and costs have risen since that date),
those data were adjusted for inflation to 1987 using a
construction index (construction indices were provided by
the Kentucky Department of Highways). In the sketch, the
cost per running foot of wall is shown as a function of the
height of wall.
 2800 7 COSTS ADJUSTED
: FOR INFLATION .: WC CRIB
2400 - TO 1987 :/
:
:
- RIC
K
j 1600 -
A
0

400 - REINFORCED SOIL

0 l , l t l l l l l
0 10 20
30 40 50
HEIGHT OF WALL (FEET)

Estimated cost of various types of retaining structures

per linear foot of wall as a function of wall height

Using the example above and unit costs from the graph,
estimated repair costs are as follows:

Est Cost (Reinforced Concrete Wall) = ($6601ft

of slide) x 200 ft
= $132,000

Est Cost (Reinforced Concrete Crib Wall)

= ($5901ft of slide) x 200 ft
= $118,000

Est Cost (Metal Crib Wall)

= ($520/ft of slide) x 200 ft
= $104,000

Est Cost (Reinforced Soil Wall)

= ($3801ft of slide) x 200
= $76,000
Cost data for another part of the country also are shown in
the accompanying sketch. Those data also have been
adjusted for inflation. Based on those data, cost estimates
are as follows:

COMPARATIVE COST ESTIMATES

r
'""

HEIGHT OF WALL (FEET)

Estimated costs of various types of retaining structums

per linear foot of wall as a function of wall height

Est Cost (Reinforced Concrete Wall)

= ($710/ft of slide) x 200 ft
= $142,000

Est Cost (Metal Crib Wall)

= ($940/ft of slide) x 200 ft
= $188,000
 Est Cost (Reinforced Earth Wall)
= ($3501ft of slide) x 200 ft
= $72,000

The cost of railroad rail pilings for slides that are 20 feet or
less in height is approximately $175 to 250 per foot of
slide. On this basis, the estimated cost for the example
above is as follows:

Est Cost (Rail Piling)

= ($1751ft of slide x 200 ft)
= $35,000

or
Est Cost
= ($2501ft of slide)
= $50,000
The cost estimates shown above are not, necessarily,
intended to show that one method of repair is superior to
another method. It should be recognized, however, that
construction costs will vary from one section of the country
to another. Moreover, each slope failure must be carefully
studied to determine the most suitable and economical
remedy. For example, in some situations, a retaining wall
may be the better solution. In the situation shown in the
accompanying sketch, slope flattening may not be
practicable because of steeply sloping original ground below
the toe of the fill. Slope flattening also might require buying
additional right of way. The graphs described above are
intended to provide a "quick response" to the question,
"What's the bottom line?" More detailed cost estimates
should be made.
 VI. LEGAL LIABILITIES

V1.A. Safety

Safety is an important factor in all roadway improvements;

in design, construction, and maintenance. Every effort
should be made to eliminate and reduce landslide hazards.
Many studies have shown that most damaging landslides
are human related. Thus, as indicated previously, the
potential for hazard may be reduced by introduction of
countermeasures such as improved grading procedures,
land use controls, and drainage or runoff controls.

In one state, approximately 80 percent of the landslides

have been caused by human activity. In another state, a
study revealed that more than 90 percent of the landslides
were related to human activities. We believe that this
course has shown that slope movements can be reduced
by 90 percent or more through a combination of measures
involving adequate geologic investigations, good engineering
practice, and effective enforcement of legal restraints on
land use.

V1.B. Legal Aspects of Slope Movements

Although the number of legal cases resulting from property

damage due to landslides has been increasing over the
years, few legal precedences have been established to
guide the courts in determining responsibility for these
landslides or in assessing the damages caused by them.
This lack of specific laws and legal decisions is perhaps
due to two main factors: 1) cases that involve private
companies are settled out of court and 2) most cases
against state or federal agencies are settled out of court or
the public agency exercises its sovereign right to refuse to
consent to be sued. It is most important that those who
undertake activities that involve the use of slopes have an
understanding of the legal implications of that use.

Since most litigation involving landslides relates to

construction and maintenance of public roads, we will
assume that a public agency is a defendant. It should also
be understood that when liability for a landslide is
discussed, it must be assumed that a landslide has caused
personal injury andlor property damage thus enabling an
action against a public agency. The legally protected
interest of the injured party may be his or her personal
property, real estate, or physical well being. It should also
be assumed that the public agency is in some way
responsible for the landslide. Responsibility or liability may
be related to construction or maintenance operations that
create or activate a landslide on public property.

There have been numerous cases in which private property

has been damaged andlor personal injury has resulted from
landslides on public highways in the United States. In
those instances, liability of the public agency having
jurisdiction over the highway has varied from state to state.
Some states prohibit suits against public agencies through
sovereign immunity. Other states have established
statutory provisions under which recovery may be realized.
Such statutes generally delineate specific duties and
responsibilities of public agencies, specific circumstances of
the slope failure, procedural requirements for bringing action
against a public agency, and specific defenses available to
the public agency.

While it is true that states and the federal government, as

owners, may invoke the protection of sovereign immunity,
there are many indications that this sheltered position will
not survive. Recently, numerous agencies have lost the
right of sovereign immunity. While in some states,
employees of governmental bodies appear to be held
harmless from legal action, there are indications it is
possible to bring personal suits against such employees for
negligence.

With regard to landslides, it should be understood that the

legal rights of private citizens against public agencies are
divided into two categories: 1) a property owner's rights
and response to the invasion of the property by sliding
material or interference with the lateral support of the
property by construction or maintenance of a public
way and 2) a highway travelers rights in tort against a
public agency for injury sustained from a landslide that
resulted in part from the negligent construction or
maintenance of a public way.

VI.B.1. Landslide Encroachment onto Adjacent

Property

When a landslide results in damage to property either by

invasion of the property or loss of its lateral support, the
liability of a public agency is not necessarily based on
statutes. Under the Fifth Amendment to the United States
Constitution, just compensation must be paid when public
works or other governmental activities result in the taking of
private property. That concept can be extended to the
damaging of property as a result of an actionof a public
agency. The owner of the property may bring an action
known as an inverse condemnation suit to recover
damages. Courts have held that a state or local
government cannot take or damage private property for
public use without just compensation.

In studying several cases, it may be concluded that if public

works activities result in the creation of a landslide or the
reactivation of an old landslide that causes damage to
private property, the public agency is liable for the full
extent of such damage. If the particular governmental
agency has such a constitutional provision, even in
jurisdictions that do not have a provision relating directly to
damage of private property, the courts have tended to find
that the damage that results to private property constitutes
a taking for which just compensation must be paid.

VI.B.2. Injuries Sustained from a Landslide

Although the courts have made it clear that a public agency

is not an insurer of the safety of persons using its
highways, in certain circumstances travelers are protected
by law from landslides. In general, the public agency will
not be held liable for injuries if it can be shown that the
acts or omissions that created the dangerous condition
were reasonable or that the action taken to protect against
such injuries or the failure to take such action was
reasonable. The reasonableness of action or inaction is
determined by considering the time and opportunity that the
public employees had to take the action by weighing the
probability and gravity of potential injury to persons
foreseeably exposed to the risk of injury against the
practicality and cost of protecting against such injury.

Some states have statutes that impose liability for the

dangerous condition of public property. In those states, the
injured person must prove that the public property was in a
dangerous condition at the time of the injury and that the
injury resulted from that dangerous condition. This
dangerous condition must be the result of negligence, a
wrongful act, or failure of an employee of the public agency
to act within the scope of his or her employment. The
public agency must have had notice of this dangerous
condition in sufficient time prior to the injury to have taken
measures to protect against it. Thus, liability depends upon
whether circumstance and conditions were such that the
danger was reasonably foreseeable in the exercise of
ordinary care and if so, whether reasonable measures were
taken by the public agency to prevent injury.

A public agency, since it is not an insurer of the safety of

the travelers on its highways, need only to maintain
highways in a reasonably safe condition for ordinary travel
under ordinary conditions or under such conditions as
should be reasonably expected.

Foreseeability has been held as a necessary element of

contributory negligence. It must be shown that a
reasonable person would have foreseen the exact
consequences of negligence. The doctrine of contributory
negligence has been replaced by comparative negligence in
many states. Under comparative negligence doctrines,
negligence is measured in terms of percentage. Any
damages allocated are diminished in proportion to the
amount of negligence assigned to the plaintiff.

V1.C. Risk Management

Risk management recognizes the likelihood of lawsuits

resulting from slides which cause human andlor property
damage. To prevent or minimize this type of litigation and
to help defend lawsuits, it is suggested that the following
steps be followed:

1. Establish a regular record for inventorying and

inspecting highways under your agencies responsibility.

2. Record all inspections and notice of change of any

slide areas.

3. After noticing movement in a potential slide area,

make regular inspections using inspection forms and
diaries.

4. Document your actions relative to corrective

measures taken after the inspection.

5. After identifying slide movement, take photographs

during each inspection.

6. Erect warning signs at sites which cannot

immediately be repaired.

7. Take routine corrective maintenance actions as soon

as possible to improve safety at the site.
 8. If routine maintenance does not provide a safe travel
way for the public, program a design project immediately for
reconstruction andlor rehabilitation.

9. The most important aspect. ..keep good maintenance

records.

As stated earlier, while providing transportation services, the

governmental agency is not the absolute insurer of the
safety of a highway user. The total resources of any
government are limited and it would not be realistic to
expect that the bulk of all funding be devoted to keeping
the roads in an absolutely sound and safe condition.
However, the courts have consistently held that
governments are required to maintain streets and roads in
a reasonably safe manner.

Your attention is called to a book that was published in

1985. The title of the book is "Killer Roads from Crash
to Verdict." Most county engineers live in terror because
of it. This book was written by attorneys for attorneys. It
is considered to be a "how to sue" book. It therefore
behooves all governmental agencies and their employees to
establish a standard of care for a given maintenance
activity. It is also important that all employees seek to
achieve a reasonable level of performance.

It should be understood that the function of governmental

agencies is to provide security and services for its citizens.
Transportation is one of the services which governmental
officials and employees are charged with providing. The
goal of transportation should be the safe and efficient
movement of people and goods within reasonable physical
constraint.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bishop, A. W.; and

Allen, D. L.; Meade, B. W.; and Hopkins, T. C,; Test, Edward
Performance Monitoring of a Highway Tieback England, 1964.
Wall, University of Kentucky Transportation
Center, College of Engineering, Report Bishop, A. W. and , L.; 'The Relevance
UKTRP-86-17,July 1986. Solution of Stability

Allen, D. L.; Meade, B. W.; and Hopkins, T. C.;

Analysis of Movements on Bridge Approaches: A
Case Study (Bridge aver Chesapeake Avenue on Colorado,June 1960.
Interstate 71 in Campbell County, Kentucky),
Report UKTRP-83-10, University of Kentucky Bishop, C. S.; Armour, W.; and Hopkins, T.
Transportation Center, College of Engineering, C.; "Design of Embankments on
Universityof Kentucky,April 1985. Proceedings, Ohio

Allen, D. L.; and Rws, R. L.; Loads on Box

Culverts under High Embankments: Analysis
and Design Considerations, Report No. 491 of Earth and
Kentucky Department of Transportation,Division
of Research. January 1978.
1972.
Allen, D. L.; The Creep Response of Cohesive
Soils: A Method of Design Using Rheological
Strength Parameters, Report No. 382 Kentucky
Department of Tramportation, Division of
Research. Deember 1973.

Allen, D. L.; A Survey of the States on Problems

Related to Bridge Approaches, Universiry of
Kentucky Transportation Center, College of
Engineering, Report UKTRP-85-25, October
1985.

Allen, D. L.; A Review and Analysis of Pile

Design, University of Kentucky Transportation

I
Center, College of Engineering,Report UKTRP , Bowles, J. E.; Engineerin Properties of Soils
December 1984. and Their Measurements, McGraw-Hill Book
Company,New York 1970.
American Geologic Institute; Glossary of

i
Geology, Third Printing, Falls Church, Va., Bragg ,G. H., Jr.; and Zeig er, T.W.; Design and
1974. Huang, W. T.; Petrology, McGraw-Hill Constructwn of Compacte Shale Embankments,
Book Company, 1962. Vol 2(Evahation and R dial Treatment of
Compacted Shale Ernba nts), Report No.
Bailey, W. A.; and Christian, J. T.; A Problem- FHWA-RD-75-62, F era1 Highway
Oriented Language for Slope Stability Analysis -- Admb&tration, Washingto ,D. C., August 1975.
User's Manual, Soil Mechanics Publication 1969,
Department of Civil Engineering, Massachusetts Chapman, D. R.; Shale C Tests and
Institute of Technology,April 1969. Systems: A

Bishop, A. W.; 'The Use of the Slip Circle in the

Stability Analysis of Slopes." European Chellis,R. D., Pile
Conference on Stability of Earth Slopes,
New York,N.Y. USDA Forest Service, Region 6,1979.

Cheney, R. S.; and Chassie, R. G.; "Soils and Drnevich V. P.; Hopkinr, T. C.; and Hale, S. S.;
Foundation Workshop," U S . Department of "Design of Oil Shab Disposal Embankments,"
Transportation, Federal Highway Department of Civil Engineering, Univers* of
Aahinistration, Washington, D.C., November Kentuky, Soil Mechanics Series No. 31,
1982. September 1982 (alsoProceedings, 1982 Eastern
Oil Shale Symposium, October 11-13, 1982,
Chirapunta, S. and Duncan, J. M.; 'The Role of Lexington, Kentucky).
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Henkel, D. J. and Skempton, A. W.; "A A s l i d e Hopkim, T. C.; "Settlement of Highway Bridge
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84-24, University o f Kentucky Tramportation
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January 1986. 047-W-091-094-0396,'' University of Kentucky
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"Geotechnical, Hydrologic, and Hydraulic
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Kentucky, UKTRP-84-14, Lexington, Kentucky, Kentucky Transportation Center, College of
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81-16,August 1981. StocMwh, Sweden, 1954.

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88-1,January 1988. Vicksburg, Mississippi, July 1974. (Also,
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Section AA-19 of the Alexandria-Ashla& 1974.
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Spec~fiiationr
for Road and Bridge Construction,
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Soils", University of Kentucky Transportation
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presentation to the National Lime Conference, Guidelines for Slope Maintenance and Slide
Lexington, Kentucky, October 1987. Restoration, Report No. FHWA-TS-85-231,U.S.
Department of Transportorion, Federal Highway
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Analysis: A Computerized Solution o f Bishop's
Simplified Method of Analysis, Report No. 358, Ladd, C. C.; and Fmct R.; "New Design
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Research, 1973. Society of Civil Engineers, Journal of the
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Hopkinr, T. C.; Relatiomhip Between Kentucky GT7,July 1974.
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Engineering,August 1984. Defonnariom and Stability", Session I, General
Report, Seventh Inter~fionalConfetence on Soil
Hopkinr, T. C.; Design o f embanhents on Soft Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Mexico,
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Mechanics, Wiley. 1969.

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Wiley & sons, lnc., New York,N.Y.

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Immbc, T. W.; "Soil Parameters for Predicting Peck, R. B. and Lave 111, .; "Shear Strength of
Deformations and Stability," Session 1, General Undistrubed Cohesive oils," Moderator's
Report, Seventh International Conference on Soil Report, Session 4, Research CoMerence on Shear
Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Mexico Strength of Cohesive Soils, American Society of
City, 1969. Civil Engineers, University f Colorado,Boulder,
Colorado,June 1960.
Lutton, R. J.; Design and Construction of
Compacted Shale Embanbnents, US. Amy
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1977.
June 1960.
Mathis, H. A.; and Gray, E.; "Soil Engineering
Report, Breathitt County, S 364(4),sp 13-67 IOL, Royster, D. C.; Landslide Remedial Measures,
BoonesvilleJackson Ky 30, Station 0+00- Tennessee Department of Tramportation,
131+00," Division of Materials, Soils Section, September 1982.
Kentucky Department of Highways, September 6,
1972.

Morgenstern, N. R.; and Eigenbrod, K. D.;

Classification of Argillaceous Soils and Rocks,
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Analysis of the Stability @General Slip Surface,"
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S. A.; Rockfall Mitigation FHWAIcaITL-85-12,
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EmbMknent Foundation, R
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Sacremento, Cag, Sept, 1985. Sharnburger, J. H.; Patrick, .M.; and Lutton, R.
J.; Design and C o ~ u c t w nf Compacted Shale
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C.; Analysis of Time-Dependent Consolidaton and Current Practices) R port No. FHWA-
Data, Preprint 3280, ASCE Spring Convention RD-75-61, Federal High y Administration,
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Reconstruction on Embanknent Slopes, Region 6,
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4,1954. Engineering Practice, Wiley, 1948.

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of Natural Slopes and Embankment Piles Driven through Plastic Clay," Design and
Foundations," State-of-the-Art Report, Installation of Pile Foundationr and Cellular
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Drains. 1978. Company,Second Edition,New York, 1973.

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Research Report 267, Division of Research, Computersfor Slope Stability Analysis," Journal
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1968. American Society of Civil Engineers, Vol93,No.
SM4, July 1967.
Spencer, E.; "A Methdd of Analysis of the
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Forces," Geotechnique,Vol17,No. 1,1967. Undrained Shear Strength of Ckay Shales,: a
dksertation submitted in partial satisfaction of
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Embankment Stability Analysis," Geotechnique, Philosophy, University of California, Berkely,
Vo. 23, No. 1,1973. 1969 (also,Proceedings, Conference on Analysis
and Design in Geotechnical Engineering,
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Construction, Bureau of Highways, Kentucky Austin, Tuas, June 9-12,1973.
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Foundation Engineering Handbook, Van
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Sons, h . , London. England, fourth edition 1950.
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Volume I - Pavement Design and Construction FHWA-DP-66-1,April 198.5.
 APPENDIX A

SLIDE AND ROCKFALL FEATUF

A. Preslide Symptoms
6. Features
TYPICAL SLIDES ON HIGHWAYS

Many different types of slides occur along highways. In a

given situation, the maintenance crew, maintenance
supervisor, or geotechnical engineer must decide on a
course of action to follow to repair or protect the roadway.
A general recommended course of action consists of the
following:

o ALWAYS EVALUATE THE SAFETY OF THE SLIDE -

DO NOT ASSUME THE SLIDE IS SAFE.
- Are houses above orland below the slide threaten
or in danger? Notify house owners andlor
landowners if the slide threatens life or property. Be
prepared to evacuate people that may be threatened.
- Are motorists traveling the distressed section of
roadway in danger? Post signs to warn motorists of
the danger. IN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS (portions
or all of the roadway has completed failed or a soil or
rock slide has moved or threaten to fall onto the
roadway) POST FLAGMEN TO WARN
MOTORISTS. If failure appears imminent be
prepared to close the roadway, built detours, orland
select alternate routes.
o OBTAIN PRELIMINARY INFORMATION -- Use the
slidelinventory form to identify location, type of slide size,
number of times the section has been patched, etc. This
information will be invaluable to a geotechnical engineer if
he is required to investigate the slide.
o MONITOR THE SLIDE -- Any distressed section of
highway should be watched closely. Widening cracks,
falling rocks occurring often, a section of roadway that
requires periodic patching are signs that the section may
eventually fail. Its normal to patch a section once because
fills settle after construction. Generally, settlement of fills
decrease with increasing time. However, sections of
highway that requires periodic patching are usually settling
more than normal and probably indicates that failure will
eventually occur. Any section of highway that has been
patched more than once should be included on the slide
inventory list andthe causes of the settlement should be
investigated.
o DETERMINE A REPAlRlPROTECTlON METHOD --
Based on the methods described in Section IV, decide on
an appropriate repair andlor protection method.
Quick estimates may be obtained from the data shown in
Section V under REPAIR ECONOMICS. These cost
estimates will aid the supervisor/maintenance crew in
deciding whether the geotechnical staff or consultant should
be contacted. More detailed cost estimates based on local
conditions should be made before implementation of the
plan. Whichever approach is used, the supervisor must
decide whether he has the resources to implement a repair
method(s). If the supervisor decides that the job is too
large andlor too expensive, then he should contact the
geotechnical staff or a geotechnical consultant for
assistance.
o IMPLEMENT REPAlRlPROTECTlON METHOD -- The
supervisor should monitor the progress of work carefully
whether his crew performs the work or the work is
performed by a contractor. IT'S GOOD PRACTICE TO
PHOTOGRAPH IMPORTANT STAGES OF THE WORK.
o INSPECT REPAIRED HIGHWAY SECTION
PERIODICALLY -- After the work has been completed,
periodical inspections should be made to be sure that the
method has been successful. Use the slide/inventory form
when making the inspections and as updates to the original
slidelinventory forms. These inspections may reveal that
the work was unsuccessful. DON'T ASSUME THAT THE
SLIDE HAS BEEN REPAIRED JUST BECAUSE A
GEOTECHNlCAL ENGINEER AND/OR CONTRACTOR
PERFORMED THE WORK.

To aid the maintenance supervisor and crew members,

several typical highway slide situations frequently
encountered along roadways are described below. For
each situation, preslide features and the suggested actions
to be followed by the maintenance supervisor and crew are
shown.
Preslide Symptoms
 SETTLEMENT OF ROADWAY, SHOULDER,
GUARDRAIL, OR ADJACENT AREAS
SUCH AS WALLS. FENCES. OR RAILS
THlllCS lU LOOK FOR SIGNIFICMCE OF OBSERVED FEATURE COURSE OF ACTlOll THINGS lU AVOID
A. Surface Crackln o Allows water I n f i l t r a t i o n . o Investigate cause o f cracking. o Avoid lording o f distressed
i n ~urroundingfreas o May outline l i m i t s o f distress. o Record size, location, 1 extent; area.
o Uay indicate potential periodically monitor.
lajw movement. o Consider sealing cracks.
o Monitor f o r roadway movement w l th
pins and record.
o I f movement continues, seek help.
B. Blocked, L e l l n g . or Othenise o May add water t o the problem m a . o Investigate cause. o Do not d i r e c t water towards
Malfunctioning Drainage o r o May be the cause o f the problems. o Properly drain. prm ma.
Septic System Outside R/N o May cause future probla. o R e d i m t w t e r I f practical. o Do not over excavate when
o Seek advice. c l e m n g dralnage.
o tteconstwt o r p+otcct eroded
area I f practical.
C. Erosion by Natural Drainage o May be the cause o f distress. o Monitor L m o r d changes i n o Avoid sudden change i n water
(Including s t r e n flw, springs, o w reoccur or progress t o dlstress. levels where controllable.
lakes, and channel changes) travel unless altered. o Monitor L record changes I n o Avold blocking natural
o May be adding water t o water voluc, color, o r level. dralnage courses or springs.
distressed area.
o Constructed side slopes may be
N too steep.
N
N 0. S l o p Bulging o r N o v c m t o May indicate location o f novcunt. o Monitor L m o r d locations. o Do not disturb u n t i l
o Hay indicate swelling soils. changes i n size or shape. s t a m t y evaluated.
o May indicate f r o s t heave areas. o Be prepared t o close road I f o Avoid loading distressed
changing rapidly. area.
o I f n o v c r n t continues. seek help. o Oonot moveshrubs,
bushcs, grasses. etc.
E. Hasting o f Materials on Slope o May cause settlement. o Raove existing taste material o Avoid wasting w stock
(side casting) o May block natural o r designed I f practical. p i l i n g material a t t h i s
drainage. o Properly draln. location.
o Hay cause moisture t o collect; o Use designated waste m a s .
1.e.. snow melt or r a i n f a l l .
F. Adjacent .Land Use Changes. o May be cause o f distress. o Imestlgate a c t i v i t i e s and contact o Do not grant access or
Construction, Ilining. Logging. etc. , o Changes fnn a g r l c u l t u r r l t o supervisor, and/or aner. perr'7fs within the
Industrial or c a a r r c i a l t o distressed m a .
urban may cause increased
runoff.
6. Vegetation Changes Such As o m y indicate aovement and wtl ine o Investigate cause; r o n i t o r 6 o Avoid directing water i n t o
Tilting, Dying, Wcr Cat Tails, l i m i t s o f distress area. record changes. distressed area.
New 6mn Areas o Uay indicate changed drainage o Consider horizontal or underdralns. o Do not remove vegetation
conditions, surface w subsurface. u n l e s i a hazard t o
travel1 ing public.

Mote: 1) Always evaluate safety f i r s t . don't assme I t ' s safe.

2) Do not raise roadway u n t i l s e t t l c m n t cause has been
evaliEted.
 DEBRIS ON ROADWAY
'THIffiS TO LOm FOR SIGIIIFIUWCE OF OBSERVED FEANRE CWRSE OF ACTIUU THINGS TO AVOID
A. Surface Cracking o Allows water I n f l l t r a t l o n . o Investigate cause of cracklng. o Avoid loadlng o f distressed
I n Surrarndlng Areas o Mmy w t l l n e l l r l t s o f distress. o Record size, lacatlon. 6 extent; area.
o )hy lndlcate~potentlal perlodlcally m l t o r .
mjor lovrmt. o Conslder sealing cracks.
o Ronltor for roadway movement W th I
plns and record.
o I f lovemrnt continues, seek help.
8 . Blocked, L e l l n g or Othenlse o Hay add r t e r to the pmbl a area. o Investigate cause. o Do not direct water towards
Defectlvc Scptlc systems o Hay be the cause o f the problems. o Properly drain. prG area.
Outside R/U o Nay cause future probla. o Redirect water I f practlcal. o .Do not over excavate when
o Seek advice. clednfng dralnage.
o Reconstruct or protect eroded
area I f practical.
C. Eroslon by Natural D r a l ~ g e o m y be the cause o f dlstress. o Honlt o r 6 record changes I n o Avold sudden change I n water
t Including s t r e m flow, sprlngs, o Unless altered, m y reoccur or dlstress. levels where controllable.
lakes, and channel chmges) progress t o travel way. o b n l t o r m o r d changes I n o Avoid blocklng natural
o May be adding water to water volume, color, or level. dralnage courses or springs.
dlstressed area.
o Constructed st* slopes m y be
h) too stccp.
h)
0 D. Bvlgtng or Slope kvement o Rny indlcate locatlon o f movement. o Wonltor 6 m b r d locatlons, o Do not dlsturb u n t i l
o M y indlcate m l l l n g sofls. changes I n slze or shape. s t a m l t y walurted.
o Rny Indlcate frost heave areas. o Be pnprred to close road i f o Avold loading distressed
changlng rapidly. area.
o I f movement continues, seek help., o Do not renove shrubs,
bushcr, grasses, etc.
E. T l l t l n g Features Such as Trees, o M y fndkate addltlonal d l s t m s . o Imestlgate cause; m n l t o r 6 o Avoid d l m t l n g r t e r I n t o
Poles, Fences Malls, or l k l l s o Hay Indlcate changed drainage m o r d changes. dlstressed area.
surface or shsurfrce. o Conslder horizontal or underdralns. o Do not remove wgetatlon
m y be source o f future debrls. u n l E a hazard to
h y indicate larger area o f d l s t m s .
k y be cause o f distress. o Contact supewtsor and/or arncr. o Do not b l e d dralnage
Changes f m a rgrlcultural to o Conslder m t r a l n l n g structures, ultEtrinlng structures.
lndustrlal. or c r c l a l to bem, fences, K-rall, etc.
urban m y cause I n c m s e d nnoff. o Conslder rerouting t r a f f i c .
Hay lndlcatc changed dralnage. o Draln propuly.
Ocbrls my come from q u i p n n t
dlsturtNme.

-
Note: 1) Always evaluate safety f i r s t , don't r s s l r c I t ' s safe.
2) Determine type o f debrls rock, rock and soll, etc.
t o help establish source; look for more loose debrls
-
before cleanlng up roadwry.
 TILTING FEATURES: TREES, POLES,
FENCES, WALL.S, OR RAILS
SIGWIFICIUICE OF OI)SERVU) FEATURE COURSE OF ACTION THINGS lU AVOID
A. Surface Crackin o A l l m r t e r inflltration. o Investlgate cause o f cracking.. o Avoid lording o f distressed
i n Surrounding Ireas o M y outline l i d t s o f distress. o Record size. location, 6 extent; ma.
o May Indicate potential periodically mitor.
wJw movement. o Consider sealing cracks.
o Monitor f o r roadway mveamt with
pins and record.
o I f m v c w n t continues, seek help.
8. Blocked, leaking or Othcnise o m y d d uater to the p r o b l a area. o Investlgate cause. o Do not d i r e c t r t e r twards
WIlfunctlonlng Drainage; o thy be the cause o f the problas. o Properly drain. prfi area.
Septic Systems Outside Ivy o May cause future probla. o Redirect water Ifpractlcal. o Do not over excavate when
o Seek advice. c l e s n g dralnage.
o Reconstruct w protect eroded
area i f p r r t l c a l .
C. Erosion by Natural Dralnrge o M y be thc came o f distress. o Monitor Im o r d changes I n o Avoid sudden change i n water
(Imludlng stream flow. springs. o Unless altered my reoccur o r distress. levels where controllable.
lakes. md c h a m 1 chmges) progress to travel nay. o hit o r m o r d changes i n o Avoid blocklng natural
o )4y be adding water to water volume. color, or level. drainage cwrses o r springs.
d l stressed area. o Avoid removal o f beneficial
o Constructed sf& slopes may be vegetation.
too steep.
D. Bulglng o r Slope I b r e a m t o #y lndlcate locatlon of .ovcwnt. o N m l t o r Im o r d locations, o Do not disturb u n t i l
0 m y indicate swelling soils. changes i n size or shape. sta6FTl t y eval w ted.
o May Indicate f r o s t heave areas. o Be prepared t o close road i f o Avold loading distressed
changing rapldly. area.
0 Ifmveamt-continues, seek help. o Do not m o v e shrubs,
busher, grasses, etc.

E. YIstlng o f Materials on Slope o m y be causing settlement. o Reaove existing waste meterial o Avoid r s t l n g or stock
(st& casting) o block natural or designed i f practical. p i l i n g material a t t h i s
o drainage. o Properly drain. locatlon.
o May cause aolsture to c o l l w t . o Use designated waste m a s .
i.e.. s n w melt w r a i n f a l l
collutlon.
F. Adjacent land Use Changes. o llry be cause o f d l s t m s . o Imestlgate a c t i v l t l e s m d contact o Do not grant access or
Construction, Mining. Logging. etc. o Changes from agricultural to supervisor. and/or amcr. p e r r i i s within thc
Industrial or ~ o l t r e i a tol distressed m a .
urban my cause increased m f f .

Note: 1) Always w a l w t c safety flrtt. don't assume I t ' s safe.

2) Consider removing only those features hazardous to
travel1l n g pub1ic.
 UPLIFTING OF ROADWAYS
T H I l S TO LOOK FOR SIWIFICMCE OF OBSERVED FEATURE THIWGS TO AVOID
A. Surface C r a c k i q o Allows w a t e r i n f l l t r a t l o n . o Investlgate cause o f cracking. o Avold l o r d l q o f distressed
I n k r r r a n d i n g Arcrs o thy wtl lm l l m l t s o f distress. o Record size. locatlon, 6 extent; area.
o M y lndlcate potential periodically monitor.
w j o r cl~vement. o Consider sealtng cracks.
o I b n l t o r f o r roadway l o m c n t w l t h
pins and m o r d .
0 Ifn o m c n t contlnues. seek help.
B. Blocked. LclLfng or O t h c n l u o M y add w a t e r to the problem a m . o lnvestlgrte cause. o tb not d i r e c t w t e r towards
M8lfumtlonlng Drainage or o thy bc thc C~UK o f thC p r a b l m . o Properly drain. pra am.
Septic System h t s l d e IVY o b y cause future problem. o R e d i m t water I f practical. o Do not over excavate when
o Seek advice. cleinfng drainage.
0 Reconstruct or protect eroded
area I f p r w t l c a l .
C. T l l t i n g Features Such as Trees. o k y indicate l w n c n t s and a u t l l m o Investtgate cause; monitor 6 o Avoid dircctlng w t u i n t o
Poles. Fences Walls, or Lilt l i m i t s o f distress m a . record changes. Ifstressed m a .
o l b y Indlcate changed drainage o Consider horizontal w underdralns. o Do not rmove vegetation
conditions. surface or sllbsurfm. o Remove material causing adjacent u n l s a hazard to
o May Indicate overlwdlng o f overload I f practical. travelling public.
adjacent areas.
h) 0. Bulgng or Slope M w m t o Bay lndlcate location of aovemmt. o M i t o r 6 record locations. o Do not disturb u n t l l
h) o #ry Indicate srrlllq solls. changes I n slze or shapc?. s t a m i t y evaluated.
cn o Hay indtcate frost h a v e areas. o Ik prepared to close road I f o Avold lording d i s t m s e d
changing rapidly. area.
o I f aovcrclt contlnucs, seek help. o Do not rnorc shrubs.
bUsnCf. grasses. etc.
0 thy Illdicate erosion or freeze-t!! 0 R a w e debris from m a h y . o Rcrorc only as necessary.
action. o Investigate cause; monitor 8 record. o Do not undercut s l o p t o
o Hay indicate slope f a l l u r e above o Reestablish vqetatlon. tnci%Zse storage area.
mad. o Drain properly. o Do n o t taste material on
o thy Indlcate near future namt o Co~sidcrretalnlng s t m t u m , s l o F (st& cast).
and debris. 1.e. fences, b t m . etc.
o May Indicate o n a l n g work above o Ifdebrls continues. seek help.
rordlay.
F. k d j u u t t Land Use Changes. o N y be cause o f d l s t m s . o Consider r r p l n g over up1l f t or o Avoid w e r l o r d l n g uhen
Construction, Mining. Logging. etc. o Changes from agricultural to r e r o u t l q traffic. r m l n g over-dddi tlonal
industrial or c o l r c u i a l to o Contact supervlsw and/or amer. s l i d i n g may result.
urban may cause Increased r m o f f .

Mote: 1) Always evaluate safety f i r s t . don't assme i t ' s safe.

2) M y be toe o f a slide up slope f r a roadray.
Consider rmplng over, do not c u t u n t i l evaluated.
 CHANGES IN DRAINAGE
THINGS TO LOOK FOR SIGHIF1CANCE OF OBSERVED .FEATURE COVRSE OF ACT I
OW THINGS TO AVOID
A. Blocked Dratnage--Culverts, o Hay add water t o the problem area. o Investigate cause, and c o r m t o Do not d l r e c t water i n t o
Entrances, Outlets o r Insfde, o Hay bc the cause of the problems. dralnage. d i s F 6 s s area.
Oltches; Underdralns. Horizontal o Hay cause future problem. o Do not overexcavate vhen
Drains, Natural Drains,Creeks, c l e z n g drainage.
Gulleys, Sprfngs
-
B. Leaklng Drainage PIpe Separatfon
Lfned Oltch Jolnts. Septic Systems
o Hay be addlng water t o problem area.
o May cause future dlstress.
o lnvestlgate cause. and correct
drainage.
o Do not reroute where addi-
t l o x dlstress w i l l result.
Outslde RAI
C. Rerouted Dralnage o Hay add water t o problem. o Evaluate new route; correct o 00 not d l r e c t water I n t o
o May cause addftional distress. I f necessary. dls€Sss areas.
0. Raised o r Lowered Roadway o Hay block dralnage. o Investlgate cause; nonftor 6 o Do not c u t o r f i l l grade
Shoulder, Guard Rail. o r o Hay separate draln plpe. record. u n t ~ c a u s ew a l uated.
Adjacent Areas Such as Malls. o Drain properly.
Fences, Poles, o r Ralls o Consider t r a f f l c real lgnment.
E. Surface Cracklng o Allows water infiltration. o Investigate cause o f cracking. o Avold loading o f d l s t n s s e d
I n Surrounding Areas o Hay outline l i m i t s o f dfstress. o Record slze. locatlon, 6 extent; area.
o Hay indlcate potentlal p e r t o d ~ c a t l ynmnltor.
major movement. o Consider seallng cracks.
o lknlt o r f o r roadway movement with
plns and record.
o Ifmovement contlnws, seek help.
F. Ve t a t i o n Changes Such As: o May indlcate slope novenent. o Investigate cause; nonltor 6 o Avold d i r e c t l n g water I n t o
1 i K l n g . Dylng, b Green Areas. o Hay indlcate changed drainage record changes. d l s t m s e d area.
Neu Cat Tall Locatfons condl tions. surface or subsurface. o Conslder horizontal o r underdralns. o Do n o t remove vegetation
unless a hazard t o
travel1 i n g publlc.

G. Bulglng o r Slope Movement o Way indlcate location o f dlstress. o Monftor 6 record locations, and o Do not d i s t u r b untll
o Hay indicate swelling t o l l s . changes I n slze o r shape. s t a m 1t y eval uated.
o Hay Indicate f r o s t heave areas. o Be prepared t o close road I f o Avofd loading dfstressed
chanaina r a ~ i d l v . a r ~ .a
o I f movement continues. seek help. o Do not n n o r e shrubs,
bus=, grasses, etc.

H. b j a c e n t Land Use Changes. o Hay be cause o f distress. o Investlgate a c t i v l t i e s 6 n o t i f y o Do not grant access o r
Construction. #lning, Logging, etc. o Agrlcultural t o I n d u s t r l a l o r supewlsor, and/or owner. pem7fs wl t h l n the
connerclal t o urban--increased dtstressed area.
runoff.
I. Sprfngs -New. Discolored o r
Chanvd Voluae
o Hay develop fra changed drainage. o Draln properly. o Avoid n s t f n g I n drafnages
or spring areas.

Note: 1) Always evaluate safety f i r s t , don't a s s w i t ' s safe.

2) Avoid ponding o f water.
Features
 ROCKFALL FROM MASSIVE ROCK SLOPES ROCKFALL FROM MASSIVE ROCK SLOPES --
(PRESLIDE AND SUDE CONDITIONS) MAINTENANCE SUPERVISOR AND CREW'S
ACTIONS
Rockfall from massive rock slopes occurs as a resull of rock
weathering, rainfall, snowmelt, and freezing and thawing. Rock falls should receive careful and immediate attention
Very often the massive rock cut is pinted. Falling rocks since the debris on the roadway may cause serious
range in sizes. Water seeps along the joints eroding contad accidents by motoriit either hitting the debris or attempting to
points between pieces and causing falls. Also, the water in avoid hiting the debris and to minimize future uncontrolled
the joints freezes and thaws which widens the joints and rockfall. The supervisor should consider scaling the slope
causes pieces of rock to fall. Distress signs are shown in before working under. DO NOT leave equipment parked
the sketch below and in the accompanying table. under the slope. If it appears that more rockfall may occur
in the Mure (SEEK ADVICE from the geotechnical staff or
consultant and/or geologist if you are not sure), or if rock
falls occur a second time, consider conslruding a slope
protection method such as berms, sbpe drapes, catchment
fence, and etc. Suggested actions by the maintenance
supervisor and crew to follow are shown in the sketch below
and the accompanying table.

CONTACT UND OWNER DIVERT WATERS

ARIACENT LAND USE AWAY FROM SLOPE
SNOWMELT

DARKER AREAS

w/ FREEZE AND
THAWlffi

ON
NS
MAY
KiNS)
IAY
GROUND
ONTl m AND RECORD
PR TIM N O S NOT WASTE
REMOVE ROCKFALL AS NECESSARY SIZE AND LOCATION
DEBRIS AT \
-.. FILL SLOPES
E DO NOT WASTE CN SIDE SLOPEs I ~ ~ ~ T ~ ~ H
OF SLOPE \ ONSIOER WASTING ROCKFALL
AT THE TOE OF A DISTRESS FILL
DO NOT UNDERCUT SLOPE IN LOCALITY
 ROCKFALL FROM MASSIVE ROCK SLOPES
~ 1 1 1 6 5TO LM)K FOR SIGIIIFICAWQ OF OBSERVED FEATURE COURSE OF ACTION THINGS R) AVOID
A. Individual rocks or groups o f o More debris m y f a l l i n future. o Consider scaling p r i or to working d Avold wasting r o c k f a l l on
rock on roadway. under slope. o r to n i n i n l z e future f i l l slopes.
uncontrolled rockfall. o Avoid undercuttfng slope
o Remove r o c k f a l l as necessary. when cleaning d i t c h o r to
increase storage area.
8 . Debris a t toe o f s l o p , or on o Expect narc debrls. o Conslder scal lng prf o r to work ing o Avoid wastfng r o c k f a l l on
slop. under slope, o r to ninllnlze future f i l l slopes.
uncontrolled rock fa11. o Avold undercutting slope
o Rerave r o c k f a l l as necessary. *hen cleaning d i t c h o r to
increase s twage area.
C. I m ~ l a srl o p surfaces w f t h o Expect a d d l t i o n r l rockfall. o Consider scal lng p r l or to workfng o Avoid wasting r o c k f a l l on
projecting h s . Rocks being o Rock exposures may indicate the under slope, o r to ninlmlze future f i l l slopes.
exposed more and more. beginning o f a slide. uncontrolled rockfall. o Avoid undercutting slope
o Remove r o c k f a l l as necessary. when cleaning d i t c h o r to
increase storage m a .
D. Lighter or darker areas on slope. o b y be source o f rockfall. o Conslder scal i n g p r i o r to working o Avoid toasting r o c k f a l l on
under slope, o r to ~nlnimizef u t u r e f i l l slopes.
uncontrolled rockfall. o Avold undercutting slope
o Remove r o c k f a l l as m c s s a r y . when cleaning d l tch o r to
increase storage area.
E. Ground cracking around rock o Uay o u t l i n e disturbed m a s o Wanitor 6 record size, location. o Do n o t obliterate.
SOW= wea. which m y y i e l d future rocltfall.
m
F. Ad
::o
&
;l E t t E tuse changes.
m w i mtil v G
land owner.
sor m w o r

Mote: 1) Always evaluate safety f i r s t , don't assune i t safe.

2) Consider r o c k f a l l protection system: berms, ditches,
fences, slope drapes, bolting, widening a t grade, etc.
 ROCKFALL FROM DIFFERENTIAL WEATHERING -- General actions that the maintenance supervisor and crew
This situation develops when a harder rock is located on top may follow for rockfall from differential weathering is shown in
of a softer rock. The softer rock (such as a clay shale) the sketch below and accompanying table.
weathers orland erodes much faster than the harder rocks
(such as sandstone, limestone). The harder rocks projed out
over the softer rock and, as the support of the softer rock is
lost, the harder rock eventually falls as shown in the sketch
below. Light areas, in contrast to dark areas, on the slope
indicate that observed fallen rock came from the slope and
indicates that more rock may fall in the Mure.

SNOWMELT
WATER CONSTRUCT CWNAGE
DITCH DIVERT WATERS

ROCK DEBRIS AT
EVALUATE SAFETY --
SCALE ( IF NECESSARY)
PAVEMENT BEFORE WORKING
UNDER SLOPE
SEEK ADVICE FOR
PROTECTION SYSTEM

REMOVE ROCK
/DO NOT WASTE
WAR ON F l u SLOPES)

L W l E R OR DARKER OR BLOCK DRAINAGE MONITOR AND RECORD

AREAS LOCATION /PHOTOGRAPH)
 ROCKFALL FROM DIFFERENTIAL WEATHERING
THINGS TO LOOK FOR SIGNIFICANCE OF OBSERVED FEATURE COURSE OF ACTION THINGS TO AVOID
A. Indlvidual rocks o r groups o f o h r e debrls m y f a l l I n future. o Consider scallng p r i o r to worklng o Avold uastlng r o c k f a l l on
rock on roadway. under s l o o r t o mlntmlze future flllslopes.
u n c o n t r o ~ C rockfall.
i o Avold undercuttlng slope
o R m v e r o c k f a l l as mcessary. when cleanlng d i t c h o r t o
Increase storage area.
I). Debrls a t toe o f slope, o r on o More debris may f a l l I n future. o Consider scal lng p r l o r t o working o Avold uastlng r o c k f a l l on
slope. under slope, o r to n l n i n l t e future f l 1 1 slopes.
uncontrolled rockfall. o Avold undercutting slope
o Remove r o c k f a l l as necessary. when cleanlng d i t c h o r to
Increase storage area.
h) C. Irregular surfaces p r o j u t l n g o More debris m y f a l l i n future. o Consider scal l n g prf or to vorklng o Avold uastlng r o c k f a l l on
0 or over hanglng rocks. under slope, o r to mlnlmfze f u t u r e f i l l slopes.
0 uncontrol l e d rock f a11. o Avold undercutting slope
o Remove r o c k f a l l as necessary. when c l e m l n g d i t c h o r to
Increase storage area.
D. Lfghter o r darker areas on slope. o More debrls may f a l l I n future. o Consider scal fng p r i o r to worklng o Avold uastlng r o c k f a l l on
o May Indlcate sources o f debrls under slope. o r t o mlnlmlze future f f l l slopes.
and may establish r a t e o f erosfon uncontrolled rockfall. o Avold ondercuttlng slope
o r weathering. o Remove r o c k f a l l as necessary. then cleaning d i t c h o r to
lncrease storage area.
E. Ewslon
o
-
o ekre debrls may f a l l i n future.
may be eroaing
o Remove rockfall as necessary.
o ~ e p a i ror illprove aralnage.
. o Avold w s t t n g r o c k f a l l on
f l l t slopes.
leavlng the rocks?o f a l l dam slope. o Seek advlce f o r slope protection. o Avold undercuttlng slope
o I b y r e s u l t from inadequate o r when cleanlng d i t c h o r to
nonfunctlonlng drainage s y s t a . Increase storage area.
o Do n o t block drainage.
Note: 1) Always evaluate safety f i r s t , don't a s s u e It safe.
2) Conslder r o c k f a l l protection system: berms, dltches,
fences, slope drapes, bol tlng. wldmlng a t grade, etc.
 ROCKFALL FROM A TALUS SLOPE (PRESLIDE ROCKFALL FROM A TALUS SLOPE --
AND SLIDE CONDITIONS) MAINTENANCE SUPERVISOR AND CREW'S
ACTIONS
Talus is a pile of rock or boulder debris or fragments on a
slope below a rodc face. This type of material above the
highway is prone to failure bemuse of groundwater seepage
and seepage into the talus pile from rainfall and snowmelt.
Distress signs are shown in the sketch below and the
accompanying table.

W S E S ? CONTACT
ADJACENT LAND USE OCCUPANTS I LANDOWNER
TILTED TREES (EVACUATE IF THREATENED)
HOUSES ? I SEEK ADVICE
(CONSIDER SCALING
BEFORE WORKING UNDER)

PREPARED TO CLOSE
T

BLOCKED DAAINAG

SATURATED GROUND /
LKiW AND DARK
AREAS
- \
VEGETATK)F( CHANGES
CONSIDER
MONITOR AND RECORD
LOCATON (PHOTOGRAPH)

PROTECTKIN
METHODS ( BERMS, CATCHMENT FENCES, ETC.)
 ROCKFALL FROM A TALUS SLOPE
THINGS m LOOUFOR S1I;WIFICANCE OF OBSERVED FEATURE COURSE OF ACTION THINGS TO AVOID

A. Rock and d f r t p l l e d on roadray. o Hay lndlcate I n s t a b l l l t y . Rockfall o Vonl t o r 6 record locatfon. o Avold wastlng materfal on
nay be warnlng o f l a r g e r slide. o Re prepared t o close road and f l l l slopes.
o More debrls may f a l l I n future. remove r o c k f a l l as necessary. o Avold undercuttlng slope
o Properly draln. when cleanlng d l t c h or t o
o Seek advlce. Increase storage area.
o Don't block dralnage.

B. Loose debrls on slope. o M a y l n d l c a t e I n s t a b l l l t y . Rockfall o Clonltor6recwdlocatlon. o Avold wastlng materfal on

may be warnlng o f l a r g e r sllde. o Re prepared t o close road and f l l l slopes.
o Pore debrfs may f a l l I n future. remove r o c k f a l l as necessary. o' Avoid undercuttlng slope
o Could be sources o f r o c k f a l l . o Conslder scallng p r l o r to workfng when cleanlng d l t c h o r to
under slope, o r t o mlnlnlze future Increase storage area.
uncontrolled rock fa11. o Don't block dralnage.
o Seek advlce.
C. Llghter or darker areas on s l o p . o Ray lndlcate l n s t a b l l l t y . Rockfall o Cknltor 6 record locatlon.
may be warning o f l a r g e r s l f de. o Properly draln.
o More debrls may f a l l I n future.
o Could be sources of r o c k f a l l .
o May lndlcate changed water condl tlons.

D. TI1ted features, such as trees, o Way fndlcate l n s t a b i l f t y . Rockfall o Monitor 6 record location. o -Donet block dralnage.
poles, fences. walls m y be warnfng o f l a r g e r sllde. o Consider scal lng p r f o r to working
o b r e debrls m y f a l l I n future. under slope, o r to n l n f n i z e future
uncontrolled rockfall.

E. Sprlngs 6 vegetatfon changes. o CBy lndlcate f n s t a b l l l t y . Rockfall o h i t o r 6 record location. o D m ' t block dralnage.
may be warnlng o f l a r g e r slfde. o Properly drain.
o Bore debrls m y f a l l I n future. o Seek advice.
o Hay lndlcate changed water condlttons.
o May cause I n s t a b i l i t y .

F. Blocked dralnage or changes I n o m y Indlcate i n s t a b l l l t y . Rockfall o Uonftor 6 record locatton. o Avotd r r s t l n g m t e r l a l on

dralnage. may be warnfng o f l a r g e r sllde. o Be prepared to close road and f l l l slopes.
o More debrfs may f a l l I n future. renove r o c k f a l l as necessary. o Fvold undercuttlng slope
o Hay cause I n s t a b f l l t y . o Properly drain. rrhm cleanlng d l t c h o r to
o Seek advlce. Increase storaqe area.

6. Adjacent land use changes o )Zy Indlcate l n s t a b f l l t y .

Rockfall o Uonltor 6 record l o c a t l m . o Avold wastlng materlal on
logglng. rlnlng, c o n s t r ~ c t l o netc.
~ may be warnlng o f l a n p r sltde. o Be prepared to close road and f l l l slopes.
o Uore dcbrls m y f a l l I n future. remove r o c k f a l l as necessary. o Avold undercuttlng slope
o Could be sources o f r o c k f a l l . o Properly draln. when cleanlng d l t c h o r to
o b y cause f n s t a b l l l t y . o Contact your supewlsor and/or Increase storage area.
land m e r . o Don't block dralnage.

Note: 1) Always evaluate safety f l r s t , don't assme I t safe.

2) Conslder r o c k f a l l protectlon system: berms, dltches.
fences, slope drapes, boltlng. wldenfng a t grade, etc.
TYPE A SLIDE ABOVE ROAD-MUDFLOW (PRESIDE TYPE A SLIDE ABOVE ROAD MUDFLOW -- --
AND SLIDE CONDITIONS) MAINTENANCE SUPERVISOR AND CREW'S
ACTIONS
Mudflows consist of highly saturated sails that simply flow
(like water) down sbpes. Mudflows most often occur without Suggested adions lor the maintenance supervisor and crew
warning during or shortly after very heavy rainstorms or when to lollow in reading to a mudfbw above the road are .
snowmelt occurs. The flowing mass is completely saturated described in the sketch and accompanying table.
with water. Mudfbws oftentimes occur in soils that are
sandy and silty with or wlhout small amounts of clays and
are b e d on steep slopes. Conditions to look for are
shown in the sketch.

Actions to be lollowed by the maintenance supervisor and

aew for mudfbw conditions are summarized below in the
sketch and accompanying table.

HOUSES ?
/ -
(NOTIFY OWNER EVACUATE IF THREATENED)
AWACENT LAND USE WATER
LEANING TREES LAND USE fNOTlFY M R )
CONTACT SUPERVISOR

VERY STEEP SLOPE DRAINAGE I DRAIN

EVALUATE SAFETY
BROKEN DRAIN (LARGER MUDFLOW
MAY COME DOWN )

WARNING SKiNS I
BARRELS
MoNrrm L0CATW)N
GREEN GRASS
(DRY SEASON)
WATER
FLOWING
\Muoov CONTACT SUPERVISOR
DOWNWARD
IN SLOPE (RECORD)
 TYPE A SLIDE ABOVE ROAD
MUDFLOW
THIWGS TO LOO:

A. Y t uddy s o i l r s s u l t h w o k y be a l a r g e uns-le r s s still o h f t o r and record locatlon. o Stay out fm under u n t l l

w l t k w t rock and/or vegetrtion tocoudarn. o Draln properly. s t a b t l l t y evaluated.
f l a i n g onto the m & y . o Avold w s t l n g fla m t c r l a l
on f i l l s l o p s .
B. Bulglng or s v f a c e waves. o k y be a l a r g e unstable n s s s t l l l o lbnltor m d record location. o Stay out f r a under u n t l l
t o c a c darn. o ebnltor f o r chmgcs. I f r a p l d l y s t a b l l l t y evaluated.
o k y lndlcate saturated n s s that w i l l changlng. evacuate area beneath; o Oo n o t dlstu* u n t l l
become a l l w l d flow. be prepared t o close road. s t a m t t y evaluated.
o b y fndicate further wter sources o D r r l n properly.
or outlets.
o May lndlcate a l a r g e r possible
f a l l u r e area.
C. Blocked dralnage. o m y be causlng bulgtng. o b n l t o r and r w ~ r location.
d
o m y make mass soupy. a l l a l n g It o k a l n properly.
t o flaw downhill.
o b y be contrtbutlng wrter and thus
t o loss of s t a b l l l t y .
D. Springs. o k y be a l a r g e unstable m s s s t i l l o Monitor and record l o c a t l a .
to come dorn. o M l t o r f o r changes. If r a p l d l y
0 Nay lndlcate saturated u s s t h a t w i l l chmglng, evacuate m a beneath.
become a I t a u l d flw. be prepared t o close road.
o Nay bc causlng bulglng. o Draln properly.
o May make moss swpy, a l l a l n g l t
t o flow downhill.
o M y Indlcate a l a r g e r possible
f a l l u r e area.

E. Green grass during f ~ p p r o p . i a t e o kybealargeunstrblcmssstlll o Ibnltormdrecwdlocatlon.

time of year. t o corn down.
o May lndlcate saturated u s s t h a t d l 1
becow a 1l o u l d fla.
o May lndlcate f u r t h e r water sources
or outlets.
o May lndlcate a l a r g c r posslble
f a l l u r e area.
F. M j a c e n t land use c h r n g o o b y be a large unstable m s s s t i l l o Monltor and record location. o Stay out fra under until
Logglng. Mlning, Construction etc. to cane dam. o Monltw f o r changes. I f r a p l d l y stablllty ualwted.
o Ilvold w s t l n g fla m t e r l a l
o m y na&e l a s s soupy a l l a l n g I t on f l l l slopis.
t o fla d a n h l l l . o Oraln properly.
o m y be contrtbutlng water and t o o Contact your supewlsor and/or
loss o f s t a b l l l t y . o land owner.
6. l l l t e d features. such as trees. o m y be a l a r g e unstable m s s s t i l l o k n l t w and record location. o Stay out frm under u n t l l
poles. walls. fences t o come down. o M i t o r f o r chmgcs. I f r a p l d l y s t a b i l i t y evaluated.
o )by Indicate saturated l a s s t h a t w l l l chmglng. evacuate area beneath. o Avold w s t l n g f l w mmterlal
becone a l l o u l d fla. be prepared t o close road. a, f l l l s l o p s .
o m y lndlcate further water sources
w outlets.
o May be c o n t r i b u t i n g water and t o
loss o f s t a b l l l t y .
o W J ~lndlcate a l a r g c r posslble
f a l l u r e area.

Mote: 1 ) Always c v a l w t e safety f l r s t . don't assme I t safe.

2) Be prepared f o r addltlonal materlal on roadway.
 TYPE B SLIDE ABOVE ROAD-WEDGE TYPE B SLIDE ABOVE ROAD WEDGE -- --
MAINTENANCE SUPERVISOR AND CREW'S
Wedge-shaped slides usually occur along a distinctive failure ACTIONS
plane. usually the failure plane in the middle and bwer
portion of the slide is a sofl day of low strength or a silt
layer sandwiched between two clay layers. The failure plane
may also be along the bed rock surface.

GROUND CCUCKMO HOUSES ? CONTACT

W A C E M LAND USE / OCCUPANTS I OWNERS-
EVACUATE IF THREATEMD
PROPERLY DRAIN

WATER TABLE

RAMFAU
 TYPE B SLIDE ABOVE ROAD
WEDGE
THINGS TO LOOK FOR SIGWIFIUMCE OF OBSERVED FEATURE COURSE OF ACTION THINGS TO AVOID
A. Soil and/or rock and/or o May r e s u l t from inadequate or nm- o Honitor and record location. t o Avoid wasting m t e r l a l on
vegeta t i o n on roadway. functioning drainage systems. o Seek advice. f i l l slopes.
o Do not work under u n t i l
s t a m i t y evaluated.
B. Ground cracking f n surrounding o b y indicate addl ti ona1 m s t a b l e area. Monitor .and record location. o Do not work under u n t i l
area. o May be contributing water and to Properly draln. s m i t y evaluated.
loss o f s t a b i l i t y . Seek advice.
May r e s u l t from inadequate o r non-
functioning drainage systems.
C. T i l t e d features, such as tms. o )cay Indicate additional unstable area. Monitor and record location. o Do not work under until
poles, walls , fences o b y resul t from inadeqw t e or non- Consider r a n w i n g t i 1 ted trees. s t a m i t y evaluated.
functioning drainage systems.
D. Springs o b y be cause o f s l i d e and/or make h i t o r and record locatf on.
problem worse. Properly draln.
May be contributing water and thus Seek advice.
to lass o f s t a b i l i t y .
Hay r e s u l t from inadequate or non-
functioning drainage systems.
E. R l a k e d drainage. o b y be cause o f s l i d e and/or make Nonitor and record location. o Avoid wasting u t e r f a l on
problem worse. Properly drain. f i l l slopes.
F. Adjacent land use changes. 1.e., o Hay be cause o f s l i d e and/or make Wanitor and record l o c a t l m . o Avoid wasting material on
logging, mining, construction, etc. problem worse. Properly drain. f i l l slopes.
0 i b y be c o n t r i b u t i n ~water and thus tl t
to loss o f s t a b i l i t y . land owner. s t a m i t y evaluated.

Note: 1) Alwsy evaluate safety f i r s t , don't assme i t safe.

2) Be prepared f o r addf tional material on roadway.
TYPE C SLIDE ABOVE ROAD -- ROTATIONAL TYPE C SLIDE ABOVE ROAD - ROTATIONAL --
(PRESLIDE AND SLIDE FEATURES) MAINTENANCE SUPERVISOR AND CREW'S
ACTIONS
Rotational slides usually occur in fairly homogeneous
materials. The failure plane is essentially circular and deep,
and the mass of soil fails as a unit, although several scarps
may be observed in the upper portions of the slide. The
slide may occur in the 111 or in the fill and foundation soils.
Usually when the failure occurs in the fill and foundation, the
soils of the fill and foundation have similar properties.
Preslide and slide conditions are shown in the sketch and the
accompanying table.
HOUSES ?
(EVACUATE IF THREATENED )
CONTACT SUPERVISOR I
ADJACENT LAND USE LANDOWNER
DO NOT CUT BULGE
SURFACE CRACKING (EVALUATE STABILITY)
PROPERLY DRAIN

TILTED FEATURES
BLOCKED DRAINAGE MONITOR AND
RECORD LOCATKJN

LOOSE ADEQUATE TRAFFIC

PREPARED TO CLOSE
BE PREPARED FOR
SURFACE WAVES ADDITONAL MATERIAL
ON ROADWAY
 TYPE C SLIDE ABOVE ROAD
ROTATIONAL
THILS m LW nrn SIGNIFICANCE OF OBSERVED FEATURE COURSE OF ACTION THINGS TO AVOID
A. Raad#y pushing up. Pavaent o b y indfcate unstable slope & w e o lbnlt o r and record locations o Avoid cutting push up.
elevation rlsfng. roadway. and changes. Ifmoving rapidly. conslder r q l n g wer.
o b y Indicate addittam1 unstable be prepared to close road.
area. o Properly drain.
o Prwlde f o r adequate t r a f f f c
lovenent.
o Seek advice.

8. Surface cracking -
I n surrounding area.
o #by indicate unstable slope abwe
roabray.
o Honl t o r and record locations
and changes. Ifmoving rapidly,
o Avoid disturbing u n t i l
stab11l t y evaluated.
o b y indicate additional unstable be prepared to close road.
area. o Properly drain.
o b y contribute water and to loss o Prwlde f o r adequate t r a f f i c
o f stab11i t y . m-t.
o Seek advice.

C. Springs. o h y indicate unstable slope abwe o lbnit o r and r e c a d locations o Avoid disturbing u n t l l
rosdway. and changes. I f moving rapidly, stab11i t y evaluated.
o b y Indicate a d d l t l a m l unstable be prepared to close road.
area. o Properly drain.
o b y contribute water and to loss o Seek adrlce.
o f stability.

D. Bulglng or surface waves i n s l o p . o May indicate unstable slope above o Monitor and record locations
roadway. and changes. I f n w i n g rapidly,
o May Indicate add1tional unstable be prepared t o close road.
8-a. o Properly draln.
o Provide f o r adeouate t r a f f i c
mwcclent.

E. T i l t e d features, such as trees, o h y indicate unstable slope above o Uonitor and record l a a t l m s
poles, walls, fmces roadway. and changes. I f wing rapidly,
o May indicate additlanal unstable be prepared to close road.
area. o Properly drain.
o Hay contribute water and to loss o Seek advlce.
o f stablllty.
F.
- 0 dr.ln.ac.rtc. n Ibv L a and r v n r d Inr.,lnne
roadway. and changes. I f n w i n g rapidly.
o my be cause o f distress. be prepared to close road.
o b y contribute water and to loss o Properly drain.
o f stahllity. o Provide f o r adeauate t r a f f i c
movement.
0 seek advi&.

6. M j r c m t land use changes, 1.e.. o m y be cause o f distress. o Contact supewlsw and/or

logging, mining, construction, etc. land owner.

H. L m e debris on slope. o #by indicate unstable slope abwe o lbnlt o r and record locatlons o Avold dlsturblng u n t l l
mubay. and changes. I f moving rapldly. s t a b l l l t y evaluated.
o b y indlcate additional unstable be prepared to close road.
area.

Nnte: 1 ) Always evaluate safety f l r s t , don't assme I t safe.

2) Be prepared for addltlonal material on roadway.
TYPE D SLIDE ABOVE ROAD
BLOCKSLIDE-PRESLIDE AND SLIDE CONDITIONS
-- TYPE D SLIDE ABOVE ROAD - BLOCKSUDE --
MAINTENANCE SUPERVISOR AND CREW'S
ACTIONS
Blockslides usually occur along adistindive failure plane, or
natural pints in rocks or soils. The failure planes usually The maintenance supervisor and crew should generally seek
consist of weak materials or joints. Blockslides may consist advice from the geotechnica) staff or geotechnical consulting
of large, massive units. A blockslide may fail as single unit engineer when dealing with bbckslides. DO NOT ASSUME
of material or numerous units may fail at different times. BLOCKSLIDES ARE SAFE. ALWAYS EVALUATE
These types of slides are usually extremely dangerous STABILITY BEFORE WORKING PERSONNEL AND
because they fad hstanteneously without any warning. EQUIPMENT UNDER BLOCKSLIDE SLOPES. Suggested
adions for the maintenance crew to folbw in reading to a
blockslide are shown in the sketch below and detailed in the
accompanying table.

CONTACT OWNERS DIVERT WATERS

ABOUT ARMCENT
ADJACENT W I D USE SURFACE CRAMb&
SPRW A LOOSE DEBRIS
IL OR ROCK ON HIGHWAY

BLOCKED DRAINAGE

BLOCKSLIDE PROVIDE MOVEMENT

ADEQUATE
TILTED AREA SL& SURFACE - / TRAFFIC
(POST WARNING SIGNS--
LARGE BLOCK OR ROCK IN EMERGENCIES, POST FLAGMEN)
 TYPE D SLIDE ABOVE ROAD
BLOCK SLIDE
THIN6S lU LOOK FOR SIOIIFICANCE OF OBSERVED FEATURE COURSE OF ACTION
A. Sol1 and/or rock on roadway. o Pay indicate extenslve dlstress. o ?Mi t o r and record loca tlon. o Avoid working under u n t f l
o Prwide f o r adequate t r a f f i c stabil i t y evaluated.
movement. o Avoid wasting m t e r f a l on
0 Seek advlce. f l l l slops.
o Avoid undercutting the slope
during removal or d l t c h
c l eanlng.
0. Springs o f4ty be cause o f slldlng. o Moni t o r and record loca tlon.
o Properly drain.
C. Blocked drainag?. o PBy be cause o f sliding. o bit o r and record locatlon. o Avoid wasting m a t u l a l on
o Properly draln. flllslopes.
o Provlde f o r adequate t r a f f i c o Avoid undercuttlng the slope
movement. clurlng removal or d i t c h
cleaning.
D. Adjacent land use changes, 1.e.. o b y be cause o f slldlng. o Mrmltor and record location.
logging. dnlng, construction, etc. o Properly draln.
o P r w i d e f o r admuate t r a f f i c
movement.
E. LO& debrls on remaining s l o p . o May Indicate extensive distress. o Monitor and record location. o Avold working under u n t i l
o May indicate l i m i t s o f distress. o Consider scaling. s t a h i l i t y evaluated.
o P r w i d e for adequate t r a f f i c o Avotd wasting material on
movement. fillslops.

F. Surface cracklng
4-
o Way Indicate extensive distress.
v u
-
o Monitor and record location.
r
o Seek advlce.

6. T i l t e d features, such as trees, o Ray Indlcate extenslve distress. o Hani t o r and record lacatlon. o Avolding work lng under u n t i l
poles, walls, fences, etc. o Hay indlcate l i m i t s of distress. o Provide f o r adeauate t r a f f l c stab11 l t y evaluated.
movment. o Avoid undercutting the slope
& r i n g removal or d i t c h
cleaning.

Mote: 1) Always evaluate safety f l r s t . d m ' t a s s w i t safe.

2 ) Be prepared for additional material on roadway.
TYPE A SLIDE BELOW ROAD MUDFLOW- -- TYPE A SLIDE BELOW ROAD MUDFLOW - --
PRESLIDE AND SLIDE CONDrrlONS MAINTENANCE SUPERVISOR AND CREWS
ACTIONS
Comments concerning mudflows are the same as described
in the discussion on TYPE A slide above the road -
Suggested adions tor the maintenance supervisor and crew
mudlows. Distress signs are shown in the sketch below.
to follow in reading to a mudfbw below the roadway are
shown in the sketch below and accompanying table.

-
LAND USE COKTACT OWNER
ADJACENT U N D USE BLOCKED DRAMAGE MONITOR AND RECORD
LOCATKN (PHOTOGIWHS)
HEAW RAINFALL LEANING TREES
/

MONITOR CHANOES - BE
PREPARED TO CLOSE ROAD
OR CONSTRUCT DETOUR

EVALUATE
-
STABlLTY MORE
SLIDE MAY COME
-
DOWN SEEK ADVICE

,- HOUSES ?
DOWNWARD IN FLW OREEN GRASS CONTACT OWNER
EVACUATE IF
-
my SEASON) DANGER EXIST
 TYPE A SLIDE BELOW ROAD
MUDFLOW
THINGS TO LOOK FDR SIGNIFICANCE OF OBSERVED FEATURE COURSE OF ACTIOW THINGS m AVOID
A. Wet u d d y s o i l aass with o r
w l t h w t rock andlor vegctatfon
moving downslope.
- o Hay progress up slope to roadway. o Monitor and record location.
o Y m i t o r for changes. I f rapidly
changing, evacuate area beneath;
o Stay out fra under u n t i l
stab11i t y waluated.
o Do not disturb u n t i l
be prepared t o close mad. s t a m i t y evaluated.
8. h 1ging w surface waves. o eby progress up slope t o roadway. o e b r i t w and record location. o Stay out from under u n t i l
o May indicate saturated mass t h a t d l 1 o M l t o r for changes. I f r a p i d l y stab11it y evaluated.
become a l l o u l d flow. changing. evacuate m a beneath; o Do not disturb u n t i l
o May indicate further water sources be prepared to close road. s t a m i t y evaluated.
w outlets. o Drain properly.
o Hay indicate a largcr possible
f a i l u r e area.
C. Blocked drainage. o May make mass soupy, allowing I t o Honitor and record locrtion.
t o flow downhill. o Drain properly.
o Way be contributing water and
thus to loss of s t a b i l i t y .
o May be causing bulging.

D. Springs. o b y indicate saturated mass that w i l l o Monitor and record location.

become a 1iould flow. o Honltor for changes. Ifrapidly
o h y make mass soupy, allowing i t changing, w a c w t e area beneath;
to flow darnhill. be prepared to c l ose road.
o Kay Indicate a larger possible o Drain properly.
f a i l u r e area.
o May be contributing water and
thus to loss o f s t a b i l i t y .
o May be causlng bulging.

E. 6 m n grass during Inappropriate o May indicate saturated m s s that o Hmltor and record l o a tian.
time o f year. d l 1 becoae a l i q u i d flow. o Drain properly.
o May indicate further water sources
o r outlets.
o May indicate a larger possible
f a i l u r e area.
m.

o Contact your supervisor and/or

o land owner.
6. Ti1 ted features, such as trees. o b y progress up slope t o roadway. o Monitor and record locatlm. o Stay out fra under u n t i l
poles, walls, fences etc. o May indicate saturated mass that uf11 o Monitor for changes. I f rapldly stab11i t y waluated.
becane a 1l p u i d flaw. changing. evacuate area beneath;
o Hay indicate further water sources be prepared to close road.
or outlets.
o Hay indicate a larger posslble
f a i l ure area.
o My be contributing water and
thus to loss o f s t a b i l i t y .

Note: 1 ) Always evaluate safety f i r s t , don't assme i t safe.

2) Be prepared t o re-route or otherwise provide for t r a f f i c
then roadway drops.
TYPE B SLIDE BELOW ROADWEDGE TYPE B SLIDE BELOW ROAD WEDGE - --
MAINTENANCE SUPERVISOR AND CREW'S
Wedgeshaped slides usually occur along a distinctive failure, ACTIONS
or sliding plane in the middle and lower portions of the slide.
Typically, the sliding plane is along a soft day layer, or along Suggested actions for the maintenance supervisor and crew
the interlace of rodc and soil, or it may be along a silt layer to follow in reacting to a wedge failure below the roadway
that is sandwiched between two clay layers. Preslie and are shown in the sketch below and the accompanying table.
slide d i s t r k signs are graphically illustrated bebw and
described in the accompanying table.

BLOCKED MUINAGE (POST WARNING SIGNS,

REROUTE TRAFFIC; IF
ADJKENT LAND USE SURFACE CRACKING
(PAVEMENT AND SLOPE)
MONITOR AND RECORD
SAGGING AND I OR LOCATIONS AND CHANGES
TILTED GUARDRAL CONSIDER REMOVING
CASTED MATERM SIDECASTED UTERIAL

EVALUATE STABILITY HOUSES ? CONTACT

OCCUPANTS I OWNERS
(DO NOT WORK UNDER) (EVACUATE IF
THREATENED)
RAINFAIL SNOWMELT
 TYPE B SLIDE BELOW ROAD
WEDGE
TMINGS m ~ O O KFOR SIGIIIFIUNCE OF WISERMD FEATURE CWRSF: OF ACTION
A. Roadway and/or guardrall o tby r a u l t fra inadequate or non- o Cbnl t o r and record locations o Do not w a r k under u n t i l
dropped. functf m l n g drainage systems. and changes. . s a l t y evaluated.
o Prwlde f o r adequate t r a f f i c o Avold loading the distressed
movecnent. area u n t f l evaluated.
o Seek advice.
B. Surface cracking
f n surrocmdlng area.
- o Way fndicate addltlonal unstable area.
o Hay be contrlbutfng water and
o Konitor and record locatfons
and changes.
o ,Do not work under u n t i l
s t a m 1t y evaluated.
thus t o loss o f stabfllty. o Properly drafn. o Avold loading the dlstressed
o Hay r e s u l t from Inadequate or nm- o Provlde f o r adeauate t r a f f l c area u n t l l evaluated.
functf oning drainage system. movenmt.
o Cmsfder seallng cracks.
o Seek advice.
C. T i l t e d features, 1.e.. trees. o Hay Indlcate aflditlonal unstable area. o h l t o r and record l o c a t l m s
poles, walls, fences, etc. o May r e s u l t from Inadequate or non- and changes.
f~lnctloningdrainage systems.
0. Springs o Fhy be cause of sltde and/or nske o Cbnltor and record l o c a t l m s
probl en worse. and changes.
o May be contributing water and o Properly draln.
thus to TOSS o f s t a b i l i t y . o Seek advlce.
o Nay r e s u l t from Inadequate or non-
functlonlng drafnage s y s t w .

E. Blocked dralnaged. o Hay be cause o f slfde and/or mke o Ibnlt o r and record locatlons
problem worse. and changes.
o Properly draln.
o Provlde f o r adeowte t r a f f i c
movement.

F. hdjacmt land use changes, I.e., o )by be cause o f s l lde and/or make o Monitor and record locations
logging, mlnfng, canstructfon, etc. problm worse. and changes.
-.
a rev be
- - contrlbutlna
- water and
- thus to loss o f s G b l i i t y .
o Contact S U D ~ W ~ S and/or
land owner;
O~

6. Improper aaterlal n s t l n g . o Cby be cruse o f slide and/or mke o llonltor and record locations. o Do not m s t e addltlonal
(slde castfng) p r o b l a worse. and changes. mat-a1 I n viclnlty.
o Seek advice.
.
o Consider renoring waste aaterlal
h e r e practical

Note: 1) Always evaluate safety f f r s t . don't assulc I t safe.

2) Bc prepared to re-route or otherwise provide f o r t r a f f i c
then roadway drops.
TYPE C SLlDE BELOW ROAD -= ROTATIONAL TYPE C SLlDE BELOW ROAD -
ROTATIONAL
(PRESLIDE AND SLlDE CONDITIONS) (PRESLIDE AND SLlDE CONDITIONS)

Rotational slides usually occur in fairly homogenous

materials. The failure plane is essentially circular and deep,
and the mass of soil fails as a unit, although several scarps
may be observed in the upper portions of the slide. The
slide may occur in the fill or in the fill and foundation soils.
Usually when the failure occurs in the fill and foundation
soils, the soils of the fill and foundation have similar
properties. Preslide and slide condiiions are shown in the
sketch below and the accompanying table.

ADJACENT U N D USE COHTACT OWNERS DRAIN PROPERLY (DIVERT ALL WATERS

WATER ABOUT LAND USE FROM SLIDE AREA)
SURFACE CRACKING POST WARNING SIGNS
[PAVEMENT AND SLCPE)

TED GUARDRAL AND

MCASTED MATERIAL

TILTED FEATURES
(TfiEES, POLES, ETC)

USUALLY CLAY sol

P A G E / ADJACENT
-

D ,
- - -
USE
HEAW RAINFALL I

~ ~SURFACE
B U L G I ~OR
WAVES CrOE PUSHES EVALUATED SEEK MVK;E CLOSELY (INSTALL
UPWARD) SURVEY STAKES)
 TYPE C SLIDE BELOW ROAD
ROTATIONAL

THINGS TO LOOK FOR SIGNIFICANCE OF OBSERVED FEATURE COURSE OF ACTION THINGS TU AVOID
A. Roadway dropping and/or o Hay indicate extensive I n s t a b i l i t y . o hit o r and record locations. o Avoid loading distressed
guardrail dropped. o Allows water i n f l l t r a t l c m . o Be prepared t o close road. area u n t i l evaluated.
o Properly drain.
o Provide f o r adeauate t r a f f i c
novenent.
o Seek advice.
B. Surface cracking o Yay indicate extensive i n s t a b i l i t y . o h i t o r and record locations. o Avoid loading distressed
i n s w m n d i n g area. o A l l m water i n f i l t r a t i o n . o Properly drain. u n t i l evaluated.
o May indicate additional movement. o Consider seal ing cracks.
C. Spring w wet spots. o M y be cause o f dropping. o Monitor and record locations. o Oo fiblock outlet.
0. b l g l n g o r surface wwes I n o May indicate extmsfve i n s t a b i l i t y . o hit w and record locations. o Avoid loading distressed
slope below roadway. o Seek advice. area u n t i l evaluated.
E. T i l t e d features, such as trees, o Hay be cause o f dropping. o h i t o r and r e c a d l o c a t i w.
poles, walls, fences o Hay add water t o problen area. o Seek advice.
F. Blocked drainage. o b y indlcate extensive I n s t a b i l i t y . o Monitor and record locations. o Avoid loadlng d l s t n s s e d
o May Indicate additianal movement. o Seek advice. area u n t i l waluated.
o May be cause o f problem. o Properly drain.
6. Improper material wasting o A l l m water I n f l l t r a t l o n . o Wonitor and record locations. o L n o t waste additional
(cast casting). o May be cause o f dropping. o Properly drain. natcrlal i n vicinity.
o M y add water t o problem area. o Consider removing waste material
snow melt, o r r a i n f a l l collection.
H. Pushup a t toe or below flll; o h y indicate extensive a b i l i t y . o Wonitor and record locaticms.
bulge i n toe o f f i l l . o May Indlcate add1t i o n a l movement. o P r w i d e f o r adequate t r a f f i c
o Seek advice.

bte: 1) Always evaluate safety f i r s t , don't asslnc i t safe.

2) Be prepared to re-route o r otherwise p r w l d e for t r a f f i c
*en m d w a y drops.
 APPENDIX B

SLIDE INVENTORY I INSPECTION REPORT

CULVERT INVENTORY I INSPECTION REPORT

 SLIDE lNVENTORYllNSPECTlON REPORT

I. District

County

Route

Location

Date Discovered

AADT (Average Annual

Daily Traffic)

Date of Inspection
Is this an Update?

Assigned Number of Slide

Mileage and Directon

from a known landmark

II. Type of Slide (circle)

A. Rockfall
1) Massive Rock Slope
2) Differential Weathering
3) Talus

B. Slide Above Roadway

1) Mud Flow
2) Wedge
3) Rotational
4) Blockslide

C. Slide Below Roadway

1) Mud Flow
2) Wedge
3) Rotational

Ill. Contributing Factors (circle)

A. Subsurface Drainage
B. Surface Drainage
C. Broken Drainage Structures
D. Blocked Drainage Structures
E. FloodingNVashouts
F. Overloading Head of Slide
G. Removal of Toe
H. Saturated Material
I. Other:
IV. Inspection Date (circle)

A. Rate of Movement
1. Inactive
2. Only After Flooding
3. Only Wet Seasons
4. Intermittent
5. Continuous--Slow
6. Continuous--Moderate
7. Continuous--Rapid
8. Not Sure

B. Effect on Roadway
1. Only Cut Slope
2. Only Fill Slope
3. Ditchline Affected
4. Culvert Pipe Affected
5. Box Culvert Affected
6. Bridge Affected
7. Shoulder Affected
8. Travel Lane Pavement Affected
9. Length of Slide Along Roadway (Feet)
10. Special Signing Required
11. Special Signing in Place
12. Not Sure
C. Utilities Affected
1. None Observed or Known

2. Gas Line Size (If Known)

3. Water Line Size (If Known)

4. Sewer Line Size (If Known)

5. Telephone
a) Overhead
b) Underground
6. Electric
a) Overhead
b) Underground
7. Cable TV
8. Oil Pipeline
9. Other (List)-

D. Adjacent Properties Involved (circle)

1. Vacant Land
2. Residences
3. Businesses
4. Other Improvements -(List)-
 E. Maintenance Activity (circle)
1. None Required
2. Yearly
3. Monthly
4. Weekly
5. Daily
6. Road Closed
a) Permanent
b) Temporary (No. Timesmear)

V. CLASSIFICATION OF SITE CONDITIONS (circle)

A. Very Serious
0. Serious
C. Medium
D. Minor

VI. RECOMMENDED ACTIONS (circle)

I. Maintenance not needed; follow-up survey needed

J e s -no
2. Maintenance repairs needed (specify)
3. Maintenance repairs needed (specify); monitor
behavior; take action if problem worsens.
4. Geotechnical action needed; repair by maintenance
forces; monitor behavior.
5. Geotechnical action needed; monitor behavior; slide
repair too large for maintenance forces; corrective
action needed.
6. Emergency maintenance repairs needed; contact
maintenance and geotechnical engineer.
-
7. Not sure; contact maintenance andlor geotechnical
- engineer.
8. Other recommendations.
VII. CROSS SECTION SHEETS(s)
- VIII. PHOTOGRAPHS
IX. NOTESISKETCHES
-
X. ESTIMATED COSTS OF REPAIRS
-
A. TemporaryIProtective Methods
B. Permanent Method
 Example

CULVERT lNVENTORYllNSPECTlON REPORT

District

County Lincoln

Route 20

-- - -

culvert Culvert Culvert Date

Mile Point Size Type Length InspectedlB Comments

2.7 18 B.C.C.M.P 36' 1115185 CHI3 Outlet Channel

Blocked

3.9 10 x 10 R.C.0.C - 60' 1115185 CHI3 Good Condition

5.7 36" R.C.P 40' 1115185 CHB Joints Separated

10.3 1 7 x 1 3 C.A.P 36' 1/15/85 CHP 112 Silted

 APPENDIX C

SLOPE DESIGN AND ANALYSIS

 SLOPE DESIGN AND ANALYSIS

This appendix is included in this manual to provide an

elementary overview of the factors and techniques of a
slope stability analysis and design. It is recognized that
maintenance crews generally do not have the expertise to
conduct such analyses, it is important to have a very
general understanding of the process and phenomenon so
that they may perform their tasks more effectively.

Accurately predicting the stability of highway fill and cut

slopes is difficult because of the complex nature of soils
and geology at a given site. Design of a stable slope
requires that complex conditions be idealized, or simplified.
There are more unknown than known conditions at a given
site and for a given method of analysis. It would be
impractical to determine all conditions at a site. For
example, the strength of the soil or rock may be defined
from laboratory tests and this strength may be
representative of the soil or rock at the time of construction.
However, after several years, site conditions may change
and the strength of the soil and rock may change.
Predicting changing conditions at a site and changes in
strength are difficult. Using a sophisticated computer
program and complex mathematical model is useless unless
some experience and judgment are applied to defining
possible ranges in the strength of the soil and rock over the
life of the slope. The analysis is only as accurate as the
data used in the computer program. Unfortunately, it is far
easier to analyze a slope after failure and develop a
1
remedial solution than to initially design the slope against
failure. Nevertheless, since highway fill and cut slopes
d
usually cost several thousands of dollars, the initial design
of these structures, as well as analyzing the stability of
distressed highway fill and cut slopes, is essential even
though conditions of a given site are complex. Using
various methods of analyses helps build a base of
experience that improves engineering judgment. However,
not all landslides (for example, mud slides) lend themselves
to analysis.

Key elements needed to predict the stability of a slope are

as follows:

o Preliminary Slope Design

o Analysis Methods
o Factors (Parameters)
+Geometry
+Material Parameters
+Definition of Factor of Safety

A. PRELIMINARY SLOPE DESIGN

Various methods are available for selecting preliminary

slope designs. Selection of preliminary designs serves at
least two purposes:

o During planning stages of new slopes as well as failed

slopes, the methods yield quick information regarding
right-of-way requirements.
o Slopes defined by simple analysis provide a good starting
point for more sophisticated analyses.
Two methods for selecting preliminary designs of slopes are

o Table of Designs
o Infinite Slope Method

If the classification or type of soil or rock is known, then a

preliminary slope may be selected from the table below.
Side slopes listed in the table assume surface or
subsurface waters may infiltrate the fill and saturate it.
When the fill height of the embankment is greater than 50
feet, when the embankment is constructed of low- strength
soils, or when poor foundation conditions are suspected,
the stability of the fill should be investigated using methods
of soil mechanics. Some agencies conduct detailed
subsurface exploration and stability analyses for all highway
fills over about 25 or 30 feet.

SUGGESTED EMBANKMENT SLOPES FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF SOILS

.~.i..t..i*........L=s~=.=~*i=*.*x.*=~~i*=*~~==*~===*~===.~~~.*~~=*~.====~.

DESIRE0
AASHTO UNIFIED F 1 LL COMPACTION
SO1 L SOIL HE 1GHT Side ( I OF MX
CLASSIFICATION CLASSIFICAT!ON (Feet) Slope DRY DENSITY)

A1 GW, GP, SW (Some

GM o r SM)
N.C.. 2 t o 1 95 - 100
A3 SP N.C. 2 to 1 95 - 100

A-2-4 W s t GM and (50 3 to 1 95 - 100

A-2-5 SM
A-2-6 or 7 GC o r SC ~ 5 0 3 to 1 95 - 100
A-4, A-5 ML, MH (50 3 to 1 95 - 100
A-6. A-7 CL, MH (50 3 t o 1 or 9 5 - 100
4 to 1
94.C. --
----------------------------------------------------*----------------------
Not c r i t i c a l

As the name implies in the infinite slope approach, the

slope is assumed to be infinitely long and the factor of
safety (F) is defined as

F = tan @ / tan e

in which @ = frictional component of strength and

e = angle of the slope.

In the formula above, it is assumed that no water is in the

slope. Also, if the value of 01 is less than the angle of the
slope, then the factor of safety is less than one; that is, the
slope is unstable. This simple analysis ignores the

FAILURE PLANE ,
( Q .NE. 0 , C n 0)
Y
1
1
8 = SLOPE ANGLE OF ORIGINAL SLOPE

ASSUMPTION : F = 1.0,

Slope parameters

cohesive component of strength. Two other useful cases,

which assume ground-water flow in the slope, are as
follows:

This expression assumes that flow of water occurs

throughout the slope. In the expression below, the
assumption is made that flow of water is located one-half
the distance between the slope surface and failure plane
and

F = 0.75 tan @ Itan e .

To illustrate the use of the above equations, the following

example is given:

-Ry5
L)'
OLD SLOPE

X
EXAMPLE

= 20 FT
NEW SLOPE

FAILURE PLANE

FAILURE MASS HALF FILLED WITH WATER

F = 1.5
TAN 8 = Y I X
r 10 1 2 0
= 0.5

Ezample problem
Given: @ = strength of soil = 30 degrees
F= 1.5 (assumed for design purposes)

Determine: Angle of slope for following flow

conditions:
I. No water in slope.
2. Potential failure mass half filled with water.
3. Flow occurs throughout failure mass.

Solution:
1. tane =tan@ IF

Slope = 1 horizontal to 3 vertical

2. tan e = (0.75)(0.5) 1 1.5 = 1 1 4 or

Slope = 1 horizontal to 4 vertical

3. tan e = (0.5)(0.5) / 1.5 = 1 / 6 or

Slope = 1 horizontal to 6 vertical

Since the cohesive portion of strength is ignored in these

analyses, the results are conservative.
B. ANALYSIS METHODS

Two methods of analysis (total stress analysis and effective

stress analysis). are used in designing highway fill and cut
slopes. Two limiting conditions occurring during the design
life of highway fill and cut slopes are investigated. These
limiting conditions are referred to as the end-of-construction
state and the long-term state of the fill slope or cut slope.
Geotechnical engineers are concerned about the stability
during construction and as well as a long time (several
years) after construction.

B.1. Total Stress Analysis

The total stress approach is used to study the
end-of-construction (short-term) state of highway fill and cut
slopes in soil. In the construction of a highway
embankment over a clay or silty clay foundation, the
end-of-construction condition is considered to be the most
critical; that is, it is the condition when the embankment is
more likely to fail. Excess pore pressures in the foundation
caused by the load of the fill reach a maximum at the end
of construction and the factor of safety decreases (ideally)
to its lowest value during the life of the structure. After
construction, excess pore pressures in the foundation
dissipate and the factor of safety increases.

When a cut slope is made in clay or silty clay, the

long-term state is the most critical case. In this state, the
maximum pore water pressures occur a long time after the
cut is made. The factor of safety gradually decreases over
a long time as the pore-water pressure increases. During
or at the end of construction, pore pressures are small and
the factor of safety is relatively large compared to the
 CONSfRUCTION

I I

TIME
Long-term factor of safety of a highway embankment
on a clayey foundation as a function of time

condition of the slope after a long time when pore

pressures have increased and the factor of safety is
reduced. However, geotechnical engineers may use the
total stress analysis to forecast stability when temporary cut
slopes are made. For example, during construction of
shear trenches, the total stress analysis is used to predict
stability of trench backslopes. The long-term state may be
the most critical case, but the geotechnical engineer knows
the trench will be backfilled as quickly as practical. Another
example involves construction of flattened slopes. The
failed materials and some "freshVnaterial may be
excavated to a slope that is steeper than the original slope.
However, this is a temporary condition. In this case, the
engineer will make sure that backfilling for the flattened
slope starts as soon as possible after the temporary cut is

EXCAVATION

Long-term factor of safety of a highway cut section as

function of time

made. He will use results of the total stress analysis as a

guide to determine the limits of excavation for the flattened
slope construction. However, the geotechnical engineer
would not use the total stress analysis to predict the
long-term (several years after construction) stability of the
cut section.
8.2. Effective Stress Analysis
One of the more important principles in soil, or
d

geotechnical, engineering is as follows:

-
Strength of Soil = Cohesion + (Total Stress
- Pore-Water Pressure) x tan @

Hence, if water rises in a fill, the right side of the equation

d

decreases since the term (total stress - pore-water

pressure) decreases. If the water table in a fill or cut slope
is lowered, the strength increases (up to a point) because
the term (total stress - pore-water pressure) increases. The
total stress in the equation is the stress on the failure plane
due to the weight of material above the failure plane. This
is the reason that the geotechnical engineer first looks for
means to drain the fill or cut slope when distress occurs.

This principle forms the basis for another method of

analysis -- the effective stress analysis. In designing fills
on clay or silty clay foundations, both the total stress and
effective stress analyses may be performed. If the factor of
safety from the total stress analysis is low (less than about
1.30), then an effective stress analysis may be performed
to determine the long- term factor of safety. In this
analysis, a knowledge of the pore pressures in the
foundation at any time must be known or estimated.
Usually for fills on clay foundations, the time when no
excess pore-water pressures occur is the state used in the
analysis - that is, the excess pore pressures due to fill
loading have dissipated and the only pore pressures in the
foundation are those that existed (water table) before
construction. Pore pressures existing before construction
eventually equal pore pressures a long time after
construction. Using these pore pressures, an effective
stress analysis is performed to determine the long-term
stability of the fill. If the factor of safety is adequate, then
the design may be accepted, although the factor of safety
obtained from the end-of- construction may be below the
design factor of safety.

In cut (soil) slopes, estimates of the future equilibrium

position of the ground-water table in the slope are made.
Using this water table, effective stress analyses are
performed to examine the long-term stability.

If the slope is side-hill fill constructed of clays or silty clay

soils, the fill soil may create a "damning" effect, which
causes the ground-water table to slowly rise and infiltrate
into the fill. As the water table rises into the fill, the shear
strength slowly decreases. As this occurs, the factor of
safety (stability) decreases. Many highway slope failures
have occurred as a result of this phenomenon.

6.3. Approaches
A number of methods are available for calculating the factor
of safety against failure and determining the stability of a
highway fill or cut slope. These methods may be divided
into two broad categories as follows:

o Slopes based on past experience and

o Mathematical models (equilibrium equations).

For the first category, slopes of different types of soils

based on past experience are shown in the table in Section
A.

Numerous mathematical models (or equations) have been

developed for computing the factor of safety and
determining the stability of slopes. Most of these methods
have been programmed for the computer. In these
methods, the geotechnical engineer attempts to represent
the actual mechanics of a landslide by a mathematical
model. The fundamental problem is there are too many
unknown quantities in the mathematical expressions.
Consequently, to solve the expressions, assumptions must
be made. This situation has lead to a number of
mathematical models that attempt to describe the slope
stability problem and provide computer programs for solving
for the factor of safety.

Mathematical methods may be classified into two classes:

o Force Equilibrium Methods -- Vertical and horizontal force
equations used; moment equation is not used. Generally,
these methods are not considered to be accurate, although
they often are used. Usually, these methods are used to
analyze non- circular failure planes.
o ForcelMoment Methods -- Both vertical and horizontal
force equations as well as the moment equations are used.

In developing the expressions for slope stability analysis,

the failure mass is divided into vertical slices. Although
there are numerous methods available for determining
stability, the following .(methods of slices) generally are
recognized as the more accurate or "so-called" accurate
methods. Generally, mathematical stability models are
named after the individual(s) who developed the methods:

o Bishop -- This model is limited to circular failure planes.

This is a good utility model and numerous slope stability
computer programs have been developed based on this
model. This model will not handle failure planes of an
irregular shape.
o Morgenstern-Price -- This model is considered to be
one of the "most accurate" mathematical stability methods.
However, each solution obtained from this method must be
reviewed to determine if the solution meets certain physical
criteria. Solutions for both circular and non- circular failure
planes can be obtained. When searching and trying to find
the most critical shear surface (hundreds of shear surfaces
may be tried in the analysis), this method is not practical
(requires too much computer time). This method is usually
reserved for research purposes.
o Spencer -- The comments for the Morgenstern and Price
model apply to this model.
o Janbu -- This model analyzes circular and non-circular
failure planes (shear surfaces). Problems sometimes are
encountered in analyzing deep failure planes and factors of
safety cannot be computed. A simplified version of this .
method is sometimes used in some computer programs to
analyze wedge-shaped or 'non- circular failure planes.
o Hardin - Another recently developed model is capable of
analyzing circular and non- circular failure planes. To date,
this model has been confined to research.
o Hopkins -- Another model analyzes circular and
non-circular shear surfaces. This method and computer
program is geared to practioners and gives results that are
within about 0.5 to 3 percent of solutions obtained from the
Morgenstern-Price model for both circular and non-circular
failures.

The Bishop model is the most widely used method in

practice, and many computer programs are available based
on this model. However, this model does not analyze
non-circular failure planes. Consequently, many computer
programs use at least two models -- one model (usually
-
IDEALIZED CROSS SECTION
I

\ '\ X- AND Y- COORDINATES

\

SANDSTONE

SHALE
0 .,
a
-
A
/
FAILURE PLANE

Zdealized cross section of a highway embankment and

foundation

Bishop) to analyze circular failure planes and another model

(usually a force equilibrium method) to analyze noncircular
failure planes. Computer programs often may contain
several models. Alternatively, the problem may be solved
with different computer programs based on different models.
The geotechnical engineer may use two or more slope
stability computer programs to solve a given problem.

A rapid method of obtaining the factor of safety makes use

of stability charts devised for particular problems, specific
geometries, and specific pore-water pressure conditions.
The various charts usually are based on specific
mathematical models. For example, Taylor's stability chart
may be used to determine of factor of safety for clay slopes
(one material only) based on total stress analysis. This
chart expresses the stability number Ns and friction number
N4 as a function of the slope angle.
Bishop and Morgenstern developed stability charts for
effective stress analysis.

After establishing surface and subsurface conditions at a

site, a slope stability analysis is performed to determine the
factor of safety of the planned highway fill or cut slope or of
a distressed slope. The factor of safety is classically
defined as

F = Factor of Safety
= Resisting Forces IDriving Forces.

The resisting force is the strength available to resist driving

forces. This strength is due to the cohesive and frictional
parameters. The driving force is the weight of soils (and
external loads) tending to move the slope downward. In
mathematical models, the strength(s) is defined as

S = c 1 F + (total stress - pore-water

pressure) x tan @ IF

where c = effective cohesion component and

@ = effective frictional component.

If the factor of safety obtained from the analysis is less

than 1.0, the slope is considered (theoretically) unsafe. If
the factor of safety is equal to or greater than 1.0, the
slope is theoretically safe. However, in the design of
highway fill and cut slopes, the long- term factor of safety
should be 1.5 or greater (to avoid creep movements that
eventually may lead to failure after several years). During
construction of highway slopes, a temporary factor of safety
as low as 1.4 to 1.2 may be acceptable if the long-term
factor of safety is equal to or greater than 1.5.
C. FACTORS (PARAMETERS)

To perform a slope stability analysis, several factors must

be established or defined:

o Geometry of the slope and site and

o Material properties.

C.1. Site Geometry

The geometry of the site may be established using:

o Ground Sketches -- In active slides, sketches may be

made of cracks, scarps, etc., which may be used to
establish the pattern of failure. In new designs, ground
sketches of visual conditions, such as springs and seeps,
aids and alerts the geotechnical engineer to possible
problems at a given site.
o Optical Surveys -- Optical surveys are used to obtain
accurate geometry of the site. In active or distressed
slopes, the survey will locate accurately scarps, seeps,
springs, cracks, etc. Using these data, cross sections of
the site are obtained. Reasonably accurate cross sections
of small failures may be obtained using a hand level and
cloth tape.
!

Surface geometry of a planned fill &fined by optical

8U?WeyS
o Aerial Surveys -- Aerial surveys (photographs taken from
airplanes at low altitudes) may be used effectively in
defining reasonably accurate geometry of a site (when the
necessary equipment is available for plotting contour maps).
Contour maps (resolution 1 to 2 feet) can be prepared and
are suitable for developing cross sections of active
landslides. This is a useful technique where there may be
a rush to develop remedial plans. Also, aerial surveys are
useful in spotting adverse features (drainage patterns, etc.)
that may be contributing to the landslide movement.

Cross sections and plan views of a site define only the

geometry of the surface. Parameters such as the height of
the slope, steepness of the slope, slope of the original
ground, seepage and spring locations, and external forces
such as bodies of water resting against the slope or
buildings or highways are obtained from cross sections of
the site (and ground sketches and optical surveys).

C.2. Material Properties

Subsurface exploration must be performed to obtain vital
information regarding foundation conditions. The particular
site must be drilled to define such parameters as the slope
of the bedrock, the number and types of soil and rock
layers, the thicknesses of the layers, and the location of the
water table. During drilling, samples of soil (undisturbed
and bag samples) are obtained for laboratory testing and
analysis. To accurately define a water table from
observation wells, readings must be obtained over several
days - and s'ometimes weeks. Readings should be plotted
as a function of time to determine when the water level in
the well has reached equilibrium.
o Cohesion: This is the component of shear strength that
fine-grained soils (silts and clays) have. Cohesion is the
component of strength that makes a clay soil appear to be
"sticky". It is the "glue" that holds the soil together. It is
this component that causes hard lumps or clods to form.
Cohesion is the result of electrical charges between soil
particles, chemical reactions between soil particles, surface
tension on water trapped in the voids between soil particles,
and other (not fully understood) forces.

o Internal Friction Angle: The second component of

shear strength is the force that results when soil particles
move relative to each other. These forces are frictional in
nature. The internal friction angle may be compared in
general terms to the coefficient of friction between soil
particles. Although all soils exhibit some frictional
component of shear strength, coarse-grained soils (sands
and gravels) have the higher porportion of this component.

o Peak Strength: When a soil specimen is tested to

determine its shear strength, the specimen will yield as the
load increases. At some point, the specimen will fail (crack
or collapse) and the load needed to continue testing the
specimen will decrease. The point at which the maximum
load occurred is defined as the peak strength.

o Residual Strength: If a soil specimen is tested to

failure, and the magnitude of load decreases after the peak
is reached, a minimum load will be reached in many cases.
This minimum value is defined as the residual strength.
After a landslide has occurred, it is probable, in many
cases, the soil in the failure zone has reached its residual
strength.
Idealized cross section of a highway embankment and
foundation

Samples obtained from the drilling program are subjected to

a variety of both simple and complex laboratory tests. Four
vital pieces of information are needed with regard to soils
and rocks:

o Unit weight of soils and rocks in each layer, o

Permeability and drainability of soils, and rocks in each
layer,
o Water (pore) pressures,
o Shear strength of each layer.

Unit weights of the soils and rocks are used to determine

forces acting on the potential failure planes. The
permeability and drainability aid in determining the
applicable method of analysis -- total stress or effective
stress. For example, if a foundation of sand is loaded
rapidly (with fill), the water will drain from the sand almost
instantly and excess pore pressures (pressures above those
that existed prior to loading) do not develop. However, if a
clay foundation is loaded rapidly, the water in the
foundation cannot drain rapidly, and high excess pore
pressures buildup and decreases the strength available to
resist failure. Pore pressures must be known when
effective stress analyses are performed.

Pore-water pressures may be determined from

o Laboratory Tests -- Values obtained from triaxial tests are

sometimes used to estimate field pore pressures.
o Field Tests
+ Piezometers, or porous elements, are installed in
the field in a particular layer(s) to determine
pore-water pressure during fill loading. These values
may be used in an effective stress analysis to check
the stability during fill loading.
+Observation wells consist of perforated or slotted
pipe installed in holes bored during the subsurface
exploration program. Water levels in the wells are
monitored to determine ground-water levels in the
foundation. These values
are used in effective stress analyses.

C.2. Shear Strength

An important factor in landslides is the strength of the earth
material in the slide area. In general terms, the resistance
of a soil or rock to the force applied to the soil that causes
the soil to "fail" and large movements to occur can be
defined as the shear strength. Geotechnical engineers
usually consider two components of shear strength:
cohesion (usually identified by the symbol c) and the angle
,of internal friction (identified by the symbol 6).
C.3. Shear Strength Tests
A variety of methods are used to define the strength of the
foundation soils and rocks as well as the strength of the
highway fill or soils and rocks in the cut slope. These
methods may
be divided broadly into three groups:

o Laboratory methods,
o Field test methods, and
o Empirical methods.

C.3.1. Laboratory Methods

C.3.l .a. Triaxial Test

A cylindrical specimen is placed in a pressure chamber and
the chamber is pressurized to a predetermined level. The
chamber pressure places a uniform pressure on the soil
specimen. The specimen is tested to failure and the load
is recorded as a function of the specimen deformation.
Usually a series of three tests is performed. From these
data, the internal friction angle and the cohesion of the soil
can be determined.

o Unconsolidated-Undrained -- This method is used to

define the cohesive component of strength (the frictional
component of strength is zero if the soil specimen is
saturated). This value is used in total stress analyses.
o Consolidated-Drained -- This method is used to define
the cohesive and frictional strength components (the test is
run very slowly). The parameters obtained are referred to
as effective cohesive strength component and effective
frictional component of strength. These parameters are
 used to perform effective stress analyses.
o Consolidated-Undrained with Pore-Pressure
Measurements - Effective cohesive and frictional strength
components are obtained. This is another means of
obtaining these parameters and is the method usually used
in practice.

C.3.1.b. Direct Shear Test

In a direct shear test, a constant vertical force is placed on
a soil specimen, and at the same time, one half of the
specimen is pulled relative to the other half. The peak
force necessary to pull the specimen under a particular
vertical force is recorded. As in the case of the triaxial
test, a series of tests (usually three) is performed.
Cohesion and the internal friction angle are determined from
the data.

This is another method of obtaining effective stress

parameters and, when it is run in a cyclic pattern (back and
forth), residual stress parameters also are obtained.

C.3.1 .c. Unconfined Compression Test

A cylindrical specimen is placed in a compression machine.
It is then loaded to failure. The maximum load is defined
as the unconfined compressive strength.

C.3.2. Field Methods

Field methods of defining shear strength include Dutch
cone and standard penetration tests. Values obtained from
these tests have been related empirically to shear strength.

I
C.3.3. Empirical Methods
'
Shear strength also has been related to simple laboratory
w
index tests. For example, the frictional strength component
is related to the plasticity index of a soil as shown in the
sketch below. Also, the residual frictional shear strength
component is related (empirically) to the percent passing
the No.-200 sieve (clay fraction) as shown below. This
relationship is useful for estimating the frictional strength
component of soils in an active failure plane.

A Bierrum and Simons

0 Kemey
stndord ~ r m:5.67-

+' -
44.7 12 (Log PI)
A
0 0

I5
6
I
7
,
8
,
9
I
0
1
W
I
20
1
25
I
30
. I
40
. 1
50
. 1
60
. 1 .
7OWeOKD
1 . 1 ~

PLASTICITY INDEX

Peak effective stress value of the angle of internal

friction as a function of plasticity in&

KY DOT

4; a -
68.2 30.2 (log CF)
e; 2 o
'R = 0.86

CLAY FRACTION (%*0.002mrn)

Residual angle of internal friction as a finction clay

fiaction (percent finer than .002 mm)
 APPENDIX D

GUIDELINES FOR
RAILROAD RAILS USED
AS RETAINING STRUCTURES

Department of Highways
Kentucky Transportation Cabinet
 GUl DELINE S FOR RAILROAD RAILS
USED AS RETAIN1 NG STRUCTURES

INTRODUCTION
Railroad r a i l s have been used f o r years on maintenance pro-
j e c t s Involving lands1 ides along roadway shoulders. The r t s u l ts have been
variable. Probably 8 major portion o f the problem with the use of r a i l
p i l e s has been the lack of standardized design and construction procedures.
The variables of r a i l s i r e , r a i l spacing, maximum length and embedment re-
quired f o r max(mum efficiency have not been addressed p n v i o u s l y and gufde-
l i n e s have not been available.
I t has been found from englnttrfng experitnce and r n a l y s f s
t h a t l a t e r a l l y loaded p i l e s operate f n t h e o timum fashion when they are
!
socketed a t l e a s t a minimum length i n t o s t a b e material and a r e n o t allowed
to become o v e r s t r e s s d . Generally, r a i l s fn use a s p i l i n g have been driven
t o refusal which my not always be s a t t s f a c t o r f o r complete embedment. Also,
f
t o o l a r g e a space between the p f l e s will n o t r Tow the soil t o *archm, thus
the s o i l will s l i d e through them. Rafts used a t too ~ r t a 8t depth w i l l be-
come o v e r s t n s s e d and f a i l .
.?he f a c t t h a t t a i l p i l e s can be used e f f t c t i v e l y has motivated
the development of guidelines f o r t h e i r use and I n s t a l l a t f o n . The guidelines
a t e an e f f o r t t o a s s i s t maintenance engineering i n their choice of where t o
use t a i l p i l e s and how to design f o r s o i l arch, spacing, and how t o c o r r e c t l y
i n s t a l l them. In addStion, the guidelines w f t l be useful i n e s t r b l f t h i n g how
l a r g e a lands1 ide problem may 'be corrected by means of rail piling.
GEJiERAL GUIDELINES CONCERNING THE USE OF RAILS AS PILING .
A. Railroad r a i l p i l f n g is tntended f o r use on landslides t f f e c t i n g roadway
shoulders and a I t m t t t d amount o f the driving lmes only.
8. If t h e distance from the shoulder t o the f u r t h e s t depretsions and/or
1.
cracking of t h e pavanent 4s r e a t e r than the depth t o s o l f d rock, the
use of r a i l s is not p r a c t f c r
C. The depth of unstable s o i l must be less than 18 feet. The unstable s o i l
must be underlain by rock o r a finn s t a b l e s o i l . The determination of
depth should be made by auger borings.
D. The slopes beneath the supported s e c t i o n s must n o t be subject t o erosion
by stream flow. S u i t a b l e erosfon control must be tstablfshed on the slope
If t h e p i l e design Is t o be fmplcmcnted.
 E. I n order f o r the r a i l s t o work most efficiently they should be Installed
I n drilled sockets i n t h e rock o r s t a b l e material under the landslide.
I
The minimum length of embedment i n t o s o l i d rock s h a l l be no less than
one-half t h e f r e e end length, the depth from t h e ground surface t o au e t
L
refusal. This Is t o assure proper f l x a t l o n of the r a i l . See flgure
f o r a diagram of r r a t 1 Installation.
f
F. Depth of the drlll hole and socket should be s l i g h t l y g r e a t e r than t h e
*L
length of r a i l t o be Installed. This Is t o fnsute t h a t requited embed-
ment Is obtained. Debris f a l l f n g I n t o the hole wlll f i l l up a portlon
of t h e bottom and prevent the t a l l from reaching t h e t r u e bottom of t h e
hole. Also, If t h e t a l l does n o t extend above t h e ground surface, t h e
II
shoulder can be repaved and returned to we f o r t r a f f i c .
6. The maxfmum effective spaclng from ed e t o edge of t h e holes Is three
I ?
feet. ThIs Is t o Insure t h a t t h e sof wlll not flow between the p i l e s .
He Uhen the required spacing f o r rails fs l e s s than two feet, addltIona1
u rows of r a l l s should be used. If a spacing of one and one h a l f feet
were requfred, tm rows o f railing with r a l l s on t h r e e f o o t c e n t e r s
would be used. The rows would be s t a g ~ e r t dt o obtain the n q u f n d
tpacing. The spacing between t h e rows o f r a l l s should be kept as c l o s e
C
a s 1s practical. A spacing between t h e m a s o f G o f e e t o r less Is de-
s i r e a b l e I n order t o make t h e group o f p i l e s behave a s 8 u n i t I n re-
t a i n i n g the s l i d i n g mass. See f i g u r e 2 f o r a diagram showing r a l l
e spacings and staggering I n the t o m .
I. Care must be taken t o Insure t h a t t h e flanges on t h e r a i l s a r e positioned
* perpendicular t o the d 4 t t c t i o n of the landsltde. Thls Is t o u t i l l t t the
f u l l s t r e n g t h of the r a i l cross section.
*
3. After t h e r a t 1 Is lnstal.led, the hole Is t o be backfilled w i t h concrete,
sand, peagravel, a t crushed l l m t s t o n t o r sandstone a s a v a l 1 a b i l l t and
economics d i c t a t e . Cate I s t o be taken t o Insure adequate backfl 1Ing. 1
The b a c k f i l l material Is to be shoveled o r dropped I n small amounts t o
II avoid bridging between the r a i l and the s i d e s o f the hole. If brfdging
occurs, empty pockets r e s u l t down In the hole and t h e r a f t w i l l n o t be
a b l e W resist any lands1 lde wvement u n t l l settlement of b a c k f i l l t8kes
4 place.
K Uhen b a t k f f l l f n g behfnd the r a i l s , c a n should be taken t o o b v l n compac-
t I o n of the backflll. Every ptecaution should bt taken to s e e t h a t the
d
t r i l s a r e n o t damaged dutlng the backf 111Inq operation.
f i l l material such a s sawdust o r flyash should be used when lfght
posslb e.
 Typical Sech'on Depictinp lnstallofim of
Roifmd Roil Ploced in Orifled Socket
for Londslide Correctii
lf concrete is used or the bod-
fill mofedol, guurdmfI pod moy
be hscded in f& mmCc
7r Newly &mpacrsd R', UIUOI&
sekd, g m I o r , fm o'rnIrurUh#mOIcdd
 Alternote Sthemes for /nsto//hg Railroad CZo/fs
placed in drilled sockets

OM row m4y be used when the rf&cfivc spodng wrriu fm o ~ ~ y 2 R- 4

7b row Mould be used whu, the d f u f i H spochg wlics h m Ifi U -2H

mils in 8oJI rcw w l d br rpoted from JlY-4n thir go,mry ah0 be usod h e n
effecfin spoCri,g cl H fi or few is specN*d by hsvting more than om mil L
eoch &.

Ihne mln may be used whm MI effecfir. spodng h my cku,soy H ft

rn mils mw Y D U I ~ ~poudoppm. 2 n o m .
Example Problem I1

Given : A s t o c k p i l e of r a i l r o a d r a i l s with a nominal

weight of 9 0 pounds and 1 4 0 pounds p e r yard of l e n g t h .
A roadway shoulder s l i d e develops i n which it i s found
t h a t t h e depth t o rock is 1 2 f e e t a t t h e shoulder. r i n d
t h e spacing requirements f o r t h e rbils f o r each r i z e .
Procedure:
1. Go t o t h e corresponding design c h a r t f o r
t h e r a i l weight.
2. Find t h e depth t o rock along t h e bottom
of t h e r a i l weight.
3. Go s t r a i g h t up from t h a t depth u n t i l t h e
curve i s i n t e r s e c t e d .
h . Go s t r a i g 5 t a c r o s s t o t h e v e r t i c a l l i n e
a t t h e l e f t t o r e a d t h e spacing.
5. Specify t h e depth o f clbtddmtnt a t l e a s t
one-half t h e depth t o rock.

For a 9 0 lb/.vd r a i l :
A s i n g l e row spaced a t 1.5 f e e t o r a
double row a t 3 f e t t evenly spaced
and staggered. Cmbeddment i r a t l e a s t
6 f e e t i n t o rock.
2. For a 140 lb/yd r a i l :
A s i n g l e row spaced a t 3 f e e t on r
double row a t 6 f e e t evenly rpaced
and staggered. tnbeddment i s a t l e a s t
6 f e t t i n t o t h e rock.

Given : A shoulder l a n d s l i d e develops i n which t h e

dcpth t o rock i r found t o be 1 6 f r e t . Specify a design
f o r correction using r a i l piling.
Procedure:
1. r i n d t h e depth t o rock on t h e bottom
l i n e of any c h a r t .
2. Go s t r a i g h t up from t h a t p o i n t u n t i l
t h e curve i s i n t e r s e c t e d . If t h e curve i s n o t i n t e r -
s e c t e d , then t r y t h e next l a r g e r r i t e . Repeat i f
necessary u n t i l t h e curve can be i n t e r r t c t e d .
3. G 1 s t r a i g h t a c r o r r t o read t h e edge t o
edge spacing.
4 . Specify t h e depth of r a i l r P b e d h e n t of
no l e s s t h a n one-half t h e depth t o rock.

An Example Answer:
A. hro rows of 90 l b l y d r a i l s , evenly spaced
and c t a g j e r e d , a t 1.5 f e e t edge t o edge.
hbedCEent l e n g t h i s no l e s s t h a n 8 f e e t
i n t o rock.
8 . h t o rows of 140 lb/yd r a i l s , evenly spaced
and s t a g g e r e d , a t 2.5 f e e t edge t o edge.
W e d b e n t l e n g t h i s no l e s s t h a n 8 f e e t
i n t o rock.
C. Any o t h e r s i z e r a i l which shows a p o i n t
on i t s design curves f o r t h e s p e c i f i e d
d e p t h . The two s i z e s above a r e j u s t f o r
e x u p l e and a r e n o t t h e only s i z e s t o be
specified.
Design Chorf for 90lb./yd. Roil
Design Chart for 140 lh/yd Roil

Rock Line
D+
8 Mn GrMded Lmgth in Rock 3
+
OIort fa 140 th Roil
 APPENDIX E

DECISION FLOW CHART

 DECISION FLOW CHART
I

Determine Type of Failure

b A
&
I 1
Embankment Failure Subsurface Failure
J i ;

I I
Subsurface investiiation requirl
Sample & Test Failed Material
(Soil Description)
(PI, PL, LL> I I Consult Your
Gcotechnical Engineer I

G' I
Study Drainage

Summarize Field Date

(See Appendix B)

Select Methods For Correction

(See S e c t i o n V of t e x t )

& J

Perform Cost Comparison

+
I
Select Most Cost-Effective
Slope Correction Method

300