Tag:Slope Stability

The Homestretch! Now that you have read Part 1 and Part 2 of our slope stability series, you should have a general understanding of what “slope stability” is all about and how you can plan to avoid or respond to a slope failure. In this third part of our series, let’s go over the elements of a geotechnical evaluation geared toward slope failure assessment and mitigation. Role of the Geotechnical Consultant First, find a geotechnical consultant who can offer perspective in addition to services. How significant is the risk? What’s important to evaluate? What’s not? What are my options? Second,...

Welcome Back! This second part of our three-part series on slope stability builds on our discussion of failure features, mechanics and triggering factors with guidelines for qualifying risk, identifying geotechnical needs, and responding to and preventing failures. Qualifying the Risk Our Part 1 discussion showed slope stability to be a complex topic, but also showed how much potential influence you can have over its prevention and, worst-case, mitigation. That influence is founded, however, on the understanding that: Slope failure is always a possibility, and Susceptibility to and evidence of failure is not always apparent, even to a trained eye. Unfortunately,...

Introduction Welcome to the first part of our three-part series on slope stability! Part 1 defines slope stability and its mechanics, influencing factors, and associated features, and also plants seeds of awareness you can harvest for upcoming projects. Part 2 will provide guidelines for qualifying the risk of slope failure, identifying the geotechnical items you’ll need on your project checklist, responding to failure events and preventing future failures. Part 3 will outline the geotechnical elements of preventative and response-based slope stability evaluations. Slope Stability Defined “Slope stability” can be part of a project (embankment on soft ground, temporary excavation) or...