‘THE THIRD TERZAGHE LECTURE Presented at the American Society of Civil Engineers syotural Engineering Conference, Miami, Florida February 1, 1968 : . \ ea DR. LAURITS BJERRUMINTRODUCTION OF TERZAGHI LECTURER By W. G. Shockley As most of you know. the Soll Slachanies and Foundations Division of ASCE. together \vth many o€ No friends and admirers, honored the late Karl Terzaght, Hon. M, ASCE, in 1960 by the establishment of an award and a special lecture. The award is given ai Spproximately two-year inervala to outstanding engineers for thelr contributions fo KGhowiedge lathe field of aoll mechanica, The award recipients have been Arthur Casagrande. In 1963 and Juul tvorsiey in 1965. The Terzaghl lecture Is given at a> Dprowtnately yoatly intervals at an appropriate meeting the Society by a dlatinguished Sngineer, Our first two Tersagh! lecturorahave Seen Ralph Peck and Arthur Cesngrande. {seems entiely iting that tha Terzagh awardees and lecturers to date have beer lode personit {elects and/qasociater of Karl Terzaghl. Our lectucer today, Dr. Caurlts Bjorcam, is no exception, Br, Bjerrum flrst mat Terzaght in 1948, but it was not url iy rst’ viate to toe United States in 1956 that he really became aequaintos with him. Prutn that time, on in he Femaining youre at Tarsughle Ife, they waren close cons fact and cooperated on many problema, {ctnnot overieok the contribation rade by Dr. Biecrum to that magnifigant volume honoring Teezaght on bis seventyW(iih Ura, “from Theory to Practice ia Soll Mechanics," Wajeh contain many seletions {ror the writings of Kart Tereagh a4 well as contributions ty Dr. Bjerrum and oers on bls tie and acme {Unust also mestion th Liupery, located at the De. Bjerrum as been fsteumenta in creating ive Teraaght \rvsgan Gaotechmoa} nat Ia Ono. the brary ae~ Sage wisare assembled ot onl the papers snd wrilings ‘eitedStatea; but alco his early writings which were stored iin Dr, Bjerrum's worda, "The Tereagh Liorary isthe {tub property of ou pofgasion +e wil therefore be etabllahed as an independent inettion open to ait wha are itecosta™ in his alstingushed cafeer Dr_ Bjerrum has achleved waridvide eminence Inthe tio of sol echanes. He. is the author of over 100 arites ad papers, many of hich are outstanding confribtlona to the literature, Me attained hie ctorate atthe Faterat Instiute of feomlogy In Zurioh; and after various work asalgneots in is ‘ifs Denmark an {a Switssvland, be came to the Norwegtan GeotactolalInatite tn Oslo, where ne ls now Director. br. Bjerrum la no stranger fo he rite Sates, ving since 2996 been vialtng tciurer att Univeral o naa and athe Maas sweets tnstitute of Teehaobyy, ta well a8_baving lotured ata muster of other Snjeeaifies and profentfnat gaserings. AL the present time bela President ofthe Injernatonal Society for Sol echanies and Foundation Engineering. We are indeed’ ovtunple to have, hada acceptance to prepare and dliver this tijed“Tersaght lecture, Or Bjerrum has chosen as his fople "Progress Failure in Slopes of vereonaoldateg PIestc Cay andClay Shales." It ts with gest panaure that Iipfesent to you Dr. Laurle Beeram. PROGRESSIVE FAILURE IN SLOPES OF OVERCONSOLIDATED PLASTIC CLAY AND CLAY SHALES By Dr. Lavtits Bjerrumt INTRODUCTION { wish to thankthe American Society of Civil Engineers for the great honow shown me by the invitation to give the Third Terzaghi Lecture, ‘MY original intention was to present in this lecture a description of a slid whieh occurred {nan overconsolidated clay in Norway in 1963. The study ¢ this slide showed that 1 had developed by progressive failure in the clay, an fave also sorhe indication ofthe factors which caused this to happen. However membered the suvidé which Terzaghi gave me, namely to be extrerjel ‘drawing conclusions onthe pagis of experience from s limited ate aid alwvaya to consider, the complete spectyum of geologically possible’ éon itions before making any generalizations. Consequently, 1 put the slide t Sine side fora while and embarked on a detailed study of all available litera ture on slides in overconsolidated clays and clay shale. And once agai ‘Terzaghi was right. The mechanism of progressive failure yhich explaine the Norwegian slide was inadequate to account for the wajority of the dese lb slides ja other types of clays. On thé other hand, the information collecte piece by plece trom the eases studied gradually started to form a patter whieh Indicated a possible correlation between the various types of slide an the geological history of the clays involved. Consequently 1 changed the syb Ject and decided in this Lecture to formulate a concept of the engineerin feology of the overconsolidated clays and clay shales which could give a ean Sistent account of the properties of the various types of clay and clay shay existing in different parts of the world. ‘On the basis of this concept an aftempt was then made to explain th mechanism of a progressive slope fallure. {fully appreciate that the two sub Jecta: “Stability of stopesin overconsolidated clays” and "Progressive failure Include some of the most difficult prabjems in Soll Mechanics, and 1 reallz my shorteomings in discussing them, having only second-hand information © most of the slides, ‘The best I can hope for is that this leeture may load t discussion of the subject and stimulate interest so that it may serve a8 & inspiration to engineering geologists and research engineers, and thus in thm might lead to the solution of the problems. Experiences From Failures of Slopes in Plastic Clays and Clay Shales.~ 1s world-wide experience from sildes in overconsolidated plastic,clayg an slay shales, that the average shear, stress along the failure surface is fue smaller than the shear strength meadured in relevant shear tests inthe labor Discisston open unl Febrvary 1, 1998. Toetendthe closing date one Fon a ritten request must be ied withthe Exdoutive Seeretacy. ASCE. This papeg [ssi sr'the copyrighted Journal ofthe Soll Mechanles and Foundations Division, Proséeding tthe Ammertean Socety f Civil Engineers, Va. 83, No, SMS, September, 2967, Mant script waa submited for review for posal publiatin om May 15,198 MPicector, Norsegtan Geotectatcal Intute, Oslo, Norway.4 September, 1987 sus ‘Mlory. This nding holds téue for stides in {rash cuts as wall as for slides in natural slopes, yeas the fitst to point out this discrepancy (1936), Dot since tiny sf RRR ee ees poate ‘een published (Skemp fon, 1948 ahd 1964; Henkel and Skempton, 1954; Hardy, ‘Brooker and Cura,” 1962; Peterson, 1954; Gould, 1960; Lane, 1961; Ringhelm, 1964). In Table 1 TABLE 1.-CASe tastoREs sus PROGRESSIVE FAILURE IN SLOPES 3 “cegths observed in the laboratory. tests and in the tld, ad phows in ; steeiin that te discrepancy ls greater the stronger the cl: Tae tin factor ite laboratory testa a, ofcourse, ofa different order of magnitude to the dn te JG inthe fla, bat the avaiable stuies ofthe effect of rate of Load- ‘ime fow clearly that there is no possibility of explaining the discrepancy 1 bn laboratory and field shear strength by the etect of tone alone. Trom the data in Table 1, the important conclusion can be dravm thatthe Shere strength "computed from the slides is independent of Hang of the clay a5 raadTstinbet samples? 7 ws | Pasotciy | stearaengaaais |, SFE Te Iniooendant of the water content and the ligu Name of slide Natura o Computed ‘otherwise are known to be of importance for the strength of a clay. Retorence” ‘Slope, $31 or | ob, {trom stae “Fhe Rests Shear Siverti In the ab0Ve COmparTSOT DEUTER field and abu [ee | em fomeer|ad-jinde-| “Ceram f wasoratory shear strengins the reported laboratory shear strength was the [TP Jemars [erees|arecs|indegeses acimum resistance a sample would exhibit in a shear test, Now its a well- See 7 (lou cact that it in a drained shear test the sample is serained beyond wees Paema |e | as | oo | as ra {Eilure, its strength will decrease and ultimately reach a certain value, Ne Ccalitoris coast . (Goul 1980) Ns [we [es | 2 a Wace Dam : . fans ayy] et fee|| | ee ell os Saskatchovan 5 Ee a weary | ¢ [az [us | a | + | |e | ro § TT Era Deawogan Ht | a ad arena Mt | xe [a2 | so | as | sa | 20 2 gol [4 { ame ws fas le i 20 | Fp (diardy eval. woo] 8S 8 | a2 | a3 2 2 iB Ti 7 Seatle Freeway ie (Peck private c so | 38 23 vo B fe Sania) a ee 4 Batgoeian ” Hoven om hacia sarma renin kt (Elusele 1961) , - - = 1 is [oa weit Sande FIG. 1.-SHEAR CHAMACTERISTICS OF TYPICAL PLASTIC CLAY ny © | ae | oo | a | aa |} oe fisas| asar oats aac Sneed i ionketand fos fon fas] ae faa | asf | Fesiduat strength, which will remain constant for further straining (Tiedemann, Seen) 1937; Hvorslev, 1937; Haefeli, 1938; and 1951; Skempton, 1963), see Be 1 “hate went, NS | sa x ¢ For overconsolidated plastic.clays the drop in shear strength after failure is ,, easepenseea) [I Sy | es) 2 very olghifeant andthe residual hens atrengtn is only 4 feactiog ofthe peak” Lonton clay slopes | yg ‘ Reeigtn The rest 3 rctlotal Gharastar-althoigh the (Skempton 1964) =|? 2 ” wie “ Value of G, 15 not necessarily independent of the normal pressure. = Sadbarey Hi Tinetion Te made betwee SMear SEAR, SIpTESSEN Ur UNIT OT tess, and (Skempton 1961) = aie a a areas “ shear resistance, which is the ratio of shear strength to effective normal StresoOta brittle claye-and overconsolidated plastic clays are generally Some of the best-documented case records are presented and in the last columns the shear strength parameters in terms of effective stresses, * and ©, determined in the laboratory, are compared with the field valves of the shear ‘resistance mobilized along the sliding surface at the moment of failure, computed as a frictional resistance on theassumption that c" is equal {to zero, The comparison tllustrates clearly thediscrepancy between the shear brittle—the’ residual shear strength obviously represents the resistance to? shear along a fully-developed failure surlace;” {Ina most Significant contribution to this subject presented In the Foutth Rankine Lecture in 1964 Skempton reviewed our knowledge on residual shear strength, and comparedits values with the shear strength computed from slides in orerconsolidated clays, In this paper Skempton used the term "stile Assured clay.” For reasons which are explained inthe following sections, the6 September, 1967 sus Aigsures are not believed to be essential to the conclusions, tn this paper, the term ovérconsolidated plastic clay? “Tost of the constituent particle: 2. The average shear stress along Me Tallure surface compuléd from as number of, slides tn qverconsoifdated plastic-clays*bears. much more Fe semblance’ tothe residual: shear: strength than'to' the peak strengtt ang an \yanalysis of some slides in natural slopes showed that dual shear strength, Experience From Stable Slopes.—The findings collected in Table 1 represent only part of the available field evidenceand a similar table could be prepared showing the result of stability analyses ona number of stable slopes. Such a table would show that text to areas where slides have occurred slo may exist which without any doubt have beed Stable for hundreds of years at any {nelination incompatible with an apele of sheariog resistance. as low as the values colputed from the slides This discrepancy between the results of the analysts of stable and falied slopes seems to be greater, the stitfer the olay % (A, Casagrande, 1949; Gould, 1960; Lane, 1961; Knight, 1963). “hie explanation of this apparent inconsistency in the results of a study of feta ae Sop tayo Stine aL TTT ‘stable slOpas must clearlybe! 2 lay considered ts 4 function of timee Previously it was assumed ay ofa Tallure was d at ‘surface, will develop can vary from one clay to another, and in the stiffer Clays the rate can be so small thatthe delay of & slide may'be ofthe order of centuries. The Engineering Problem. —There is not doubt that Skempton’s contribution represents a great advance in the study of this subject. An immediate ap- plleation of his resulta js that Se are now able to predict the absolute mini- © Tupi shear resistance of a clay and that in slopes where sulficiext time 137 avallable for the progressive development of a sliding surface the ultimate 2 Sarily conservative and éhort solution. This is especial F temporary dlopes shales Teta us 4 need or an answer tothe queston: Ungei what eoditiont are,we' ed to, use the residual shear strengthvin the design af slopes, % ‘and when cah we rely upon some proportion of the peak strength? If we exclude those cases involving a pre-existing surface, along which the sus PROGRESSIVE FAILURE IN SLOPES : shear strength has already been reduced to the residual value, an answer t < fuestion requires that ie are abla to Speclty tha.conditions under ‘whfel IN gm expect a progressive failure tpodeurand the period of time necesda; FEing development of a continuous fallure surtace."There 1s a long way to gt verre we can provide quantitative answers to these questions. Furthel Seigress requires firstly a fundamentat understanding of the mechanism © Ropressive failure and of the factors that are involved and, secondly, ¢ mretimental knowledge of the properties of the various types of material tha Seace dealing ith, MECHANISM OF PROGRESSIVE FAILURE IN SLOPES As emphasized above, it can be taken for granted that under certain’con ditions slides in overconsolidated plastic clays and clay shales are precede by: the development of 2 continuous fatlure surface by a mechanism of pro gressive fallure: Further progress in the study of the stability of slopes Arch soils 1s, therefore, entirely dependent on an increased knowledge of th ‘rechanism of progressive fatlure and ofthe factors governing its occurrence in this chapter this problem will be approached by postulating a possibl techanism which can explain how a progressive failure can oceur and hos itean lead to the development of a continuous sliding surface. The approac will be kept rather general without considering any specific type of sotto presuming to give a complete or exact description of the stresses and strain Involved, ts main purpose is to provideanapproximate but consistent pictur St the possible ovrurronce of a progressive failure. adequate for an under Standing of the problem involved and for an evaluation ofthe goveraing factor such a8 the soul properties Principle of Progressive Failure.—In order to illustrate the principles le us Consider the simplified case of a small section of a uniform stable slop Of incligation @, a3, shown in Fig, 2(a), Attention will be centered on th Stresses existing on a surface parallet to the ground surface at a depth 23 f0 this purpose the equilibrium of a section OAA"O" will be considered} Or| firally the only shear stresses’ existing along OA are those produced Gravity force of the block, the lateral earth pressures £ acting at eiGS@¥ten SC the block being equal ‘and opposite. "The shear stress due to the gravit force is thus’ r= yz sina cos a. 7 ae ot ‘and singe the slope ia tableitis less than the peak shear strength of the clat ‘a order to initiate a progressive fallure there must exist a discontiou of some type somewhere in the slopes:tn Fig. 2(a) i ts asbiméd'that'a°¢ with vertieal walls Is, made,.down, to" depth z, adjacent. the, consider¢ Section | Residval ofthe, lateral support on,0%0, by excavation produces, {edlsttibution” of She “internal: stresses. tn the, block, QAAL ON} Provided th ‘Ag’ ie bal terfvomn 6" thatthe lateral stress on.AA" has remaicpd.unalteret the equllbriym of the block OAA"0" can only be: maintained {f the, shear {OF slop A Jpgreases by the amount £7 the total internal lateral earth press on Ad" fe vl‘ber, 1987 SM 5 ‘The additional shear stresses will nof beuniformly distributed. The maxinum _agdllidnal stress will oceur at O and the distribution will approximately be az" ‘shown.in Fig, 20).. i FIG. 2. PRINCIPLE OF DEVELOPMES: PROGRESSIVE FAILURE oF coxninvots stibixa ‘Sinrace oy ‘thks: Ghosen-as’a°concentration factor expressing’ the ratlo between the, mania anther average stress the’ plane'OA thea te masini shea j35/dl6 t6ithevlateral force E 1s = (ema Ee pose 3) ‘and the total shear stress at point 0 now becomes te tye sino cose = E.., cogil 1 Le PROGRESSIVE FAILURE IN SLOPES 9 ‘his equation is deduced onthe basis fault conditions ony, assuming atthe shear streqges do not exceed the shear strength.” The question of sive fallure oe sof walt depend shear uno ets he pe sen Sieieh aL REGO nh ol pinay ‘and on the magnitude ofthe internal lateral pressure, £% Provided the value GC 1s large enough for the theoretical value of the shear stress to exceed the peak shear strength a local shear failure will occur. Twill start at point O nd proceed as far as the shear stresses exceed the strength. In Fig. (0), for instance, the local failure will occur as far as Py. ‘The occurrence of a shear failure at the base of the block 00" Pi, will in tne first place mean a reduction of the shear stresses,on OP, from the theo- retical value expressed above to the peak shear strength. Correspondingly the Internal lateral stresses inthe block of clay O0'-P; P, will dlminiaha Due to'te clastic behavior of the clay this ateraluntoading will cause the ela¥ to expand towards the excavation by sliding. on the newly-formed failure plane OP, ( see Fig. 200]. The resulting differential strain [Fig. 2(q)] across the faiture ‘one is governed by the recoverable strain energy of the clay ahd if this is targe enough the strain will esuftictgntto reduce the shear strength trom the ae irene reatdua value PeQMGE TRS cesiaual shear etangth ia tow come . pared with the peak shear stent the shear failure and the. consequent strait ‘rll caise a. large reduction-of the shear stresses along OP, and a cor~ Tesponding increase. of the, stear stresses on the surface td the Hight of P,« ‘On the condisions specified above a progressive failure ts lnitiated and thy ‘slip piane, has advanced to the point P, The next staze id to'iavesticate tnd Similar way as above the conditions for further advancement beyond Py, adhieve this we will consider the equilibrium ofthe next block P, BB" Pl section’'BB" is so far from P,P; that the lateral stresses on 2B! affected by what has happened to the Left of point P,, [see Fig. 24e)]p Agatar the shear’ stréases along the base, P, 2, of the block are considered but this w the atonal atu stteasen due fo the interna! lateral seease# 1 he ‘ssimum shear stress wll now be at Py and fis equal to Fax" 7 2 cosa sina +k FER, ks ook (5) UC this, value.1s_greater_ than the peak shear strength ofthe clay the Locals fatigee will develop Into @ progeesdigaltujuge: This means tat the Matic?” ‘the-value.of Ep the greater Is the li "ol the fallurg progressing.’ nea a ieee sel gS iad AUSSI DY-UE eeesvation and Ine reduclon of tie Shady trdaaes along OFt ‘when the ‘initial failure cccurred, resulted in genial re -canihot. “compute the exact v Like (O” we can estimate the maxi 2 We, Ep-exceeds this value the shear str: ay ‘sould aceed the THErEETH and the block would slide downhill leading to # Fequetion of Ep. This maximum value is z (Eplmax* f[ 's dl = OP, y £ cosa sina... 2... oy10 September, 1967 ; Ms ‘As the shear stresses along OP, ater failure are approximately equal tothe ‘Fésidual shear strength we have mye : s(n “This equation lage. to the simple conciusion that sf the residual shea _Atyengin 13 30 low or the inclination ofthe slope so high that 4 block of clay Testing On/an already-formed slip plane will Slide downhill the maximum yalue\ Wat Bp’ can have will be very:ahnallecThe maximum shear stresses af polat « “P(Siill consequently be about’ equ to those whch existed at polnt"Q.whien the Anita fatlure occurred and the fallieé surface will proceed from PPO. the conditions do: not, ghange in an upslope direction the progressive failure <'will“contiaue, tb, proceed: uphill, gradually leading to the development of « 4, fontinuous sliding surtace along which the sheay resistance Is rediced tq the Fesidial value, “Oni the other hand, if $req > 72 605 @ sin @,|,e.the residual shear’ str sesamiae fu terres mn alge has no tendency ta slide downhill, the value of Ep will gradually increase LW the slope and the progressive failure will eome to's halt at a certain dis tance.from the excavatjag, This willhappenata distance where Ep has become 40: large that tax at fhe end of the already developed failure suriace ta just aval tothe peak shear strength ofthe clay nthe above description it is tacitly assumed that the progressive fallure witadvance in sirecionparailel to the alops Tis assuripton snl based on a theoretical proot. that this direction 13 the one possessing the lovest safety factor, but 1s exclusively based om observations trom actual stlges atiowing that in many gases the failure surface develops in a direction very nearly parallel to the surface. As will be demonstrated below, there are 4180 humerous cases where the failure surface has developed in a horizontal or =| nearly horizontal direction. The general principles presented abore‘also hold, Fond for such,cases, the various expressions used to demonstrate the megh-* antam of a progressive fallure being somewhat more complicated. 4 ‘Requisite Conditions for Progressive Failure.—Based on the above mech- anism it 1s possible fo specify some requisite conditions for progressive failure, Firstly, in order to start a progressive failure leading tothe devel ‘opment ofa continuous fajlure surface there must be a discontinuity somewhere’ {9.the clay masa, or. qt its boundary, where failure can be tnitiated and the deformations required for a further development ean be"produced. This dis- = continulty.may be a. steep erosion slope or a cul atthe toe ofa slope, or It ight be a soft spot somewhere in a slope.” ‘The behavior and property requirements Of the material Involved can be expressed in three points, and for each point the potential danger of a pro Bressive failure is expressed by a significant ratio. (Eplimax = OP Agzes = ¥ 2 C08 @ sin af. }.. The development of a continuous fatlure surface by progressive failuré’ 1s qniy’possible if there exist, Beyond failure, The rato €u/eoqau lad measure of the degrse to'which the os PROGRESSIVE FAILURE IN SLOPES pteral strain, 5 energy tn the cla ute A res duced SSmhe clay must show a large and rapid decrease in shear strength wi wal ato en rea ssc STE soe re Tone will not obstruct the movement required to-obta see tnnce ‘Tne degree of strain softening of the clay.” _ S the development of 2 continuous sliding surface by progressive failure 13 of josslblegwben all three condltionsare satistied, ie, the three significant Fall ‘exceed certain values. PROPERTIES OF OVERCONSOLIDATED PLASTIC CLAYS AND CLAY SHALES. ‘The main purpose of this section Is to present a rational picture of t properties of overconsolidated plastic clays and clay shales, emphasizi se properties governing the danger of a progressive failure. In order include in thia ploture all the factors which might influence the properties the clays wa will follow the geological history of a typical elay through all phases, from the time it becomes deposited uatil we find It today as ape feathered clay in deep excavations and tunnels or as a weathered olay Shallow cute or in natural slopes. ‘Properties of Unweatheved Clays.—Most of the clays considered In stuly are marine clays deposited in the Cretaceous or the Tertiary perio fhe. millions of years ago. As a resultof a gradual increase of the overbure the clay became consolidated under increasing loads until finally the maxim consolidation pressure was reached, Most probably these plastic clays, their relatively high content of active clay minerals, showed an apprectal secondary time for them to reach the equilibrium water content It is a well-known fact that part of the compression of a soil is of 9 r coverable nature, The recoverable portion Increases with the content of ¢! particles, and in plastic clays of the type considered it forms an apprecial part of the total compression. Fig, (2) shows the result of a consolldati fest on a. remoulded plastic clay, curve Aa, being the virgin compress! curve, A, 2 representing the reduction in water content during the seconds ‘consolidation and curve BC the rebound curve observed during unloading of | Sample. The recoverable part of the compression ia believed to be primar the result of deformation of the flexible flake-shaped clay particles. When | load 1s removed the particles tend to regain essentially thetr original shay provided they were not strained beyond their elastic limit. When a clay F Been consolidated under a given pressyre it containsa certain amount of wl may be ealled recoverable strain energy. The amount of recoverable str: ‘nergy depends on the consolidation pressure and the properties of the c! and, in general, the more plastic the clay the greater the recoverable at energy. = ‘Let us naw return to our clay deposit. After consolidation the clay va for an appreciable length of time with little or no change of load. Due reat overburden pressure, time, and other agents, physteal and chem1” September, 1987 sos ations of the lay took place, and the processes eausing these alterations Will be collectively tuznied diagenesis. In its relation to clays, we know litle about the nature of didgenssis. However, concerning its effects, it can be Postulated that in the zones of contact between particles the stresses are © coy wien no coger bones ‘3, ee cs \Y \\ \ Vater conteht Gay wien aogerve sone Exfective horizontal stress Effective vertical stress FIG, 3.~GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF ovERCONSOLIDATED CLAY ‘Yery large and reerystallisaiion occurs, causing each pair of contacting sur= faces to physically confgrm to one another, and here there might develop , adhesion resulting from riolecular bonds, In addition, bonds between particles ‘ould result from the precipitation of cementing agentsat the zones of contact For a further discussion see, for instance, Terzaghi, 1941; Ktumbein, 19421 Bjerrum and Wu, 1960; Leonards and Ramiah, 1960; Crawford, 1963. tn this PROGRESSIVE FAILURE, sats IN SLOPES i pager the problem will not be discussed further, and the combined oftect, in- ependent of it3 nature, will be called diagenetic bonds or, for brevity, simply tad “Thus, under high pressure and over long periodsof time the soll structure can without further volume change become stronger and more brittle, The strength of the diagenetic bonds willdepend onthe consolidation pressure and fn the minerals, pore fluid, temperature and time, and it can vary {tom clay to clay. In cases where the bonds are very strong the clay has become indurated lind can be classified as a sott rock. (One effect of the diagenetic bonds Is to Increase the reststance of thé clay ayainst further volume change for aninerease in load, As illustrated in Fig. 3, an additional load will cause insignificant volume changes provided the load does not exceed a certain value p. The magnitude of po, commiotly reterred ‘toas the preconsolidation pressure, is governed by the sum of the resistance against volume change of the unbonded clay and the reserve resistance due 10 tte bonds. The possibility of determining the maximum preexisting consolida tloa pressure trom consolidation tests 1s therefore limited to clays which have not been affected by diagene During a later geological period the clay deposit became unloaded as the overburden was removed by erosiof. Ia most areas the majot pdrt of the erosion occurred before the Pleistodene, in others some erosion Also took place during glaciation, Oue to the presence of recoverable strain energy the clay had a terdency to expand and increase Its water content, bit expansion vas restricted by the boads between particles. For higher degrees of uns loading the bonds were further stressed and failed in increasing numbers, ‘Therefore the water content increase ( agreater degree towards the ground surface. Due to the fact that the breakdown ot bonds within a particle structure will be time-dependent, there is a secondary time effect Involved in the swelling process, Some of the clay shales may stillnot have reached their equillbtium unter content today (A. Casagrande, 1949). ‘The final water content depends thus on the recoverable strain energy and the strength of the bonds and their estruction. Ia Fig. Ha) the rebound curve 1) illustrates the equilibrium water contents during unloading of a clay with strong bonds, as compared with the curve BC valid for a clay with weak or no bonds, Let us return again to the considered clay deposit. During deposition when the effective vertical stress was increasing the effectivehorizontdl stress was also increasing to a degree dependent on the shear-resistance properties of the clay. For weak clays the induced horizontal stress would be larger than for strong clays. in Fig. 3(4) curve A shows the stress changes during load. lng and corresponds to the virgin compression curve In Fig. 3(q). Upon un loading the clay expanded because it possessed recoverable strain energy. Since the clay was free to expand in the vertical direction but not in the horizontal direction, the changes of effective vertical stress were larger than the changes of effective horizontal stress, This is shown in Fig. 3(0) by the curve BC which represents the behavior of a clay having no bonds. Por further evidence of large horizontal stresses in overconsolidated clays, See. Peterson, 1934; Skempton, 1961; Bishop, Web) and Lewin, 1965; Mencl sal.. 1963; Brooker ‘and Ireland, 1965. However, if the clay had been one in Which diagenetic bonds had developed, the bonds would have served to prevent the clay from expanding, andasa resultthe structure built up by the bent particles“ September, 1967 Ms ‘would haye been hindered tn its attempt to maintain large horizontal stresses during unloading. Thus, yonds between particles wou}d cause the clay to behave more as an elastic material with a larger Polason’s ratio and the resulting horizontal stresses would be amaller than those for an unbanded clay, as shown by curve BD in Fig, 3(0). The effect of diagenetic bonds on the behaviour of an overconsolidated ¢lay during unloading is therefore to cause greater eduction of the horizontal stress by retaining within the clay structure a ‘greater amount of the latent strain energy. Itis of Interest to note that in clays with bonds and locked-in strain energy the forces at the contact points be- tween the particles are partly comprassive anq partly tensile forces and the effective stress will be: equal to the integrated difference between the two, ‘At each depth in the clay deposit there {s 39 upper limit to the possible horjzontal effective stress (Terzaghi, 1962). At a certain difference between the effective horizontal and vertiea} stresses the shear stress in the clay will exceed the shear strengthanda shear failure will occur. Due to the brittleness 9f the overconsolidated’ clays, shear planes might then develop and small moyements would occur, The movements required to reduce the horizontal stresses to their limiting values depend on the structural rigidity of the clay land this again depends on the strength of the bonds. In the hard clay-shales with strong bonds only small movements are requiredto reduce the horizontal strogses, whereas large; movements are needed iq clays with weaker or no bonds. Effect of Weathering. In this paper the term weathering will bs used to eseribe all changes in theupper layer of clay, including physical changes that fo not originate crom climatic conditions. In the process of weatiering of 39, exposed overconsolidated clay with diagenetic bonds it 18 possible to dls inguish between a fLrst phase, disintegration, during which the structure of the clay is disturbed by a breakdown ofthe bonds, and a second phase during which chemical changesand decomposition of tie minerals occur. In clays with strong bonds the first phase occurs rather rapidly on a geological time seale, and ‘when limiting the discussion to the change in machanical properties itis by far the most signiticant, ‘The major effect of disintegration {8 a gradual destruction of the bonds whch have attempted tq maintala the original structure of the clay. As the bonds are destroyed the jocked-in recoverable strain energy will be liberated aysing the clay to expand, its water content to increase and a decrease in shear strength. This expansion myst aecessarily occur inthe direction perpen: dlcylar to the surface. Aa no expansion is possible parallel to the surface the gradual Uberation of strain energy will causean increase in effective stresses {n this direction. This ingrease in the surface-parallel stressss will occur at tha same rate as the bonds are destroyed, and it will continue until all of the Fecaverable strain energy has been released. ‘The total amount of expansion which will occur during the process of dis~ Integration depends on the amount of latent strain energy in the clay. If the bonds are very weak, mast of the strain energy is dissipated during unloading, fang in this case the effect of disintegration will be small. If the tonds ara strong, only a minor paft of the strain energy was lost during unloading, and the expansion in the zone of disintegration will be very large. ‘The major agent in the destryetion of the dlagenetic bonds is strain. The are many physical procéases which can cause strain, Thelr effect decreases ‘with depth and in clays with diagenetic bonds It ts in general possible tq dige su PROGRESSIVE FAILURE IN SLOPES 1 tuoguish between zones in which the process of disintegration has proceeule fp different degrees. “Just beneath the surface existsa zone of complete disintegration. TRis"zon fas been subjected to freezing, temperature changes and repeated dryiag’an wetting and the strains accompanying these processes are obviously ver Uective tn breaking down the structure of the clay. This zone will alsa b {nflueneed by chemical processes, such asoxidationanddecompasition of th mineral constituents of the soil. The water content and strength of this zon ‘vill depend more on the climatic gonditions than on the water content an ‘Hrengit of the parent clay. "pelow this zone there {@ a zone of advanced disintegration. The strain oc cevring in this zone might originate from cyclic variation of effective stresse Caused by varlation of pore pressure resulting from ground-water fluctuation ard seazonal freezing of the overlying soil. Depending on the surface topa graphy, shear strain might play an important role in the process of disinte tration, This zone will in general have a system of open cracks. The osmoti pressures resulting from circulation of freshwater in the cracks can lead t Slaking of the clay. Also in this zone some chemical changes might have o curred, This zone will in general be Considerably softer and have a highe ‘rater content than the zone below. ‘The lowest zone is the zone of medium disintegration. Here the effaet « the near-surface conditions is not felt, However, the strain occurring and th dept to which it extends 1s much greater if located below a slope than i th Surface is horlzontal. A type of strain of great importance seems to occu locally witnin thus zone, In detaitea stuates of thls zone it hay Veen observe that the water content varies from joint to point much more than la the un altered of intact clay just beneath (Einsele and Wallrauch, 1964), This varia tion reflects a variation in mineralogical composition of the clay as indjcate by a corresponding variation in liguld Umit. The amount of strain energ stored in a clay under load is very much dependent on the type of clay mi frals and, indeed, the greater the content ofactive clay minerals, the greate the recoverable strain energy. Any variation in mineralogical composition wi therefore lead to non-uniéorm swelling andthis will inevitably be accompante hy local non-uniform strains. These will in turn lead to disturbance of neigh ‘ouring clay volumes and further destruction of bonds. It is not unlikely th: these local straina are large enough to produce local shear fatlures ar formation of cracks and fissures, ‘The intensive and irregular system ¢ fractures of small extent which Is so characteristic of the disintegrated zor, of clay shales might thus owe its existenceto the nonuniform manner in whic the bonds are destroyed and the latent strain energy is distributed, ‘Example on an Overconsolidated Plastic Clay: The Little Belt Clay.—Th above ideas on the properties of vereonsolidated plastic clays and clay shale emerged from a detailed study of a substantial amount of field evidence trot ‘etual Jobe, together with published exparimental data. Examples will now t {iven of a typical overconsolidated clay with relatively weak bonds, the’Litt] Belt Clay, and a typical clay shale, the Bearpaw Shale. & ‘The eastern part of Jutland and the western part of the island of Fig Denmark rest on a thick deposit of very plastic clay of Eocene age, the Lit! Belt clay (Mertz, 1928), On land It Is covered with glacial material aid ‘outerops only below water level in the Little Belt, the sound separating FL ‘and Jutland, In connection withthe subsoil exploration for a suspension brig’6 ember, 1967 sus a detaited study was made of the properties of the Little Belt clay ‘The Lite Bolt lay 44 hesrily orecconsolidated a9 Ie edreied the weight of the various ice sheets whicn covered Denmark during the Plelstocene. ft can be described a3 an overconsolicated highly plastic clay with relatively weal Bonds. The water content ofthe unweatheredclay is nearly edu to the plastic Umit. The clay is relatively att, the undrained shear stent determined by vane tests exceeding 4 tst. Where tho overburden is thio of absent the water Content ofthe upper clay layer exceeds theplaatic limit and the shear strengeh can be a8 ow as I tafto4 tot. The clay is heavily fissured, The elassiication fata for the clay fa: Liquid Umit = 120, Plastic limit = 4, Plastclty index LITTLE BELT CLAY sus PROGRESSIVE FAILURE IN SLOPES i curve and the rebound curve as they presumably would have been If the clay tad not developed any diagenetic bonds. They are derived [com actual tescs fon remolded clay. The maximum overburden pressure has been astimated a8 0 tat. n the same diageam isplottedthe actual behavior of the clay in nature. Fortunately, the unweathered clay is relatively uniform within the investigated area and it proved possible from plots of water content against the effective overburden to draw an average rebound curve for the unweathered clay, This curve is drawn as a solid line in Fig. 4 and, as observed, it falls below the rebound curve of the unbonded clay. Due to the fact that the clay s either covered by heavy deposits of glacial ‘material or outcrops in relatively deep water, weathering of the upper layers tas not proceeded Very far. However, at some locations, and eapeclally where the surface of the clay forms a slope, the upper clay layer shows 4 highet water content and a lower shear strength than the unweathered clay. This change In water content is interpreted as resulting (rom disintegration, and ‘based on a plot of water content against effective stress in the disintegrated clay an upper limit has beendetermined for the swelling due to disintegration, ‘Tals upper Mmit 1s also shown in Fig. 4, The ultimate water content of a completely disintegrated clay at low effective stress is about 55% and was TABLE? 1 ee. IL “p tp Motor sample vs 8 rg ‘rained sample 23 = 136 Gvenndeiod samp ieee ft we Woter content inser cent, | i Pdi it ora? ass 02 Effectivé overburden pressure in ts/5q ft or Rg/éen? FIG, §.-GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF LITTLE BELT CLAY, += 80, Content of particles < 2y = 6%, and Activity = La. The hgh activity of the clay is due to a relatively high content of montmorillonite, A detailed study of the properties of the remoulded Little Belt clay was made by Hvorslev (1997 and 1960). e t In Fig. 4 the geologi2al history of the Little Belt elay ig illustrated in a semilogarithmic diagrani. showing the water content as 3 fenction of the blfective overturden pressure, The dotted curves show the vitgin,compressica determined at a location where the clay outcrops above water ai thus has been subjected to weathering since the time of the last glaclation, As observed {rom Fig. 4, the water contents of the disintegrated clays are Still somewhat lower than the watar contents observed during the Hebound of the remaulded clay. The covclusion which can bedrawn trom this observation {a that there are groups of particles bonded together so strongly that even the powerful agents of weathering have been unable to separate them, It 1s probably relevant in this connection to make reference to Or. A. Casagrande’s in teresting observations concerning the liguid limits of some of the shales in the United States (Casagrande, 1949). Ifthe liquit limit of a clay shale 13 de- termined on a remioulded sample, starting ftom the field water content, & certain value ts found. If the sample {s first dried in air and then soaked tn ‘water an almost explosive disintegration occurs as a result of the capillary forces andthis will cause a substantial increasein the liquid litnit, Conversely, oven drying leads to a baking together of the particles leading to Liquid limits smaller than the value determined on the untreated clay. For the Little Belt clay the values are given in Table 2. ‘These tests demonstrate that some of the diagenetic bonds developed in nature can be so strong that they are not completely destroyed even Uy such ough mechanical treatment as remouldiag. Example on a Plastic Clay Shale: The Bearpaw Shale.—One of the best studied of the American clay shales isthe Searpaw shale which was deposited" Setener, 181 ous Ie ree Sa et sh Une Covcrns ae vty eamgrhng | Yestigaton of this shate has been carried out i recen youre i eoneeee eee rate | [ase | ao_| sare Se isrgecsten 0 25 | unweotneres HERTS atta PE una gta ance army ine Construction of the South Saskatchewan River Dam in Canada. The with Beotechaical data of a typical ‘Sample of the Bearpaw ahale are (see alse ous PROGRESSIVE FAILURE IN SLOPES peterson, 1954, and Peterson gt al, 1960): Liguid limit = 115, Plastic lin Fp, Plastielty index = 92, Content of particles < 24 = S08, and Activ! fa. S ‘The shale contains a large percentage of montmorillonite and in the be toutie layers the liquid Umit may be ashigh as 2656 (Ringhelm, 1964), in South Saskatchewan the Bearpaw shale hasbeen compressed by an ove wurden af about 2,500 ft of sediments which were later removed by erasic ‘Te clay shale can be described a8 shighly overconsolidated clay with stra dlarenetic bonds. ‘The unweathered, shale has a water content about equal the plastic Limit and its undrained ahear strength, determined by uncondin compression fests, 18 a8 high a8 5 tat to 15 ts, in order to illustrate the effect of weathering on the Bearpaw shale, Fig, snows the observations made ina test pit, Based on appearance, intensity {racturing, water content and strength, it is possible to distinguish betwe three zones in the upper weathered shale. The upper zone ia soft and con pletely disintegrated.. Below this zone Is found a. layer of advanced di Integration and, flrally, above the unweathered hard shale there ia 4 zone tuedigm disintegration. The water content increases ather abruptly {com shweathered shale to the zone of medium disintegration and from there i reases regularly towards the surtace (Peterson, 1054). The strength di creases correspondingly. From the detalled description of the abservaty smade on the walls of the test pt (see Fig. 5), it Is evident that there ‘a aan Correlation between the different zones of disintegration and the intanst of the fracturing of the shale, Whereas the unaltered shale has few joints targe extent, the disintegrated shale shows much closer system of foln ‘Wh random ortentation, and for insreasiog degrees of disintegration t Spacing between the joints becomes smaller (Peterson, etal, 1960), ‘AS mentioned above, the intense Jointing in the zone of disintegratton thought to be the result of non-uniform swelling ofthe clay. This explanatic was based on the observation thatthe water content varies {rom point t0 pol tmueh more in the disintegrated clay than In the unweathered clay ju Beneath. Fortunately a detailed study of the water content of the Bearpaw shale ws made in a test tunnel passing through unweathered as well aa disintegratt dhale, In Fig. 6 are presented some of the results, showing graphically # water contenis and the Atterberg mits along a short section of the tina where it passed from hard unweathered into a softer shale of medium dit Integration. From a comparison of the water content profiles in the dit Integrated and unaltered ‘clay shale {t is found thatthe variation In watt content from point to point 1s much greater in the disintegrated than (nt? unaltered clay. The greater variation in water content ofthe disintegrate slay shale means that the gradual destruction ofthe bonds was accompanied t 2 nonauniform swelling. It is most likely that the local strains have cot tributed to the greater intensity ofthe Joints found in the disintegrated shal By comparing the variation of water content withthe variation of liquid limi! it fs observed that the non-uniform swelling of the disintegrated clay | probably a result ofa varlation in mineralogical composition and most ike {fg variation (n content of montmorillonite. 7 ‘based on a detailed study of the water content measured in the Wario. bopinga tt has been possible to derive an average rebound curve for the ut Weathered shale. This curve is shown in Fig. Tin a diagram similar to20 Septeraber, 1967 one shown for the Litsle Belt clay. A similar study ‘ earner hit 20 te rae ese Fanges are also shown in Fig. 7. The diagram illustrates clearl; a Sarena oes ey a tay ta ‘Soferations made tn fhe tes funnel give a clear illsteation ofthe effet fea Qaim disintegrated. and partly through a zone of soft vety disintegrated atatne width of the tunnel at various polnts. Fig. 8 shows the results of three - ] 11 | mexirum conadiceton SNL er i Nac oraan ce |] : bane wohoansn | CTP” ith} Pe Sree States 7 NUisis ae 1 i Searemn 5, pc fersen i ay & 3 50) - Fare steeeantet etree | vers nomic ge ate ee 0 i repre apse hten inn esate tel ° ig a Effective overturden press tag Ror hglar# fiona et Pralele Farm Rehabilitation Aaministration, Canadlan Department of weneneeny S55 Gray aecroyca ean tent taney te is iene and substantial swelling takes place. te o aisntegrated Sears hae fc acre tee es comottly ae remoulded clay,:'see Fig. 7. As mentioned abové, this inight be the FIG. 7.~GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF BEARPAW CLAY SHALE sits of measurements typical for each ofthethree types of shale. The squeeze observed in the unweathered hard shale is rather small, being of the order of Lin. to 3 in. over the one anda half years of observation. In the zone of medium disintegration the squeeze amounted to 5 in,, bat that in the solt dis- lncegrated shale was “little short of spectacular,” as it was described in the report from which the curves are reproduced, the measured values varying {trom il in. to 21 in. These observations are believed to illustrate the effect of destruction of the bonds on the tendéncy of the clay to expand in a lateral direction. ‘Summary of Properties of Overconsobidated Plastic Clays and Ctay Shites.— tn order to obtain a consistent picture of the properties and behaviour of dver= consolidated clays and clay shales it was necessary to Introduce two contepts,2 September, 1987 ous) recoverable strain enoygy and diagenetic bonds, which hitherto have been ne flesied Uwortnaely we cannot ae yt measure thee values conatativaly, | pe ‘observations {i nature we can evaluate gpproximately their impor- ce. Based on a study.of the fleld behaviour of the varjous types of over~ consolidated lays and elay shales iis found convenient to clas this family of rocks three groups based on the strength of thelr dlagenctic Bonds (1) Overconglidaed clays, Le. overconaaldated plastic clays with weakor no bonds; (2) Cay shies, to. overconslidated plastic clays withwell-developed lagenetic bonds; and (@) Shales, 1-0, overconsolidated plastic clays wit strongly-developed diagenetic ponds. * 29501 shale oe L—f 3 Reduction in width of tunnet | of L *o 200 300) 200 S00 Time in days iw HG,O REDUCTION 1s WHOTH OF 8 TEST DRIFT 18 BEARDAW SHALE de ote sett omens nw reptenaiy fow the ev eligi Stuer (lubitanad with tha pests othe Beatie Pann Rebablltation homer ‘tration, Canadian Department of Agriculture) one oe "lr tse pla tink tro willbe wimmarlind eto tn averconsctated claye mos fine acoerale tein nergy ta angiog ring rebound tut ve the ronriton om lateral strain & part fhe stain cnoray ts ratalned an tp hotesa elfecivesreases il be Higher tan In Fngehally conslcated sly eqeting the same anegéen presure: Tha titogt of weathering witty beg proauce a soall oranse joel pest tae jarala "arte ajlucsWarbeciy i Ucuumpieje ty» venti a aus PROGRESSIVE FAILURE IN SLOPES a near strengih partly, due to the increase in water content and partly due t fhasuring. raritey shales’ swelling of the clay was restricted during unloading aid th ater content ofthe rebounded clay ig Smaller than in overconsolidated clay: vgtge part of the recoverable strain energy 13 still locked In the clay sh3l a theaagenctic bonds, The horizontal stresses are smaller than those In th by imcith weate bonds, the shear strength is higher and the clay has a greate cla Nal rigidity. Weathering will cause gradual destruction of the bond! Areva the large amount of latent strain energy present destruction of ty Dut ig produces swelling which leads toa large increase in water content and cerscantial reduction in shear strength. Simultaneously there will be a prc speed increase in stresses paraljel to the surface resulting from tt Tendency of the clay to expand in this direction. ‘a the shales the diagenetic bonds are so strong that the overconsolidatt clay na obtained the character of a weak rock, During unloading practical <2) ralling took place and the recoverable strain energy is therefore sti wed in the shale. ‘The horizontal stress 1s small in a shale and its sh Strength is very high. The effect of weathering is a gradual destruction of sre ne shale wil break up into {ragments whose size will decrease wi tee progress of disintegration and ag weathering proceeds the shale will « Teeatiy be transformed into an overconsolidated clay. This process {8 a (Gupanied by a gradual Uberation of the recoverable strain energy, whi: Soaiits in an energetic expansion and increase in lateral stresses. The she: [foength of a shale will decrease considerably as the shale disintegrates. Ge Pilowing discussion ot progressive tatlures iu slopes only oversonsolldat (lays and clay shales will be considered. FAILURE OF SLOPES IN OVERCONSOLIDATED CLAYS AND CLAY SHALES “susceptibility of Various Types of Overconsolidated Clays to Progress: Failure, Comparing the above discussion of the prerequisites for the dev Spment of 2 continuous failure surface by progressive failure with the abc Gaecription of the properties of overconsolidated clays it is evident that d facent orerconsolidated clays will not have equal susceptibilities to progress failure, ft iscertainly true that the more overconsolidated the clay, the gre the wontent of recoverable strain energy and the greater the danger of p gressive failure. It is equally truethat the steeper the slope and the deeper eTtanich initiates failure, the more favourable are the conditions {oF P Gressive failure. But for the same degree of overconsolidation and the #2 Enpomraphy the three baste requirements will be fulfilled to different qegr Miupending on the strength of the diagenetic tonds, whether the clay 18 nathered or weathered, and whether the clay isof high or Low plasticity, th Table 9 an attempt 1s madeto give a relative classification of the dan of progressive failure in the various types of clay described above, Thi Gone by evaluating separately the three significant ratios defined above, * Ghays included in Table $ area typical overconsolidated plastic clay with w fdlagenetie ponds and an overconsotidated plastic clay shale with strong < srecatle bonds, both considered in an unweathered and 2 weathered condlt Tin dompariton an orerconsolidated clay of low plasticity ts also include glacial Ul, for instance.a4 September, 1967 sus Feom the classification of the raiative danger ofa progressive fatlure itis possibie to draw the following conelustons: In overconsolidated plastic clays with weak bonds the danger of progressive failure is large, and this'applies to unweatherad as well as weathered clay, In overconsolidated plastic clays with strong diagenetic bonds the recoverable strain energy is locked-ia and the danger of progressive failice (s therefore ‘small in the unweather¢d clay. When the bondsare graduall} destroyed ty the ‘various agents of weathering the strain energy ls released and'as thls happens Under a relatively low overburden pressure the danger of progressive failure is very large ‘The danger of experiencing a progressive failuren overcénsolidated clays of low plasticity is very small. Due to the low content of active clay particles the recoverable strain edergy is very small and the strain a¢companying a saates Overconsoliited plastic | Ovarconsolldated plasté ] Overcen- clay withwpac tos | “Say nth stong bon | soled Cay Lusvostieret | weatored | uaweatered | wonton, | aststy Pil Speake 2 3 on ae Somiftre| 2 1 3 2 on elaine dan | un fig | toe | vecrtick | very iow Potential for progressive failure of various types of clay, based bn 3 evaluation of tae degree to whlch the thee significant ratios are fldlled,’ Notatons used 0 Suifliment not pronounced 1 ulldlment leas pronounced 2 Rulgilment pronaunced 3 fulfilment very pronounced reduction in lateral stfess 1s consequently small, In aadttiaa, these clays of low plasticity are not brittle and they do not show any significant reduction in strength when strained beyond failure, Mechanism of Failure in Slopes in Uneeathered Clay.—Thereare obviously 4 variety of ways in whicha progressive failure can be initiated and its further evelopment will vary, depending on such factorsas topography, the geologtcal setting and the properties of the clay. In this section two soméwhat aitferent cases will be considered a8 being typical for a number of sildes which have cecurred in unweathered Hverconsolidated plastic clays..." ‘The first case considered is shown in Fig. 9(2). tt illustFates the situation when a cut 18 made through acoarse overburden material into af, unweathered overconsolidated clay with weak bonds. The development ofa édntituous fallure surface by progressive failure (ollows so closely the pattern described in detail PROGRESSIVE FAILURE IN SLOPES 35 2 that there 1s ao point in repeating the description, The only dit 1s that in the ease in Fig.9(0} the presence of the slope will cause the horizontal stresses in the clay to increase with the distance from the cut, as filustrated in Fig. 9(q), This increase in horizontal stress will obviously in- crease the danger of a progressive failure, ‘3 indicated in Fig. 9(a) the progressive failure will lead to the development of 4 continuous sliding surface which wil havethe tendency to be horlzontal or follow the direction of the bedding planes. Whena slip plane has developed over 4 certain length nd the resistance against horizontal displacement of the whole biock above the slip plane has been reduced so much that st cannot resist the ge FIG. 9. PROGRESSIVE SLOPE FAILURE IN UNWEATHERED CLAY active earth pressure af the soil massabove, progressive failure will develop {nto'4 massive slide, a3 shown in Fig.9(c). Depending on what ta happening € Ue slide debris and depending to what degreeit will support the slope behind, the progressive (allure can continueto develop, leading to new massive slides, 1h excavations in deep deposits iéavilyovereonsolldatedplaate clays the progressive failure can also start in 4 Somewhat dlfferent way than shown on Fig, (a). Fig. 9(2) is ilustrated the conditions when an excavation is made through an upper cover of sand into an unweathered overconaofidated clay. A3 result of the reduction in overburden pressure the ratio of horizontal to ‘erical sess will increase inthe clay beneath the Bottom of the excavation,Et September, 1967 sys At a certain depth of the excavation this ratio can exceed the critical value at which the shear stress: equals the peak shear strength and a passive shear failure will occur. The fallure wil} result in a heave of the bottom cf the ex~ Cavation followed by a horizontal movement of the olay next to the excavation, This _movement will cause a reduction of the horizontal thrust onthe clay fest to the excavation and, as described above, this will result in lccal con~ centration of shear stresses in the clay beneath the slope. If these shege stresses exceed the peak shear strength progressive failure will proceed and finally a continuous fallure surface 39 will be formed. In both cases mentioned above jt is a characteristic feature of the slides that the movement of the slope will mainly be horizontal, or expressed in other words, the progressive failure wil[have the tendency to develop along a surface which predominantly wil] be horizonta} or will follow the direction of the bedding planes. Mechanism of Faiture in Slopes of Weathered Clay.~The above concepts ‘of the mechanism of swelling in theupper part of an exposed overconsolidated clay form a useful basis for an understanding of the large number of slope {failures which oceur on slip surfaces which are more or less parallel tothe surface. These slides aye in general easily recognized by thelr large extent compared with their depth, and the slip surfaceis usually located in the lower part of the zone in which weathering {s in progress, An analysis of a number Of sifdes of this type shovs that the average shear stress along the faikure surfgpe due to the gravity forceis much smailer than the shear streng'h of the slay, but 19 of the same order of magnitude as the residual sheay strength of Ue thay. The slides must consequently occur along an already formed ap surface and, a8 it has been demonstrated that the slip plane ig not a pre existing falluce plane, the conclusion can be drawnthat it was formed by pro sreasive fallure preceding the actual slide. As the shear stresses due to the gravity force are smalley than the shear strength, a progressive failure can only be explained by taking account of the internal stresses, And it is here that the tendency of the clay to expand in the direction parallel to the surface comes into the picture, ag It helps to explain that lateral stresses can exist in the zone of weathering which are large enough to cause a local failure in the clay, which will proceed’ and finally cause the development of a costinuous, slip plane parallel to the surtace, 1m order to illustrate the mechanism of a progressive fallure let us con~ Sider a slope in an overconsolidated plastic clay with strong dicgenetle Ponds. It {s assumed that some weathering has occurred to a depth Z, see Fig, 10(a), resulting in a liberation of locked-in strain energy and a consequent in creage inatresses parallel tothe surface. Alsothe water content has increased fad the shear strength js lower than that of the unweathered clay just be~ Reath, At the toe of the slope eroston is occurring, see Fig. 10(8), and locally 4 steep slope 1s formed in the weathering zone. A3 a consequence of the re moval of the lateral support, the lateral stresses in the zone of weathering ust now be transmitted to the lower unweathered clay by shear stress in the plane SS. These shear stresses supplement the shear stresses due to the gravity forces, thus producing 4 concentration of shear stresses just behind fhe toe of the slope. If the shear stresses exceed the peak shear strength of the clay & local slip witl ogcur andthe progressive failure 1s Initiated, [Aa the cohesion component of the peak shear strength is appreciable, the shear strength of the clay Incregses only slightly with depth within the zane Ms PROGRESSIVE FAILURE IN SLOPES of weathering. ‘The shear stresses duo to the gravity force as well as dug the internal lateral stresses will, however, Increase proportionally with t depth, This explains why the slip plane will tend to start as deep as posgit Gra actually in nature is often found tobe located in the lower part of the #0 of weathering, " In Fig. 10(c) is illustrated the situation when a slip plane has been form parallel to the surface andhas reached point P. Aloag the slip plane a downh ovement of the slab has occurred and the shear strength on the slip surfa {3 reduced to the residual value. What is going to happen next depends on t Inclination of the slope. If the inclination Is so small that the shear stre Netiarice TR sr sree ial arg Cae ars FIG, 10.-PROGRESSIVE SLOPE FAILURE IN WEATHERED CLAY the siip surface due to the gravity force is smaller than the residual sh strength, the slab cut loose by the slip plane has no tendency to move dor Ill and’ the progressive failure will not develop into a slide. f the slopt Steep enough for the shear stress to exceed the residual shear strength Slab will tend to move downhill, and this is the case illustrated in Fig, 10 ‘The lateral stresses-on plane PP" will bereduced, eventually becoming ze this io the case, the shear strestes in the clay at the leading edge of sip suvtace due to gravity forceand thelateral stresses on the plane AA'™\ txceed the peak shear strength, anq the progressive development of the ¢ surface will continue In an uphill direction.