Rock Slope Stability Analysis

Deals with the methods of assessing the stability of rock slopes and the techniques of improving the stability conditions of natural and artificial slopes which are at risk. It also describes survey and measurement methods to model the behaviour of rock masses.

A comprehensive guide for mining and construction engineers responsible for rock slope stability. This book focuses on rock slope stability, with sections on geological data collection, geotechnical data collection and analysis, surface water and groundwater effects, kinematic and kinetic stability analysis, rock slope stabilization techniques, and rock slope instrumentation and monitoring. Because of the discontinuous nature of rock, the design of stable rock slopes is as much an art as it is applied engineering. Experience can only be achieved from the proper utilization of these theories of soil and rock mechanics, structural geology, and hydrology. Rock Slope Stability is invaluable for engineering geologists, geotechnical engineers, mining engineers, civil engineers, and mine managers-- as well as anyone else dedicated to engineering slopes that are stable and safe and that enable a financial return.

This work comprehensively treats soil & rock slope engineering in one volume. It focuses on getting the fundamentals right, explaining simple methods of stability analysis, and applying them to a wide range of practical applications.

GSP 101 contains 26 papers on slope stability presented at sessions at Geo-Denver 2000, held in Denver, Colorado, August 5-8, 2000.

Rock Slope Engineering covers the investigation, design, excavation and remediation of man-made rock cuts and natural slopes, primarily for civil engineering applications. It presents design information on structural geology, shear strength of rock and ground water, including weathered rock. Slope design methods are discussed for planar, wedge, circular and toppling failures, including seismic design and numerical analysis. Information is also provided on blasting, slope stabilization, movement monitoring and civil engineering applications. This fifth edition has been extensively up-dated, with new chapters on weathered rock, including shear strength in relation to weathering grades, and seismic design of rock slopes for pseudo-static stability and Newmark displacement. It now includes the use of remote sensing techniques such as LiDAR to monitor slope movement and collect structural geology data. The chapter on numerical analysis has been revised with emphasis on civil applications. The book is written for practitioners working in the fields of transportation, energy and industrial development, and undergraduate and graduate level courses in geological engineering.

The stability of rock slopes is an important issue in both civil and mining engineering. On civil projects, rock cuts must be safe from rock falls and large-scale slope instability during both construction and operation. In open pit mining, where slope heights can be many hundreds of meters, the economics of the operation are closely related to the steepest stable slope angle that can be mined. This extensively updated version of the classic text, Rock Slope Engineering by Hoek and Bray, deals comprehensively with the investigation, design and operation of rock slopes. Investigation methods include the collection and interpretation of geological and groundwater data, and determination of rock strength properties, including the Hoek Brown rock mass strength criterion. Slope design methods include the theoretical basis for the design of plane, wedge, circular and toppling failures, and design charts are provided to enable rapid checks of stability to be carried out. New material contained in this book includes the latest developments in earthquake engineering related to slope stability, probabilistic analysis, numerical analysis, blasting, slope movement monitoring and stabilization methods. The types of stabilization include rock anchors, shotcrete, drainage and scaling, as well as rock fall protecting methods involving barriers, ditches, nets and sheds. Rock Slopes: Civil and Mining Engineering contains both worked examples illustrating data interpretation and design methods, and chapters on civil and mining case studies. The case studies demonstrate the application of design methods to the construction of stable slopes in a wide variety of geological conditions. The book provides over 300 carefully selected references for those who wish to study the subject in greater detail. It also includes an introduction by Dr. Evert Hoek.

Slope Analysis summarizes the fundamental principles of slope analysis. It explores not only the similarities but also the differences in rock slopes and soil slopes, and it presents alternative methods of analysis, new concepts, and new approaches to analysis. The book introduces both natural and man-made slopes, the nature of soils and rocks, geomorphology, geology, and the aims of slope analysis. These topics are followed by chapters about stress and strain, shear strength of rock and soils, and progressive failure of slopes. This book also presents limit equilibrium methods I and II, which are the planar failure surfaces and slip surfaces of arbitrary shape, respectively. It also includes stress analysis and slope stability, natural slope analysis, and a brief review on plasticity and shear band analysis. Before presenting its conclusions, the book discusses special aspects of slope analysis, such as earthquake analysis, pseudo-static analysis, dynamic analysis, and anisotropy, in addition to Newmark’s approach.