INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY MADRAS, CHENNAI

Department of Civil Engineering

CE 3350 Geotechnical Engineering
Tutorial # 5: Stability of Slopes, Sheet Pile Walls and Braced Cuts
Note: Make suitable assumptions wherever necessary.
1. (a) You are writing a computer program to
perform slope stability computations. This
program will consider only circular failure
surfaces. What procedure might you use to
locate the critical failure surface? Provide a
detailed explanation.
(b) A 45 slope is excavated to a depth of 8 m
in a deep layer of saturated clay of unit weight
19 kN/m3: the shear strength parameters are c u
= 65 kPa and u = 0. Determine the factor of
safety (FS) for the trial failure surface
specified in Fig. 1.
2. Using the Fellenius method of slices,
determine the FS, in terms of effective
stress, of the slope shown in Fig. 2 for the
given failure surface (a) using peak
strength parameters c' = 10 kN/m2 and
' = 29 and (b) using critical state
parameter ' cs = 31. The unit weight of
the soil both above and below the water
table is 20 kN/m3.

Fig. 1

Fig. 2
3. For the given failure surface, determine
the FS in terms of total stress for the
slope detailed in Fig. 3. The unit weight
for both soils is 19 kN/m3. The
undrained strength (c u ) is 30 kN/m2 for
Soil 1 and 45 kN/m2 for Soil 2. What is
the FS if allowance is made for the
development of a tension crack?
Fig. 3
4. A cutting 9 m deep is to be excavated in a saturated clay of unit weight 19 kN/m3. The design shear
strength parameters are c u = 30 kN/m2 and u = 0. A hard stratum underlies the clay at a depth of 11 m
below ground level. Using Taylors stability coefficients, determine the slope angle at which failure
would occur. What is the allowable slope angle if a FS of 1.2 is specified?
5. A long slope is to be formed in a soil of unit weight 19 kN/m3 for which the shear strength parameters are
c' = 0 and ' = 36. A firm stratum lies below the slope. It is to be assumed that the water table may
occasionally rise to the surface, with seepage taking place parallel to the slope. Using the traditional
method, determine the maximum slope angle to ensure a FS of 1.5, assuming a potential failure surface
parallel to the slope. What would be the FS of the slope, formed at this angle, if the water table were well
below the surface?
6. (a) Determine the height of a finite slope (1V: 2H) that should have a FS of 2 against sliding. For the soil, the
following values are given: c' =18 kN/m2, ' = 20, and = 1700 kg/m3. Assume the critical surface for sliding to
be a plane. (b) A cut slope is to be made in a saturated clay. Given: c u = 30 kN/m2 ( u = 0 condition) and = 17
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kN/m3. The slope makes an angle, , of 60 with the horizontal. Determine the maximum depth up to which the cut
could be made. Assume that the critical surface for sliding is circular. What is the nature of the critical circle (that
is, toe, slope, or midpoint)?
7. (a) For the given failure surface, determine the FS in terms of 8. Using the Bishop routine method of slices,
effective stress for the slope detailed in Fig. 4, using the
determine the FS in terms of effective stress for
Fellenius method of slices. The unit weight of the soil is 21
the slope detailed in Fig. 5 for the specified
kN/m3 and the shear strength parameters are: c' = 8 kN/m2
failure surface. The value of r u is 0.20 and the
unit weight of the soil is 20 kN/m3. The shear
and ' =32. (b) Repeat the analysis of the slope detailed
strength parameters are: c' = 0 and ' = 33.
above using the Bishop routine method of slices.

Fig. 4

Fig. 5

9. Determine the FS in terms of effective stress of the slope

shown in Fig. 6 using the Fellenius method of slices. The
relevant soil properties are: c' = 10 kN/m2, ' = 32; =
20 kN/m3.
10. Figure 7 shows a cantilever sheet pile wall penetrating a
granular soil. Here, L 1 = 2 m, L 2 = 3 m, = 15.9 kN/m3, sat
= 19.33 kN/m3, and ' = 32. (a) What is the theoretical
depth of embedment, D? (b) For a 30% increase in D,
what should be the total length of the sheet piles? (c) What
should be the minimum section modulus of the sheet piles?
Use all = 172 MN/m2.
Fig. 6

11. Using the free-earth support method, calculate

the depth of embedment of the sheet pile and
the pull in the anchor rod for the anchored
bulkhead system shown in Fig. 8.

Fig. 7

Fig. 8

12. Refer to the braced cut shown in Fig. 9. Given:

= 16 kN/m3, ' = 32, and c' = 0. The struts are
located at 3.5 m center-to-center in the plan. Draw
the earth-pressure envelope and determine the strut
loads at levels A, B, and C.
Fig. 9

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