Slope Stability - Principles and Practice, Short Course Programme

Most developments, whether it be a highway scheme or an office development, will require some degree of ground profile modification. This will commonly result in the ground being cut or fill being placed, and this new condition must be stable. The appraisal of slope stability for all but the simplest cases should be undertaken by a specialist, but those commissioning or managing a project should have an appreciation of the design issues and what is reasonable.

The aim of this course is to develop your ability to recognise and address slope stability issues.

The course will start from a review of how slopes fail and the fundamental basis of why they stand up at all. It will examine the contrasting analytical issues in granular and cohesive soils, and examine the importance of time. It will then progress to design and the use of design codes, and it will provide practical design guidance. The principles of how slope instability may be investigated and remediated will be reviewed also. The course will be taught via a series of lectures followed by tutorial questions with case studies to illustrate the material. You will be encouraged to undertake some additional guided study after the course to further reinforce your learning. The indicative content comprises the following:

• Types of failure through case studies
• Brief reprise of the principles of soil strength and why slopes stand at all
• Slope stability issues: Cohesive or granular? Cut or fill? Short term or long term?
• Principles of circular slope stability analysis
• Simple chart based analytical methods
• Design codes and factors of safety
• Slope analysis design examples
• Practical guidance on slope design
• Brief review of the investigation and remediation of slope failures

The intended audiences for this course are architects and developers wanting to develop their appreciation of slope stability, graduate civil and structural engineers wanting to develop their understanding and skills, engineering geologists with some design experience wanting to develop or refresh their understanding, and geotechnical engineers early in their careers wanting to develop their knowledge.

At the end of this course you should have:

• refreshed your understanding of the types of slope failure using case studies
• refreshed your understanding of basic soil mechanics principles relevant to soil slope stability
• developed your knowledge and understanding of the principles of slope stability analysis
• reviewed design codes and principles, and applied your knowledge to a case study
• reviewed a range of slope remediation techniques.

If you have any questions you can contact us by:

Email
Telephone: +44 (0)115 848 2813

There is currently no module information available for this course.