Correlation of Fully Softened Shear Strength of Clay Soil with Index Properties - Phase I

Abstract

Shallow slope failure is one of the huge problems in the geotechnical engineering projects. These failures can cost millions of dollars every year. These failures can occur on embankments and cut slopes that lead to expensive repairs and affect our budgets, traffic systems, environmental conditions and safety. Embankments and cut slopes often fail when the clay soils become a fully softened due to shrink-swell action, wet-dry cycles and downhill creep. In this project, the model equation was developed to have a correlation between the peak strength values from standard laboratory tests and the fully-softened values which are likely to develop in the slopes over time.