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Seattle Landslide

The document summarizes the re-evaluation of a 1996/97 landslide in Seattle using limit equilibrium modeling. The original analysis used finite element modeling and identified rising pore pressures as the cause of failure. The new analysis uses limit equilibrium modeling and finds a circular failure surface in the toe of the colluvium layer has the lowest factor of safety. Both methods predict failure was due to a large rise in the groundwater table, but limit equilibrium provides a better understanding of the failure mechanism. Additional geotechnical investigation is needed to determine reliable soil properties and factors of safety.

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Bob Dole
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50 views24 pages

Seattle Landslide

The document summarizes the re-evaluation of a 1996/97 landslide in Seattle using limit equilibrium modeling. The original analysis used finite element modeling and identified rising pore pressures as the cause of failure. The new analysis uses limit equilibrium modeling and finds a circular failure surface in the toe of the colluvium layer has the lowest factor of safety. Both methods predict failure was due to a large rise in the groundwater table, but limit equilibrium provides a better understanding of the failure mechanism. Additional geotechnical investigation is needed to determine reliable soil properties and factors of safety.

Uploaded by

Bob Dole
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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A Re-evaluation of

the 1996/97 Alki


Landslide in Seattle,
Washington using a
Limit Equilibrium
Model

View of the Alki Slide Area (Photo taken


by S. Debray, 2001)
• By Bob Dole
Outline of Presentation
• Introduction
• Site Information
– General Setting
– Geologic Profile & Soil Properties
– Hydrologic Details
– Geotechnical Properties
• Original Finite Element Modeling Results
• Limit Equilibrium Modeling
– Methods
– Results
• Discussion
• Conclusion/Key Points
Introduction

• Objective: To re-examine a slope failure analysis of a


shallow landslide in the Alki area of Seattle, Washington
• Original Analysis: Finite Element using PLAXIS by
Debray and Savage (2001)
• New Analysis: Limit Equilibrium using Slide.
General Setting
• The landslide is located near Alki
Beach and Duwamish Head at the
north end of West Seattle,
Washington State.

• The landslide was 18m high, 75m


long, and mobilized down a 35m
high embankment.

• It occurred during December 1996


to early January 1997, during
which time there were a series of
snowstorms, freezing rain, Location of the Alki Landslide in Seattle,
followed by warm rain. Washington

• The landslide damaged the bottom


floors of two apartment buildings
at the foot of the embankment.
There were no injuries.
General Setting

Model of the geometry and geologic layers of the Alki site.


Geologic Profile

Material found at the slide location: Pre Vashon Sands & Silts, Lawton Clay,
Esperance Sand, Colluvium. All material but the colluvium have been
overlain by glaciers.
Soil Profile

Pre Vashon: Dense interglacial fluvial and lake deposits


Soil Profile

Lawton Clay: Impermeable glacio-lacustrine deposit of very stiff to hard clays and silts
Soil Profile

Esperance Sand: Dense, brown and grey permeable soil composed of fine to
coarse sand and silt
Soil Profile

Colluvium: Very loose to medium dense layer, varying in thickness from 8-12 m.
Has higher permeability than Esperance Sand or Lawton Clay
Hydrologic Details

Water Table: Low permeability of clay creates a perched water table. Dry under
normal conditions
Higher permeability of colluvium
makes the clay/colluvium interface a
preferred gradient path
Geotechnical Properties

Table 1. Estimated material properties used in finite-element and limit equilibrium modeling of the Alki
landslide. γdry= dry unit weight, γwet= wet unit weight, σ= Poisson’s ratio, E= Young’s Modulus, Cp=
peak cohesion, Φp= is the peak angle of internal friction. (Debray and Savage, 2001)

Items of Interest:

1. Saturated unit weights of clay, sand, colluvium


2. Cohesion value for colluvium.
Original Finite Element Analysis

Finite element mesh used to model the Alki landslide (Debray and Savage, 2001)

Used finite element modeling program PLAXIS v.7, which uses a non-
linear elastic-plastic Mohr-Coulomb iterative solution algorithm and a
finite element mesh to model the slope.

Results indicated that failure occurred due to rising pore water pressures
in the colluvium along the transition zone between clay and colluvium
(Debray and Savage, 2001)
Original Finite Element Analysis

Deformation of the mesh is shown in (a) and displacement concentrations in regions at incipient failure
are shown in (b) (Debray and Savage, 2001)

Problem: displacements shown in (a) and (b) are dimensionless, since


PLAXIS generates additional, large, non-physical displacements.

The displacements shown may only be used as an approximation of the


shape of the failure surface that is "in reasonable agreement with that
produced during the winter of 1996-1997" (Shannon and Wilson, Inc.,
2000)
Limit Equilibrium Modeling
Methods
• Used Slide v.5.0, with GLE/Morgenstern-Price method to calculate factor of
safety with and without the perched water table.
• Searched for both circular and non-circular failure surfaces
Results

• Without water table, the minimum factor of safety of 1.12 was found in the
toe of the colluvium
Limit Equilibrium Modeling
Results

GLE/Morgenstern-Price analysis of the factor of safety with no raised water table


Limit Equilibrium Modeling
Results

• With a 4 m rise in the perched water table the toe of the colluvium becomes
a discharge zone and the effective stress in the colluvium drops
significantly.
• Failure occurs in toe as predicted by dry model.
• Minimum factor of safety is 0.577 along same surface in dry model.
• When the toe fails, it allows for a circular failure to occur through the
colluvium and extending into the thinner portions of the clay layer.
Limit Equilibrium Modeling
Results

Failure area of the slope, including GLE/Morgenstern-Price analysis of global minimum surface in the toe of the
colluvium
Limit Equilibrium Modeling
Results
Discussion

• The finite element report (Debray and Savage, 2001) models the
failure as a non-circular surface with very large deformations and
displacements.
– PLAXIS does not handle large deformations well and introduces additional,
large, non-physical displacements (Debray and Savage, 2001).
• The original report pins the clay surface in place and assumes there
is no failure along the surface.
– This is a dubious assumption when one considers the large displacements
of the colluvium material atop the clay. It would be expected that there
would be at least some failure extending into the clay.
Discussion

• Limit Equilibrium modeling shows a circular failure in the


toe of the colluvium.
– This is a reasonable model, since the water table rise and spring
discharge at this location would cause the greatest reduction of effective
stress and mobilization of lateral forces needed for failure.
• Concern about the estimated colluvium cohesion value
– The extremely low cohesion value causes problems when the slope is
modeled under dry conditions. A factor of safety of 1.21 does not allow
for typical rainstorm events without generating an unstable slope
condition.
Conclusions- Modeling Methods

• The finite element model (Debray and Savage, 2001)


gives a general idea of how and why the slope failed.
– assumptions of the finite element method introduce errors in the
understanding of the situation.
– Wrong tool chosen initially.
• Limit Equilibrium does not attempt to model deformations
or displacements, but checks for failure mechanism.
– Gives a better general understanding of the failure mechanism
• A Discontinuous element modeling program would give
the most accurate results
– More input data needed to properly take advantage of
discontinuous element model.
Conclusion – Slope Failure

• The slope failed due to the large rise in the groundwater table,
which reduced the effective stress in the colluvium layer.

• Using either PLAXIS or Slide, the failure was predictable given the
assumed geotechnical values.

• To better understand the slope failure, and to determine reliable


factors of safety for embankments in the Alki area, a geotechnical
investigation of the soil properties is needed.

• The actual value of the cohesion of the colluvium is needed to be


able to accurately predict when the colluvium will fail.
References
• Debray, S., and Savage, W.Z., 2001, A Preliminary Finite-Element Analysis
of a Shallow Landslide in the Alki Area of Seattle, Washington: U.S.
Geological Survey Open-File Report 01-0357, 5p.

• Savage, W.Z., Baum, R.L., Morrissey, M.M., and Arndt B.P., 2000, Finite
element analysis of the Woodway Landslide, Washington: U.S. Geological
Survey Bulletin 2180, 9p.

• Shannon & Wilson, Inc., 2000, Geotechnical Report, Alki Avenue/Duwamish


Head, stabilization project, Seattle, Washington, February 2000, 9p.

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