Analysis and Stabilization of a Failed Cut Slope in Schist

This paper focuses on the description, analysis and stabilization of a failed cut slope in schist. The slope is located near the top of a hill and was cut for the needs of a new industrial building. A few weeks after the excavation, a slide occurred along the schistosity plane of the slope. The slide was attributed to the effect of water which flooded the slope following an overflow of a water tank located a few meters above the slope crest. For the analysis both the deterministic and probabilistic approaches were carried out, with the input parameters determined from simple in-situ and laboratory tests and also from back-analysis. The results showed that the probabilistic approach offers significant advantages, providing a better feeling of the effect of the uncertainty and variability of the input parameters and in this case a more economical solution, given that a risk of failure equal to 2.25% is acceptable