Influence of laterally loaded sleeved piles and pile groups on slope stability

Many high-rise buildings, bridges, and transmission towers are constructed on steep slopes in Hong Kong and are supported by large-diameter piles. These structures may be subjected to large lateral loads, such as those caused by typhoons, earthquakes, and high-speed vehicles. The margin of safety of the slope may decrease as a result of stresses transferred from the piles to the slope. To minimize the transfer of lateral load from the buildings to the shallow depths of the slope, an annulus of compressible material (sleeving) is sometimes formed between the piles and the adjacent soils. In this paper, a three-dimensional analysis is carried out to investigate the effects of unsleeved and sleeved single piles and pile groups on the stability of a cut slope. Mechanisms of load transfer from the piles to the slope are studied. The stability of the slope is evaluated using the strength reduction technique. The evolution of slope failure is examined and the factors of safety for both initiation of instability and global failure of the slope are identified from the numerical analyses. The sleeving technique is found to be capable of significantly reducing the stresses in the shallow depths of the slope in front of the piles, thus improving the local stability of the slope, but offers limited benefit with respect to global stability