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Slope Stability Analysis of Cut Slopes Using Rock

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Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

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 INDOROCK201695

Slope Stability Analysis of Cut Slopes Using Rock and Slope Mass
Rating along Najran –Abha road, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

1,2
* Ahmed. K Abd El-Aal and 3,4M. K. Ansari
1
Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Al Azhar University, (Assiut Branch) Assiut, Egypt
2
Civil Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Najran University, P.O. Box 1988,
Najran, Saudi Arabia.
3
Department of Earth Sciences, IIT Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, 400076, India.
4
Dar Al Handasah (Shair and Partners), Riyadh, KSA
*Corresponding author email: Ahmed_Aka80@yahoo.com

Abstract
An empirical method using Rock Mass Rating (RMR) and Slope Mass Rating (SMR) has
been applied based on field observations and measurements, and laboratory tests to estimate
the strength of rock mass and to assess the stability of rock masses on slopes forming the
edges of Najran-Abha road. The physical and mechanical properties of the rocks and their
affecting fractures (discontinuities) are required to assess the rock slope and rock cut stability.
These properties control the rock cut design and are used in the determination and
classification of the rock masses. The rock mass classifications are a very significant tool for
characterization of rock mass, especially for slope vulnerability assessment. The slope mass
rating is the most comprehensive and widely used technique for rock slope assessment. In the
southern area of Saudi Arabia, road and highway networks play a vital role in remote areas
for transportation, public network and all kinds of socioeconomic activities. The stability of
rock slopes along the roads and highways is a major concern in these hilly regions. Any kind
of slope failure may lead to disruption in traffic, loss of properties and lives/injuries as well
as environmental degradation. The unplanned excavations of rock slopes for construction or
widening purposes may undermine the stability of the slopes.
The present study incorporates the stability analysis of road cut slopes along Najran-Abha
highway in the southern region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is one of the most
used highways in KSA, connecting most of the areas with each other. The main objectives
include: (1) field investigation to determine the geological units and the different structures
that affect the stability of rocks along the road; (2) determination of the characteristics of the
rock mass using the rock mass rating (RMR). This study reveals that the cut needs to be

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mitigated because of the ongoing slope instability present in some areas, including planar and
wedge slides and raveling rock falls. It was found that the unstable rock areas create serious
safety hazards to traffic.

Keywords: Discontinuity, RMR, SMR, Abha, Najran.

1. Introduction
Slope failure has been identified as one of the most frequent natural disasters that can lead to
huge loss of property and lives. Number of external factors like tectonic forces, weathering
and erosion processes, and compounded-anthropogenic factors triggers the slope failures in
the high relief mountain system [1].
Most of rock slope instability in the past has been caused by the influence of natural factors.
In recent times, rock slope instability has become more common due to the effects of
anthropogenic activities such as road cuts [2-5], excavation to create an area for housing [6],
construction of large infrastructures, and quarries. Rock slope instability is caused by many
factors; some of them are related to unfavorable discontinuities, adverse groundwater
excavation methods (poor blasting practices during original construction or reconstruction),
climatic changes, weathering, and tree levering [7].
Stability analysis of soil and rock slopes has been a research problem for civil and mining
engineers for several decades. In civil engineering applications, the slope stability is
concerned with many projects in hilly as well as plain terrains, such as foundations of
structures (buildings, bridges, power houses, dams, etc.), transportation routes (highways,
railways, canals, pipelines, tunnels, etc.), and underground storages and basements. In
mining engineering applications, projects related to open and underground excavations
essentially need consideration of slope stability analysis in order to maintain the slope in
stable condition during construction as well as operation. In large open-cast mines, slope
heights may be hundreds of meters; therefore, slope failures can cause severe losses in terms
of productivity and safety, and even result in deaths of the workers. Slopes can consist of
soil, rock or a combination thereof. The analysis of rock slopes has always been a
challenging task, mainly because of the presence of discontinuities in the rock masses.
These methods include kinematical, limit equilibrium, and numerical analyses which are
preferred for the evaluation of rock slope stability. Kinematical analysis relies on the motion
analysis of the blocks without any reference to the forces that cause these blocks to move,
whereas the method of equilibrium analyses considers some important parameters that

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include the geometry of the rock slope, joint sets characteristics, shear strength along the
failure surface, the effects of pore water pressure, and the influence of external forces
(external weight, seismic accelerations). On the other hand, numerical analyses (e.g., finite
element and distinct element methods) are performed to confirm and verify the results
produced from the kinematical and method of equilibrium analysis [8]. Many rock cut
operations require excavation of rocks which results in exposing rock slope instability.
Slope instability is the most critical hazard in hilly and mountainous areas of the Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia. Najran city is one of these areas where many urban areas are located and
surrounded by mountains. Different types of the slope instability can be seen in this area
which includes lateral spreads, topple, creep, rotational landslides, translational landslides
and rockfall. Among these different types of landslides, rockfall is one of the most
significant geological hazards in this region. No studies have been carried out to investigate
them along Najran city.
In the current study, the main objective is to evaluate some rock cuts and/or rock slopes
along Najran-Abha road, in which the most hazard zones can be determined so that an
appropriate mitigation measures can be initiated for the potentially dangerous slopes. The
main objectives include the following: (1) field investigation to determine the geological
units and the different structures that affect the rocks along the road; (2) determination of the
characteristics of the rock mass using the rock mass rating (RMR) procedure [9]. The
geomechanics classification of Rock Mass Rating (RMR) [9] system has been used to find
Slope Mass Rating (SMR) [10].

2. Location and geology of study area

Najran is a city in southwestern Saudi Arabia near the border with Yemen. It is the capital of
Najran Province. Designated a new town, Najran is one of the fastest-growing cities in the
kingdom; its population has risen from 47,500 in 1974 and 90,983 in 1992 to 246,880 in
2004 to 505,652 in 2010. Najran basin is in the extreme southwestern part of the Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia (KSA). It is bordered to the east by the Empty Quarter Desert, the Asir
region to the west, Ar-Riyadh and the Eastern Province in the north, and the Republic of
Yemen to the south (Fig. 1)
The present study incorporates the assessment of road cut along (Najran Abha road) is
located in the southernmost mountainous terrain of Saudi Arabia (Fig. 1a, b). The rocks in
the study area belong to the Proterozoic (Precambrian) era and consist of igneous rocks, as

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well as some stratified rocks of the Wajid sandstone of Cambrian–Ordovician age, and
occasional Tertiary bedrock [11-13]. The study is focusing on some areas of igneous rocks
along the road.
Fig. 1: Location map of study area.

The test area is on the southeastern margin of the Arabian Shield. The basement rocks
consist of a complex sequence of general metamorphosed, interlayered volcanic and
sedimentary Precambrian assemblages. These are locally intruded by igneous rocks ranging
in composition from gabbro to syenite and in age from Precambrian to Cambrian. The
volcanic rocks in the area vary in composition from andesite to rhyolite and in texture from
agglomerate to thick, massive flows and lithic tuff. They are commonly interlayered with
sedimentary strata that variously include sandstone, conglomerate, graywacke, shale, and
limestone. The basement rocks are, in part, unconformably overlain by recent
unconsolidated alluvial and aeolian sands and Cambro-Ordovician Wajid sandstone (Lower
Red Unit) [14]. This sandstone has been eroded from much of the western part of the test
area and is now commonly observed only on isolated buttes where the remnants cap the
basement (Fig. 2a, b and c).

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Fig. 2: (a) Different stations of the study area showing steeper cut slopes along roads; (b) station 3; and (c)
station 4.

3. Results and Discussion

The exposed rock mass along Najran Abha road, which is already deformed, with steeper cut
slopes along roads may prone to failure. The failure of slopes may lead to distraction in
traffic. Several cases of distraction in traffic are being reported that may create lots of
difficulties to travelers as well as heavy trucks. Therefore, evaluation of the stability situation
along these roads and highways is imperative for safety and maintenance purposes (Fig. 3a &
3b). The area is commonly prone to landslide activities (rock falls, sliding, and debris flows)
and erosion due to running water through different gullies. There are numbers of active
landslides which are badly affected the highway and bridges and are the potential sites to
cause disaster in the event of a major rainfall or an earthquake.

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Fig. 3: Erosion features in debris soils causing overhanging and large blocks are prone to rockfall. (a)
Most the falling rocks reaching the highway especially in the areas, where there is no ditch at station 5 (b)
The falling rocks reach the roadway at station 6.

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General field-investigation was carried out to identify and map different types of unstable
zones and to collect the rock samples for geomechanical laboratory analysis [15-18]. In the
current work, different data types were used to study the stability of Najran Abha road and its
impacts on the surrounding areas including. There are several approaches of slope stability
analysis are being used now days like limit equilibrium, analytical and kinematic, physical
and numerical models [19-23]. One of the most widely used and adequate methods is the
slope mass rating (SMR) technique [10 and 24]. SMR is based on the rock mass rating
(RMR) technique given by Bieniawski (1979 and 1989) [9 and 25]. RMR technique is based
on detailed field and laboratory study, which involves collection of data at site slopes,
strength of rock exposed on slope face, condition of discontinuities, spacing of
discontinuities, orientation of discontinuities, and ground water condition. SMR includes
RMR along with some adjustment factors based on a relation of joint orientation with a slope
and method of slope excavations. The adjustment factors in SMR technique, proposed by
Romana, are discrete and are more decision based.
A geological field investigation was carried out to measure the joints and their patterns in the
rock masses exposed on the slope surfaces, along with variations in the slope conditions. This
investigation was accompanied by the collection of representative rock samples from
different locations and types, in order to determine the geomechanical properties of intact
rocks in laboratory tests, as per methods suggested by the ISRM [26 and 27].
The engineering geology characteristics of the study area have been studied corresponding to
field and laboratory investigations. A detailed field investigation has been done to determine
the rock mass characteristics and the main areas that are prone to the rockfall whereas,
laboratory investigation was done in order to determine the mechanical properties of the
rocks and tabulated in Table 1. Rock mass characteristics of Najran Abha Road is composed
of gabbro, syenite and andesite to rhyolite to red hard sandstone station (3, 4, 6 and 7) (Fig 4
a, b, c and d) and (Fig 5 and b). It has sharp, steep, intrusive rocks, which is related to
Arabian shield. In Addition, different unstable areas were determined along Najran Abha
road (Fig. 6 a, b). Along the rock cut in the study section the shoulder width ranges from 0.5
to 1 m, and the cut face is irregular and includes joints dipping at an angle of 85 degrees
toward the road. Irregular unstable faces and loose faces are prone to rock falls on the upper
part of the cut.

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Fig. 4: Field photographs showing (a) 30 m height rock cut is characterized by high face irregularity at
station 6 (b) shoulder less than 0.5 m and no catchment ditch and fallen blocks, (c) close up view of falling
blocks and (d) Potentially rockfall failure area where some overhanging blocks appeared at station 3.

Fig. 5: Field photographs showing (a) 22 m height rock cut is characterized by high face irregularity at
station 7 (b) No ditches to retain any fallen materials, allowing the material to spill out onto the traveling
lanes.

The height of the rock cut ranges from 20 to 60 m, and there are no catchment ditches or
benches (station 8) (Fig 6c & 6d). Most of the cliff faces are highly irregular and in some
areas, their reddish patches indicate highly weathered zones. The earliest accessible rock
classification system was a qualitative one proposed by [28] in his famous De Re Metallica,
which was published in Latin 1 year after his death. In Book V of this famous manuscript, he

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classified ores and surrounding rocks as ‘‘crumbling’’, ‘‘hard’’, ‘‘harder’’, and ‘‘hardest’’.
Also, he gave short descriptions for each class. The classifications of Terzaghi [29] and Stini
[30] constitute the bases of the modern rock classifications, such as Rock Structure Rating
(RSR) by Wickham et al. [31], Rock Mass Rating (RMR) by Bieniawski [9 and 32], and the
Q-system by Barton et al. [33] and Barton and Grimstad [34], and their derivatives, such as
Modified Basic RMR (MBR) [35], together with the incorporation of Rock Quality
Designation (RQD) proposed by Deere et al. [36]. The common purpose of these systems was
to quantify rock mass characteristics previously based on qualitative geological descriptions.
In 1995, an index called the Geological Strength Index (GSI) was developed and then
modified over the years [37-38]. The originators of the GSI pointed out that it is an index of
rock mass characterization for the estimation of rockmass strength using the Hoek–Brown
criterion, and is not meant for replacing a classification system of the types RMR or Q. The
earlier classifications were single parameter (RQD, Rock Condition), while recent
classification schemes incorporate a number of parameters, such as, in particular, the strength
of rock material, discontinuity density, joint conditions, joint orientation, and groundwater
conditions. However, all these classifications have been proposed with the consideration of
some specific rock structures, such as tunnels, underground caverns, dams, and slopes. The
RMR classification system of Bieniawski (1989) was developed for characterizing the rock
mass in the study area. This system has evolved over the years due to reaching a better
understanding of the different parameters on the rock mass behavior. The following six
parameters are used to classify rock mass by the RMR system; (1) Uniaxial compressive
strength, (2) Rock quality designation (RQD), (3) Spacing of discontinuities, (4) Condition of
discontinuities and (5) Groundwater conditions. The value of RMR is the sum of the five
parameters and the results are tabulated in Table-1.

The UCS of the andesite ranged from 65 to 187 MPa (Table 1). The joints commonly have
rough surfaces and are filled with clay or sands. The rock quality designation (RQD) values
range from 55 to 77%.
As seen in Table 1, the point load strength of the rock along the study area ranges from 2.1
MPa to 6.3 MPa. The joint spacings are 145 mm to 1.56 m and again they are frequently
filled with sand and clay. The density ranges between 1.97 g/CC and 2.64 g/CC. In addition,
the P wave velocities range between 2.1 m/s in red sandstone and 5.6 m/s in the igneous
rocks. As the volumes p wave velocity increase the volumes UCS also increase (Table 1).

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Table-1: Rock mass classification of study stations according to Bieniawski 1989.

UCS RQD Spacing of Condition of Water general Point load Density P wave
Station RMR
(MPa) % discontinuities discontinuities condition (MPa) g/CC m/s
Slightly rough surfaces
1 156 57 0.9 m Separation <1 mm. Completely dry 5.4 MPa 2.56 4.9
80
Slightly weathered walls
Rating 12 13 15 25 15 12 --
Slightly rough surfaces
2 187 69 1.2 m Separation < 1 mm Completely dry 6.3 MPa 2.64 5.3
80
Slightly weathered walls
Rating 12 13 15 25 15 12 --
Slightly rough surfaces
3 178 72 1.4 m Separation < 1 mm Completely dry 6.2 MPa 2.43 5.2
80
Slightly weathered walls
Raring 12 13 15 25 15 12 --
Slightly rough surfaces
4 145 70 1.56 m Separation < 1 mm Completely dry 5.1 MPa 2.45 5.6
80
Slightly weathered walls
Rating 12 13 15 25 15 12 --
Slightly rough surfaces
5 123 75 1,2. m Separation < 1 mm Completely dry 4.5 MPa 2.44 3.9 80
Slightly weathered walls
Rating 12 13 15 25 15 12 --
Slightly rough surfaces
6 159 66 0. 9m Separation < 1 mm Completely dry 5.9 MPa 2.51 4.7 80
Slightly weathered walls
Rating 12 13 15 25 15 10
Slightly rough surfaces
7 81 55 178 mm Separation < 1 mm Completely dry 3.2 MPa 2.44 3.1 65
Highly weathered walls
Rating 7 13 10 20 15 10
Slightly rough surfaces
8 76 62 145 mm Separation < 1 mm Completely dry 3.3 MPa 2.54 2.9 65
Highly weathered walls
Rating 7 13 10 20 15 10
Slightly rough surfaces
9 88 77 1.69 m Separation < 1 mm Completely dry 2.1MPa 2.21 2.1 70
Highly weathered walls
Rating 7 13 15 20 15 10
Slightly rough surfaces
10 65 69 1.78 m Separation < 1 mm Completely dry 2.3 MPa 1.87 2.1
Highly weathered walls
Rating 7 13 15 20 15 10 70

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Fig. 6: A cut slope section of the study area showing slope with 3 sets of joint characterized by the
presence of many unstable blocks, (b): close up view of horizontal joints at station 2, (c): different
unstable zones located along the road and (d): fallen materials within the Irregular unstable faces, the
road shoulder is 60 cm at station 8.

4. Slope Mass Rating

The slope stability problem of the cut slopes in the area calls for a detailed geotechnical
investigation for scientific and systematic mitigation. There are a number of approaches to
assess the behavior of slope using physical and numerical models as well as intelligent
modeling. The economic and safe design can be achieved by a systematic approach like

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Slope Mass Rating (SMR) [24]. This rating has been used to assess the health of the slope
and is one of the most accepted, versatile and widely used tool. This tool provides a quick
assessment about the behavior of slope at a given site.
SMR identifies different classes of slopes and their vulnerability to instability and is based on
an RMR system with adjustment factors related to strike and dip of discontinuities with
respect to slope parameters. SMR was proposed by Romana (1985) and later updated in 2003,
which was obtained by adding “adjustment factors” (F1 x F2 x F3) from RMR, depending
upon slope and discontinuity relationship from RMR value and by adding a factor depending
upon the nature of the slope (F4) (Eq. 1) and is tabulated in Table-2 for the present study.
SMR = RMR+ (F1 x F2 x F3) + F4 …Eq.1

Table 2. SMR values along the study area (Romana et al., 2003).

Statio SMR Rock Mass Clas Probability

RMR F1 F2 F3 F4 Failures
n value description s of Failure

1 80 0.15 1.0 0 15 95 Very good I No failure 0

2 80 0.15 1.0 0 15 95 Very good I No failure 0

3 80 0.15 1.0 0 15 95 Very good I No failure 0

4 80 0.15 1.0 0 15 95 Very good I No failure 0

5 80 0.15 1.0 0 15 95 Very good I No failure 0

6 80 0.15 1.0 0 15 95 Very good I No failure 0

7 65 0.7 1.0 0 15 80 Good II Some block failure 0.2

8 65 0.7 1.0 0 15 80 Good II Some block failure 0.2

9 70 0.15 1.0 0 15 85 Very good I No failure 0

10 70 0.15 1.0 0 15 85 Very good I No failure 0

5. Conclusion
According to Bieniawiski (1989) and Romana (1993) classifications, the calculations of both
RMR and SMR ratings for the studied rock slopes show that most of the sites of Najran
Abha road are of class II to class I (as per SMR classification). These classification tell that
the condition of studied slopes are: good to very good and stable condition, however, some
block failures could occur in these natural slopes due to rain and seasonal stream water. As
per the results of RMR and SMR classification, it can be concluded that the current natural
slopes show some coincide with the actual situation of the studied rock slopes on Najran

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Abha road. Hence, these systems can be useful in easy, rapid and low cost empirical rock
slope studies.

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INDOROCK 2016: 6th Indian Rock Conference 17-18 June 2016

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