J. Mt. Sci.
(2011) 8: 314–320
DOI: 10.1007/s11629-011-2109-4
Slope Reinforcement for Housing in Three Gorges
Reservoir Area
WU Faquan1, LUO Yuanhua2, CHANG Zhonghua1*
1 Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
2 Office of Three Gorges Project Construction Committee, the State Council of China, Beijing 100038, China
*Corresponding author, e-mail: zhonghua@mail.igcas.ac
© Science Press and Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, CAS and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011
Abstract: The Three Gorges Project of the Yangtze
River is the largest hydropower-complex project
under construction in the world. Under the large-
scale relocation projects, 2874 engineered slopes are
formed along with the construction of new towns. In
this paper, the cutting slopes are mainly soil slopes
and rock slopes. Soil slopes include residual soil
slopes, colluvial accumulation slopes, swelling soil
slopes, and artificial earth fill slopes, etc. Rock slopes
include blocky structure rock slopes, layer structure
rock slopes, and clastic structure rock slopes, etc.
Varied protection measures have been used for slope
protection in the reservoir area including shotcrete
concrete-anchor bars, frame beams, retaining walls,
slope stabilizing piles, sheet-pile walls, anchorage
anti-shear tunnels, flexible protection grids, and
drainage, etc. Besides, slope deformation monitoring
systems have been set up to monitor deformation
failure and the stability state of slopes. The protection
measures have guaranteed slope safety and
maintained a harmony with the urban environment
and surrounding landscape.
Keywords: Slope reinforcement; Housing
resettlement; Three Gorges Reservoir
Introduction
The relocation project of the Three Gorges
Received: 10 October 2010
Accepted: 30 December 2010
314
Reservoir Area involves 20 counties (districts) of
Hubei Province and Chongqing Municipality.
Among them, 12 counties (cities) need to be partly
or completed relocated. Furthermore, over
1,200,000 people and 1629 industrial or mining
enterprises need to be moved. Under the large-
scale relocation projects, many engineered slopes
are inevitably formed along with the construction.
In details, 2874 slopes are found in zones densely
populated and affected by engineering
establishments. Therefore, a special fund from
Chinese government has been established and
effective protection measures have also been
carried out to ensure slope stability and the
prevention of slope disasters.
The relocation project of the Three Gorges
Reservoir Area has been in progress for over 10
years and has achieved initial results. 12 relocation
counties (cities) and 116 towns required for
relocation have basically been completed. A new
face of the Three Gorges Reservoir Area has
for emerged. The project has amassed abundant
knowledge and experience in resident relocation,
ecology construction, environmental protection
and the management of geologic hazards, and is a
paradigm of successful large-scale hydraulic
relocation projects.
Here the paper is to describe the basic
knowledge in slope protection engineering gained,
the main protection measures adopted, and the

successful environmental protection achieved
during the construction of resettlement towns in
the Three Gorges Reservoir Area.
1 Geological Background of the Three
Gorges Reservoir Area
1.1 Reservoir head
The reservoir head segment is located at Zigui
County and Yiling District of Yichang City, the core
part of the Huangling Anticline and its vicinity,
where mainly granites and metamorphites are
exposed. The granites are massive and fresh rocks
are hard with good integrality. However, the
granites become loose sandy clay with low
structural strength after being strongly weathered
(Figure 1).
1.2 Middle portion of the reservoir
The area from Badong County of Hubei
Province to Fengjie County of Chongqing is located
at the interlocking site of the Daba Mountain arc
fold belt and betwixtoland. The Qiyueshan Fracture
Belt and a series of compact folds are developed
there as well. The Yangtze River valley runs parallel
to most structure lines or skew intersects at small
angles. Mainly Argillaceous limestones and
mudstones of Badong Formation are exposed in
the area. The Argillaceous limestones become
structurally fractured due to disturbance by
geological structures and the effects of erosion and
Figure 1 Map of structure outline and lithology in Three Gorges Reservior Area
J. Mt. Sci. (2011) 8: 314–320
weathering.
1.3 Tail area of the reservoir
This segment is the East Sichuan Fold of the
3rd subsidence zone of the betwixtoland. Its
structural form spreads nearly parallel to the NE
direction. It is a right echelon ejective fold belt
composed of a series of compact anticlines and
wide gentle synclines.
The strata of the reservoir segments in
Yunyang County and Wanzhou District of
Chongqing are Jurassic sand-shale rocks and their
interbedded strata. The main structural form is
wide and gentle ejective fold and most strata
attitudes are gentle. Monoclinal strata are mostly
found in Kai County, while clasolites predominate
in segments upstream of Zhong County and Fuling
District. In the latter area, folds develop well and
the altitudes of the beds vary greatly.
2 Slope Types and Deformation Failure
Modes
2.1 Residual soil slope
Residual soil slopes are widely distributed in
the Three Gorges Reservoir Area. Common
residual soil slopes are those of marlite and sand
slime rock. The usual failure modes of residual soil
slopes include surface scouring, superficial-layer
collapse and superficial-layer landslide. Most
surface scourings occurs on slope surfaces with
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little vegetation or disturbing. Superficial-layer
collapses usually occurs on residual slopes where
soils are loosely broken with low cohesion.
Superficial-layer landslides mainly occur on slopes
with a certain depth of weathering (Figure 2 (a)).
2.2 Colluvial accumulation slope
During the construction of towns in the Three
Gorges Reservoir Area, colluvial accumulation is
reformed and reused due to limitations in the
geological environment. It is the reason for to the
formation of colluvial accumulation slopes. As
excavation lowers the stability of the slopes, a
change in the initial field stress is the result of
collapse, block falling and sliding failure (Figure 2
(b)).
2.3 Earth fill slope
Most towns along the banks of the Three
Gorges Reservoir are located on undulating slopes
where deep ravines crisscross. Therefore, very
limited land can be utilized directly. During the
construction of towns, cutting highland and filling
lowland have increased available land and formed
a large number of earth fill slopes. The modes of
deformation failure of such slopes are settlement or
uneven settlement and deep slippage. Settlement
deformation and slippage failure of fill slopes often
cause deformation and damage to buildings or
deep/big cracks on the ground surface (Figure 2
(c)).
2.4 Expansive soil slope
Some of the residual soils in Fuling District,
Wanzhou District, Yunyang County and Xingshang
County have a swelling property to some degree.
Due to the constituent characteristics of the slopes,
strong ground deformation or slippage failure can
be triggered off by rain or other causes even if the
slopes are located on placid terrain (Figure 2 (d)).
2.5 Blocky rock slope
There are two types of blocky rock slopes in
the Three Gorges Reservoir Area: blocky granite
slopes in Zigui County and Yiling District, and very
thick sandstone slope in Wanzhou District,
Yunyang County, and Kai County. Deformation
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failure of blocky structure rock slopes is to a large
extent determined by the types of rock structure.
Failure modes involve collapse and block slip, etc
(Figure 2 (e)).
2.6 Stratified rock slope
A kind of “sandwich” stratified slopes, formed
by sandstone-mudstone interbeds and thick
sandstone intermingled with mudstones, are
distributed widely in the Three Gorges Reservoir
Area. Depending on the type of geological
structures, different types of slopes have different
deformation and failure modes. The common
failure modes are collapse, bedding slip and wedge-
shape slip (Figure 2 (f)).
Sandstone has a greater resistance to
weathering than mudstone or weak interlayers.
Hence, for slopes with interbeds of sandstone and
mudstone, or thick sandstone intermingled with
mudstone, the less resistant mudstone and weak
interlayers are more easily corroded to form
cavities as a result of differential weathering. Then,
tension cracks will be formed in the sandstone by
gravity, eventually leading to slope collapse and
slip failure.
2.7 Cataclastic rock slope
Cataclastic rock mass refers to rock mass with
severely broken structure due to geological
disturbance or weathering. In the Three Gorges
Reservoir Area, namely Fengjie County, Wushan
County and Badong County, the rock structures of
the argillaceous limestone strata of the Triassic
Badong Formation are severely broken under the
effects of long-term weathering, erosion and slope
unloading. This has resulted in the formation of a
special type of cataclastic rock slope. When these
slopes are disturbed by human activities, they often
fail in the form of structural collapse, forming
scattered accumulation in the process (Figure 2
(g)).
3 Slope Protection Methods
Varied protection measures have been used for
slope protection in the Three Gorges Reservoir
Area. These measures include shotcrete concrete
anchor bars, frame beams, retaining walls, slope
 J. Mt. Sci. (2011) 8: 314–320

stablizing piles and sheet-pile walls, open cut

tunnel chutes, anchorage anti-shear tunnels,
flexible protection grids, and drainage, etc..(Figure
3). Besides, slope deformation monitoring systems
have been set up to monitor deformation failure
and the stability state of slopes.

3.1 Shoterete concrete-anchor bar

supporting

For most stable slopes with integral rock mass,

(g) the spray concrete anchor bar supporting method
Figure 2 Failure modes of slopes is usually used for slope surface protection to

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prevent the surface from weathering and chipping
off. The advantages of this method are construction
simplicity and low costs. It offers more effective
protection for slopes that need only surface
protection. When using this protection measure, its
harmony with the surrounding environment needs
to be considered (Figure 3(a)).
3.2 Frame beam protection for slopes
Frame beam protection is used widely in the
Three Gorges Reservoir Area. It can be divided into
two kinds, the vertical rib-beam frame structure
and the rectangular mesh structure. Meanwhile,
this protection measure usually involves two parts,
the frame beam and the anchor bolt (wire).
Reinforcement can be carried out in the mesh grid
by using mesh, grass, sprayed concrete and cast-in-
situ concrete plates. Frame beam reinforcement is
suitable for all kinds of soil or rock slopes with
good reinforcement results (Figure 3(b)).
3.3 Retaining wall
Retaining wall is a kind of slope protection
structures used widely in the Three Gorges
Reservoir Area. The retaining wall structure is
suitable for rock-soil slopes of loose cracked
structure. It is also used as toe protection for side
slopes and together with other slope protection
structures. The various kinds of retaining walls
used in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area include
mortar rubble masonry retaining walls, mortar
boulder strip masonry retaining walls,
reinforcement concrete retaining walls and
complex structure of anti-slide piles and baffle
plates (Figure 3(c)).
3.4 Slope stablizing piles and sheet-pile
walls
For relatively unstable slopes that are
susceptible to large-scale slip failure, they need to
be protected by anti-slide piles structures. If the
rock and soil masses are loose and broken or a
large sliding force exists, anti-slide piles are usually
used together with cast-in-situ concrete baffles or
prestressed anchor bolts (wires) forming pile-walls
or pile-anchor structures. When retaining walls are
used for super high slopes, their costs would
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increase significantly due to their larger cross
sections. If deep slippage occurs on high slopes,
sheet-pile walls can be used for protection as the
costs of anti-slide piles increase with larger cross
sections. Since sheet-pile walls have anchorage
segments, the size of the retaining wall cross
sections can be reduced. When the slope behind
the retaining wall is too high, the disadvantages of
using sheet-pile walls are over deflection, uneven
internal force in the pile bodies, and large burial
depth of the anchorage segments, etc. In this case,
anchorage sheet-pile walls can be used to overcome
the above shortcomings (Figure 3(d)).
3.5 Flexible protection
This flexible protection system uses flexible
grids, such as steel wire grids, to cover the slope or
rock. This system can minimize weathering and
peeling of the soil masses on the slope and the
collapse of dangerous rocks. This flexible slope
protection system is used on slopes that are
susceptible to collapse and block falling due to
their loose and broken soil structures in area
without a dense population. This kind of structure
has the advantages of low cost, simple construction
and convenient maintenance. Its adverse effect on
the environment can be reduced by the use of
artificial grassing and planting (Figure 3(e)).
3.6 Monitoring and erly-warning
In the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, a
monitoring and early-warning system has been set
up to monitor the deformations and stabilities of
slopes. Professional monitoring methods involve
ground surface displacement monitoring, deep
displacement monitoring and underground water
monitoring. Precise land surveying technique, such
as GPS, total station, and new measures, like
distributed optical fiber monitoring, are used for
ground surface monitoring. Deep displacement
monitoring includes borehole inclinometer, multi-
point displacement meter, strain gauge and sound
emission monitoring, etc (Figure 3(f)).
4 Harmony Between Slope Protection
and Environment
The protection measures adopted for slope

(a)
(c)
(e)
Figure 3 Varied protection measures in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area
treatment in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area have
guaranteed slope safety and at the same time
maintained a harmony with the urban environment
and surrounding landscape, duly incorporating the
notions of urban beautification, greening and
culture enhancement. There is a balance between
slope development and protection, and between
utilization and disaster prevention. The new
resettlement towns in the Three Gorges Reservoir
Area are a picture full of vigor and vitality.
J. Mt. Sci. (2011) 8: 314–320
(b)
(d)
(f)
Acknowledgment
The work presented in this paper was
supported by the Project of Scientific Research of
High Cutting Slope Protection of the Third Stage
Geological Hazards in Three Gorges Reservoir Area
(Grant No.2008SXG01-5), State Council Three
Gorges Project Construction Committee Executive
Office, and also supported under the grant of
TGRC201025 from the Three Gorges Research
Center for geo-hazard, Ministry of Education, China.
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