Embankment stability on anisotropic soft clays

Abstract

Embankment stability on soft clays depends on the properties of the foundation soils, which are often complex. Factors that strongly influence the prediction of embankment performance include the increase of strength with depth, apparent overconsolidation, surface crust desiccation, rate effects, porewater pressure response, and anisotropy. A circular arc, total stress stability solution is presented for anisotropic soils whose strengths increase with depth below a surface crust. The use of total stress parameters means that porewater pressures can be ignored in calculations of short-term stability.Results are compared with a number of cases of failure of embankments reported in the literature.