Experimental and numerical investigation of the Saint-Adelphe landslide after the 1988 Saguenay earthquake

Abstract

On 25 November 1988, after the Saguenay earthquake, a landslide occurred in the municipality of Saint-Adelphe. The soil profile indicated that the deposit was composed of a stiff clay crustal layer overlying sensitive plastic clay with a soft-to-stiff consistency. A geotechnical investigation was carried out in situ and in the laboratory and included the use of a new seismic simulator to develop a geotechnical model of the Saint-Adelphe clay. The model was incorporated in a finite-difference slope stability analysis before and during the earthquake. The results showed the development of plastic zones and the generation of pore water pressure, but the global safety factor remained above unity. A post-seismic analysis that utilized a strain-softening behavior model showed the initiation and propagation of the plastic zone, as well as the development of a failure surface close to the observed failure surface. Therefore, it is proposed that the Saint-Adelphe landslide could be explained by a progressive failure mechanism.