Abstract

In mountain terrains of Himalaya, road and highway networks play a vital role in remote areas for transportation, public network and all kind of socio-economic 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 NH-109 which goes to holy shrine of Kedarnath. Slope failure is not only a phenomenon of rainy season but it has also been encountered even in dry season. The study area experiences high vehicular traffic especially from March to August due to pilgrims since it is the only road to Kedarnath. The distance of about 20 km between Rudraprayag and Agastmuni has been investigated. The continuous slope mass rating (CSMR) technique has been used for slope stability analysis at five different locations. CSMR is modification of original slope mass rating (SMR) proposed by Romana which is based on well established rock mass rating (RMR) technique. Kinematic analysis was also carried out to evaluate these sites for types of failure and its potential failure directions. The potentially vulnerable sites were identified. The results indicate that the CSMR technique may be exploited to assess the stability of rock slopes in the Himalayan territory.

Highlights

  • Slope failure has been identified as one of the most frequent natural disasters that can lead to huge loss of property and lives

  • The continuous slope mass rating (CSMR) technique has been used for slope stability analysis at five different locations

  • The results indicate that the CSMR technique may be exploited to assess the stability of rock slopes in the Himalayan territory

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Summary

Introduction

Slope failure has been identified as one of the most frequent natural disasters that can lead to huge loss of property and lives. The Lesser Himalaya region is tectonically active zone characterized by a very complex structure of thrust sheets [1]. Slope failures are triggered by number of external factors like tectonic forces, weathering and erosion processes, and compounded-anthropogenic factors in the high relief mountain system [2]. Human activity has significantly contributed to an increase in slope failures in the Himalaya because of expansion of road networks, settlements and other development activities. The analysis of landslides is much complex as number of factors contributes in it. The analysis requires quite large number of input parameters and the analytical techniques are costly and time consuming

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