<p>Geotechnical performance of a structure is generally governed by spatial average soil properties, such as the average shear strength along a potential slip surface in a slope. In Eurocode the characteristic soil value is defined as &ldquo;a cautious estimate ...

<p>Previous research has shown that cyclic wetting and drying can reduce the shear strength of compacted highly plastic clays to the fully softened shear strength. Consolidated-undrained triaxial testing procedures were used to determine the fully softened ...

Description of soil - soft rock behavior and soil weakening that can explain natural slope failures.

<p>Shales have been used extensively in the construction of highway embankments, and other earthen structures, because of the vast amounts of these materials located in many areas ofthe country and the lack of economical and alternate available materials. ...

The objective of this investigation was to review existing information concerning slope failures in stiff, fissured clays and shales, and to study the influence of lateral stresses on the stress conditions around excavated slopes. These studies, which were ...