Static analysis of slopes reinforced with stone columns

The stabilization of slopes has been of great concern to geotechnical engineers. Various methods may be used to increase the safety factor of slopes prone to failure. These include retaining walls, piles, and geosynthetics, etc. An alternative solution is the use of stone columns. Such columns have been used since 1950 normally for cohesive soil improvement. A potential application of stone columns may be to stabilize slopes against instability., In this paper, a numerical approach in conjunction with an analytical approach is used to investigate the stability of slopes reinforced with stone columns. The slope soil is assumed to be soft, cohesive, and undrained. The present solution has been verified using the finite element method (FEM) as coded into GEO-OFFICE software. The results obtained from the developed method have shown that the factor of safety of slope-reinforced with stone columns increases. Moreover, it has been found that to achieve the greatest safety factor for slopes, the best location of the column is at the top the slope. Parametric studies have been performed to determine the best location of stone columns in the slope to achieve the maximum factor of safety. Further parametric studies have been performed to determine the influencing factors such as stone column diameter, friction angle of stone column material, distance between stone columns.