Mechanism and failure process of Qianjiangping landslide in the Three Gorges Reservoir, China

The Qianjiangping landslide is a large planar rock slide which occurred in July 14, 2003 shortly after the water level reached 135 m in the Three Gorges Reservoir, China. The landslide destroyed 4 factories and 129 houses, took 24 lives, and made 1,200 people homeless. Field investigation shows that the contributing factors for the landslide are the geological structure of the slope, the previous surface of rupture, the water level rise, and continuous rainfall. In order to reveal the mechanism and failure process of the landslide, numerical simulation was conducted on Qianjiangping slope before sliding. Based on the characteristics and the engineering conditions of the landslide, the topography and the geological profiles of Qianjiangping slope before sliding is reconstructed. The seepage field of Qianjiangping slope before sliding was simulated with the Geostudio software. The results show that ground water table rises and bends to the slope during the rise of water level, and the slope surface becomes partially saturated within the period of continuous rainfall. Using the ground water table obtained above, the failure process of Qianjiangping slope is simulated with the Flac3D software. The results demonstrate that the shear strain increment, displacement, and shear failure area of the slope increased greatly after the water level rose and continuous rained, and the landslide was triggered by the combined effect both of water level rise and continuous rainfall. The development of shear strain increment, displacement, and shear failure area of the slope shows that the landslide was retrogressive in the lower part of the slope and progressive in the upper part of the slope.