Effects of climate change on slopes for transportation infrastructure

Abstract

The paper reports on two studies of the expected effects of future climate change on slope stability in the UK and Singapore. In the UK the BIONICS project is investigating the role of climate in the stability of embankments for transportation infrastructure. The project involves a full-scale instrumented embankment that has been constructed with facilities for climate control. A novel instrumentation system is described that is being used to observe changes in pore water pressures (suctions) due to rainfall. In Singapore a national study is being carried out to investigate the impact of climate change, one aspect of which is slope stability. The mode of slope failure due to rainfall infiltration is reviewed and the need to use unsaturated soil mechanics to explain the observed behaviour is emphasised. Numerical modelling has been carried out using the finite element code SEEP/W to allow the effects of future climate events to be investigated. The identification of appropriate parameters for unsaturated flow modelling is described and limitations in commercial finite element codes are identified. © 2008 Taylor & Francis Group, London.