Use of Soil Nails to Mitigate Infiltration-Induced Slope Failure

Abstract

Natural and man-made slopes are ubiquitous geotechnical structures found in a variety of contexts, such as roads, dams, canals, mines, and riverbanks. The stability of these slopes is critical for the protection of people and infrastructure. Slope failure can have disastrous results due to variables such as earthquakes, rainfall, external stress, or fast groundwater extraction. Landslides have caused substantial damage to property and human life, with the Straight Creek Landslide in the United States being one such current active landslide of concern. This landslide threatens a major roadway, and its failure might lead to fatalities and the long-term closure of the route near the Eisenhower Tunnel. The necessity for proper stabilization solutions to limit the dangers connected with landslides is addressed in this thesis. Soil nailing has gained prominence as a viable method for slope stabilization. However, a thorough study of soil nails' efficacy as a stabilization method, as well as its application under various geological and environmental situations, is still required. The primary goal of this research is to investigate the influence of soil nails on infiltration-induced failures in slopes using long-term modelling of site circumstances. In addition, the study intends to estimate future safety factors using the Excel forecast function and a deep learning model with Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM).