Fourth Technical Session: Long-Term Stability

Including Considerations Regarding StiflFissured

Clay
Thursday morning, 23 September, 1954

Session 4/l

A LANDSLIDE AT JACKFIELD, SHROPSHIRE,

IN A HEAVILY OVER-CONSOLIDATED CLAY
by
D. J. HENKEL, B.Sc.(Eng.), and PROFESSOR A. W. SKEMPTON,D.Sc.

INTRODUCTION
Numerous landslides have taken place in the heavily over-consolidated clays and clay
shales of the Coal Measures, particularly in Wales (Knox, 1927),1 but no quantitative strength
data have been available for checking their stability by analytical methods. Recently, how-
ever, a slide has taken place at Jackfield in Shropshire and by measuring the shear properties
of the clay it has been possible to examine the reliability of various methods of analysis in
predicting failure in this type of material.

THE SITE
Downstream from Ironbridge the River Severn flows for a few miles through a narrow
V-shaped valley about 300 ft deep. This valley appears to be of recent geological origin,
and Wills (1924)z has suggested that in late-glacial times an ice dammed lake, confined
in the plain of Shrewsbury by the Irish Sea ice sheet, overflowed a co1 in the vicinity of
Ironbridge. The Coal Measures which formed the watershed were rapidly eroded and the
steep-sided Ironbridge Gorge was cut. Following the retreat of the ice sheet the water from
the upper Severn catchment, which formerly drained towards the Irish Sea, was diverted
through the newly formed gorge. The current is still very strong, active bed erosion is in
progress and the valley sides are marked by the scars of numerous landslides.
The most recent landslide in this area occurred during the winter of 1951-52 on the right
bank of the river at Jackfield, which lies three-quarters-of-a-mile downstream from Ironbridge.
The average slope of the hillside at this point is 104’ and the slide took place in the exposed
Coalport Beds of the Upper Coal Measures which, near the surface, are composed of stiff
fissured clays. The appearance of the slide suggested that it was a relatively shallow move-
ment. Just upstream of the new slide area, the scar of a similar slip, which took place in
1925, was clearly visible.
The area has been mined for both clay and coal but as the workings are at least 100 ft below
the surface it is very improbable that they have influenced the slide, which may undoubtedly
be considered as part of the normal geological process of valley formation.

DESCRIPTION OF THE SLIDE

Fairly rapid ground movements commenced towards the end of 1951, following exception-
ally heavy rains, and continued during the winter. A survey was carried out in July 1952 and
the extent of the slide at this time is shown on the site plan, Fig. 69. A maximum horizontal
131
132 D. J. HENKEL AND A. W. SKEMPTON

Limit of slip,
/!,Jhly 1953

/
_-O”
Position of house
after slip

/
P

Ft 100 50 0 100 200 300 400fr

b~~~I~~~~’ I I 1

300
-

Coalmeasure
Approx. sl,p rurface

Average depth to
2 slip surface. 17ft
$

o- 1 1 I I I I I 8 f
0 IO0 200 100 400 500 600 700 800
CHAINAGE’ FT

Fig. 69. Jackfield landslip :

site plan, and cross-section A-A
 LANDSLIDE AT JACKFIELD, IN AN OVER-CONSOLIDATED CLAY 133

movement of 60 ft had occurred in the centre of the moving mass at the level where the road
crossed the area, while the displacement at the foot of the slide on the river bank was about
30 ft. This difference in relative movement has led to considerable bulging and cracking
of the soil between the road and the river ; and the brick houses, whose movements are indi-
cated, were severely damaged and had to be demolished. The railway track which crosses the
slide was kept in position by daily slewing, and the placing of additional filling, and the service
was maintained. Gas, water and electricity supplies were disrupted and temporary mains
were laid on the surface of the ground to supply those houses still habitable. The upper limit
of the sliding area consisted of an almost vertical clay face about 4 ft high, exposed by a small
rotational slip.
In the latter part of 1952 boreholes were put down at various points to measure ground-
water levels, recover undisturbed samples and to locate the slip plane. Some of the holes were
lined with short lengths of open jointed clay pipes and, as the movement continued, it was
possible to locate the depth at which the shearing displacements were taking place. In
borings A and E, roughly on the centre line of the slide, the slip plane was found to lie
17 ft below the surface ; while in borehole B, towards the edge, the depth was 13 ft. This
relatively small depth compared with a length of 600 ft confirmed the earlier diagnosis that
this was a shallow slip : a type of landslip less frequently studied than the well-known deep
rotational slip, but one of wide geological occurrence.
By April 1953 the area involved in the slide had extended, as shown on the plan (Fig. 69)
and almost all the houses in the area had become uninhabitable. The horizontal movement
of the road had increased to 80 ft and that of the river bank to 45 ft. The width of the river
was reduced from 125 ft to 80 ft and erosion of the river bank at this point was in progress.
The width of the slip at this stage was 650 ft, the length 700 ft, and the weight of earth in-
volved in the slide was estimated at approximately 300,000 tons. The slip had extended
up the slope by a series of small rotational slips and numerous nearly vertical clay faces were
exposed in the upper portions of the slide.
A section through the slide, on the line indicated on the site plan, is shown in Fig. 69.
From the borehole data the slip surface has been assumed to lie parallel to the ground surface
at a depth of 17 ft. Under the most adverse winter conditions the ground-water rose to the
surface over the greater part of the sliding area and filled the cracks and fissures opened up
by the deformations. Observations of the water level in the vicinity of the slip plane indicated
that there were no artesian pressures contributing to the slide.

Fig. 70. Jackfield landslip. Shear strength data

Shear strength for limiting equilibrium = 400 lb/sq. ft (F = 1.0)

Undrained shear strength (c’ = 150 lb/sq. ft C$= 21’ A = -0.4) = 1,600 ,, (F = 4.0)
Drained shear strength (c’ = 150 lb/sq. ft $ z ,221; = 580 ,, (F = 1.45)
Drained shear strength (c’ = 0 = 430 ,, (F = 1.07)
134 D. J. HENKEL AND A. W. SKEMPTON

TESTS

Very little quantitative data on the stability of shallow slides are available and a compre-
hensive series of tests was therefore carried out on undisturbed samples, so that the factor of
safety against sliding could be calculated. Both drained and undrained triaxial and drained
direct shear tests were performed, and on a few specimens pore pressures were measured.
The presence of small stones in the clay often made sample preparation difficult, but it is con-
sidered that the results obtained give a sufficiently reliable indication of the shear strength and
other properties of the material.
In two boreholes, A and E, undisturbed cores which intersected the failure plane were
obtained and the failure zone was found to consist of a soft clay layer not exceeding 2 in. in
thickness. Although the water content of the clay in this zone was higher and the shear
strength lower than that of the adjacent material above and below the failure plane, the
Atterberg limits and drained angle of shearing resistance were very similar.
The material involved in the slip had the following average properties :-
Liquid limit .. .. ., = 45%
Plasticity index = 25%
Plastic limit .. .. . = 20%
Density .. .. .. .. = 130 lb/cu. ft
PI/clay fraction .. .. .. = 0.6
In failure zone
Undrained shear strength . = 450 lb/sq. ft
Moisture content . . .. . = 30%
Outside failure zone
Undrained shear strength .. = 1,600 lb/sq. ft
Moisture content . . .. .. = 20%
Apparent cohesion c’ = 150 lb/sq. ft. in terms of effective stresses
Angle of shearing resistance ..$ = 21” > from drained tests.
On Casagrande’s plasticity chart this clay falls just above the “ A ” line and may be classi-
fied as an inactive inorganic clay of low plasticity. The sensitivity of the clay was a little
less than unity, the remoulded samples having slightly greater strength than the undisturbed
specimens. The Coal Measure clays have been very heavily over-consolidated in their geo-
logical history and, except in the failure zone, the natural moisture content was closely equal to
the plastic limit. In the undrained shear tests large negative pore pressures were developed,
and under small normal loads in the drained tests considerable increases in volume took place.

ANALYSIS OF STABILITY
General
The 4 = 0 analysis is commonly used in the calculation of the stability of slopes in saturated
clay and a shear strength equal to half the average undrained compression strength (or, in
sensitive clays, the strength measured in a vane test) is considered to resist movement on any
potential failure surface. This method has been used with success in soft clays (Skempton
and Golder, 19483 ; Cadling and Odenstad, 1950 4). In stiff over-consolidated clays, however,
the use of this method has led to an over-estimation of the factor of safety (Terzaghi 1936,s
Skempton 1948,s Cassel 1948,7 Berger 1950,s Larew 1952 0) as the calculated strength corres-
ponding to failure conditions has been considerably lower than the average measured un-
drained strength.
In those clays where over-consolidation has produced a highly dilatant structure much
of the strength measured in the undrained compression test is due to the large negative pore
pressures set up during the shearing process. On a geological time scale, however, any excess
negative pore pressures are able to dissipate and the pore pressure acting on the failure plane
 LANDSLIDE AT JACKFIELD, IN AN OVER-CONSOLIDATED CLAY 135

will be determined solely by the ground-water conditions. Under these circumstances a

more reliable estimate of the factor of safety may be made in terms of effective stresses, using
shear parameters determined in a series of drained tests.
As shear deformations take place in these dilatant clays the moisture content increases
and it is to be expected that in any observed failure zone, where the displacements are large
the clay will be softer than the adjacent material. If a sample is taken from the failure zone
and subjected to an undrained shear test, failure will occur when the stresses acting in the
failure zone are reimposed and the measured shear strength should correspond to a factor of
safety of unity for the sliding mass. But, in general, samples will not include the failure
zone and, as mentioned above, undrained tests cannot give reliable estimates or predictions
of factor of safety for slopes in over-consolidated clays.

The Jackjield Slide

In view of its great length compared with its depth, end effects may be neglected and equili-
brium may be considered in terms of an infinite layer of clay sliding on an inclined plane.
The water is assumed to extend to the ground surface and to be flowing parallel to it. 1Jnder
these conditions the shear stress on the failure plane is

7 =zysin/?cosp

and the normal effective pressure on the failure plane is

(T’n = z (y - r(U) cos 2 B

where z = depth of slip plane below ground surface
y = bulk density of clay in sliding mass
y,,, = density of water
p = slope angle.

For the particular values z = 17 ft, y = 130 lb/cu. ft and /3 = IO&” the shear stress and normal
effective pressure are 400 Ib/sq. ft, and 1,100 lb/ sq. ft, respectively.
These values have been plotted in Fig. 70, together with the Mohr failure envelope (c’ =
150 lb/sq. ft, and 4’ = 21”) determined in the drained shear tests. The effective stress Mohr
circle representing the undrained shear strength of 1,600 lb/sq. ft of the clay outside the failure
zone has also been drawn and the excess negative pore pressure associated with this failure
strength is indicated by the distance between p’, the effective stress before shearing,* and g’s,
the minor principal effective stress at failure. The pore pressure coefficient A (ratio between
the change in pore pressure and the deviator stress at failure) has a value of - 0.4. This
value of A is within the range measured in other heavily over-consolidated clays (Skempton
1954).10

Factors of Safety
(1) + = 0 method.-The use of the average shear strength of 1,600 Ib/sq. ft compared with
the calculated shear stress of 400 Ib/sq. ft gives a factor of safety of 4.0, while with the
undrained strength of the clay in the softened failure zone of 450 lb/sq. ft a factor of safety
of 1.12 is obtained. The value of 1.12 is considered to be a satisfactory check, particularly as
only two samples from the failure plane were obtained, but the use of the unsoftened shear
strength leads to a gross over-estimation of the safety of the slope. Hence, unless samples
had been obtained in the very thin failure zone, undrained tests would lead to a ridiculous
assessment of the stability of the slope.
* It has been assumed that in this over-consolidated clay K, = 1.
136 D. J. HENKEL AND A. W. SKEMPTOh’

(2) Efective stress method-From the Mohr failure envelope the shear strength under drained
conditions corresponding to the normal effective pressure on the failure plane of 1,100 Ib/sq.
ft is 580 Ib/sq. ft and leads to a factor of safety of l-45 which, while much lower than that
given by the 4 = 0 method, is still appreciably in error. It is believed that the shear
strength parameters and ground-water conditions are known with sufficient accuracy to
give reliable results and the over-estimation of the factor of safety by this method requires
further consideration.
If the values c’ = 0 and 4’ = 21” are used to define the shear strength of the clay on the
failure plane the resulting factor of safety is 1.07. This approach gives results in better
agreement with the actual conditions and may be considered as field evidence that the effect
of over-consolidation on the shear strength of clays (reflected in the term c’) may largely
disappear on a geological time scale in clay slopes. The possibility of the reduction in
apparent cohesion with time has been suggested by Rankine (1862)*ri and Taylor (1948).rs
Buckingham (1947),rs when analysing a clay slide, had found that the use of a cohesion term
led to an over-estimate of the factor of safety but the test results he used appear to be in
terms of total rather than effective stresses.

POSSIBLE CAUSES OF THE REDUCTION IN APPARENT COHESION

Any reduction in apparent cohesion which may take place on potential failure planes in
clay slopes is probably due to a combination of factors and some of these are discussed below.

(a) Cyclical stress changes

Recent tests (Bishop and Henkel, 195314 and additional unpublished work) have shown a
reduction in apparent cohesion due to cyclic loading in heavily over-consolidated samples of
Weald Clay (LL = 45, PL = 18). The tests consisted of axial loading and unloading cycles
carried out under undrained conditions in a triaxial machine, followed by periods in which
any pore pressure remaining in the sample after removal of the load was allowed to dissipate.
Throughout the tests the cell pressure was kept constant and equal to the effective overburden
pressure for the particular specimen. If the applied shear stresses were above a value corres-
ponding to the drained shear strength of the clay, when normally consolidated under the
same cell pressure, each successive loading cycle led to negative residual pore pressures.
Water was drawn into the sample during the periods of pore pressure dissipation and pro-
gressive softening took place to water contents well above those measured in standard drained
tests on undisturbed samples under the same cell pressure.
It is possible that the variation in shear stress and effective pressure associated with
seasonal changes in water table may produce similar softening effects in the field.

(1;) Local movements

In the drained shear tests on heavily over-consolidated clays the samples continue to
increase in moisture content after failure is reached and the shear strength of the clay decreases
fairly rapidly with increasing strain. The shear strains at failure are very small and local
overstressing and softening with comparatively small movements of the slope may lead to
a progressive reduction in apparent cohesion resulting in failure.

(c) Fissures
The presence of open fissures in the clay may lead to local swelling under comparatively
small effective stresses (Terzaghi 1936) and a reduction in the average apparent cohesion along
the slip surface will result. Moreover, the mere mechanical effect of open fissures will
* It is of interest to note that Rankine considered that cohesion was “gradually destroyed by the
action of air and moisture, and of changes in the weather ” and that “ friction is the only force which can be
relied upon to produce permanent stability.” In this assumption Rankine was following Moseley (see ref.15).
 LANDSLIDE AT JACKFIELD, IN AN OVER-CONSOLIDATED CLAY 137

inevitably lead to a reduction in c’ and the more fissures become open the lower the overall
strength, the greater the deformation and, again, more fissures open up. Thus a progressive
reduction in strength takes place in the clay.

CONCLUSIONS

The landslide at Jackfield provides an example in which the average undrained shear
strength of an over-consolidated clay involved in a slide grossly over-estimates the long-term
stability of the slope, and it has been possible to explain this in terms of the negative pore
pressures set up during the tests. Of equal significance is the fact that an analysis in terms
of effective stress using shear strength parameters determined from standard drained tests
on the undisturbed clay also over-estimates the factor of safety, although the error is far less.
The field evidence suggests, however, that a good indication of stability is obtained if the
cohesion intercept of the failure envelope c’ is neglected and the slope analysed in terms of
the angle of shearing resistance 4’ only. This approach should give the lower limit of the
factor of safety, since whatever decrease takes place in apparent cohesion, the normal effective
stresses have still to be transmitted across the failure plane and the strength will not fall below
that indicated by the failure envelope for normally consolidated clay.
Reliable field and test data for the examination of long-term slope stability are very limited
and before general conclusions can be drawn from the slide at Jackfield more slips will have to
be analysed in terms of effective stresses.
Effective stress analyses of a number of retaining wall failures which have taken place in
the stiff fissured London Clay up to 50 years after construction indicate, however, that
although these failures do not imply that the apparent cohesion has completely disappeared,
the use of standard drained test results leads to an over-estimate of the stability, as at
Jackfield.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The investigation of the slide described in this Paper was undertaken at the requesi of the
Salop County Council, for whom Mr M. Nachshen acted as Consulting Engineer. The labora-
tory tests were carried out in the Civil Engineering Department of Imperial College,
University of London.

REFERENCES

KNOX, G., 1927. Landslides in South Wales Valleys. Proc. S. Wales Inst. Engrs, 43: 161.
WILLS, L. J., 1924. The Development of the Severn Valley in the Neighbourhood of Ironbridge and
Bridgnorth. Quart. J. Geol. Sot., LXXX : 274.
3. SKEMPTON,A. W., ~&GOLDER, H. Q., 1948. Practical examples of the 4 = 0 -4nalysis of Stability of
Clays. Proc. 2nd Int. Conj. Soil Mech., 2 : 63.
4. CADLING, L., and ODENSTAD, S., 1950. The Vane Borer. Proc. Roy. Swed. Geo. Inst., No. 2.
5. TERZAGHI, K., 1936. Stability of Slopes of Natural Clay. Proc. 1st Int. Conj. Soil Mech., 1 : 161.
6. SKEMPTON,A. W., 1948. The Rate of Softening in Stiff Fissured Clays with Special Reference to
London Clay. Proc. 2nd Int. Conj. Soil Mech., 2 : 50.
7. CASSEL, F. L., 1948. Slips in Fissured Clay. Proc. 2nd Int. Conj. Soil Mech., 2 : 46.
8. BERGER, L., 1950. The Strength of Clays in Actual Slides. Mimeographed notes of a Paper presented
at the January (1950) meeting of the Amer. Sot. Civ. Engrs.
9. LAREW, H. G. (1952). Use of field, laboratory and theoretical procedures for analysing landslides.
Bull. Highs. Res. Bd., 49 : 28.
IO. SKEMPTON, A. W., 1954. The Pore-PressureCoefficients A and B. GCotechnique, 4 : 143.
11. RANKINE, W. J. M., 1862. “ Civil Engineering,” London, Section 181.
12. TAYLOR, D. W., 1948. Fundamentals of Soil Mechanics. Wiley, New York.
13. BUCKINGHAM,E. M., 1947. Discussion of “ Landslide Investigation and Correction ” by H. Forbes,
Trans. Avzer. Sot. Civ. Enws.. 112 : 424.
14. BISHOP, A. W., and HENKEL,“D. J., 1953. Pore Pressure Changes during Shear in Two Undisturbed
Clays. Proc. 3rd Int. Conj. Soil Mech., 1 : 94.
15. MOSELEY, H., 1855. “ The Mechanical Principles of Engineering and Architecture.” Longman, London.

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