Int. J. Rock Mech. Min. Sci. & Geomech.Abstr. Vol. 23, No. 1. pp. 95-104. 1986 0148-906286 $3.

0148-906286 $3.00+ 0.00

Printed in Great Britain Pergamon Press Ltd

10. A Case Study of Slope Failure in a

Limestone Quarry
U. Y A M A G U C H I *
T. S H I M O T A N I *
This is the report of a slope failure that occurred on 20th September, 1973 at
Kagemori limestone quarry, Saitama prefecture near Tokyo, Japan, and the
back analysis of the slide mechanism. In June 1972, small but continuous cracks
were observed on one of the slopes o f this quarry. These cracks developed and
branched gradually. It took over I yr from the first observation of the cracks
to the final failure. During this period opening o f the cracks, rainfall and so
on were monitored. In this paper, the data that were recorded are presented
and some analyses of the slide are included.

INTRODUCTION The shape is a fiat oval, and it dips at 60-70 ° to the

In Japan, there are many limestone mines operated by
the open pit method, although few metal mines are
operated by this method. In many cases, these limestone
deposits are located in mountainous terrain. Therefore,
mining operations can be somewhat different from the
typical open pit method adopted in other countries, such
as North America and Australia. After a limestone
deposit is mined out, a huge final slope is left in the
mountainous area. Therefore, slope instability is a seri-
ous problem, not only from the viewpoint of safety but
also from the environmental control standpoint.
On 20th September, 1973, a slope at the Kagemori
limestone quarry (Figs 3, 5) collapsed with an extraor-
dinarily loud noise caused by 300,000--400,000 m 3 of
failed rock debris. Because slope instability had been
anticipated l yr before, mining operations were sus-
pended and the rock slope movement had been moni-
tored. Therefore, human injury and mechanical damage
were avoided. But this accident stimulated serious con-
sideration of slope stability problems in the limestone
industry of Japan.
In this Paper, the results of monitoring for 1 yr and the
back analysis of the slope failure at Kagemori quarry are
described. The monitoring of such progressive failure
provides an interesting background in a case study of
rock slope failure.
KAGEMORI QUARRY
Geology
There are many limestone mines on the outskirts of
Chichibu City (Fig. 1). Kagemori Quarry is one of these
mines,t located on the extreme western part of the Buko
Deposit. This deposit extends for 5 km from east to west.
* Department of Mineral Development Engineering, University of
Tokyo, Tokyo 113, Japan.
t The mine is now closed.
95
north. The thickness is 500 m in the centre, but in the
Kagemori area it decreases to about 150 m.
Limestone in this area is oyster white, pure and
compact; but at mid-depth, there is a layer of schalstein,
the thickness of which is 5m. The "hanging wall"
consisted of black phyUite, schalstein, chert and so
on. The "footwalr' was basaltic schalstein which was
partially weathered and the major mineral component
was chrolite.
There were some places where the "footwall" was
extremely weathered. The limestone deposit and the
"footwall" may be conformable, but this is not clear [1].
The joints were dense and their gouge material was
altered to clay mineral. It was easy to break this rock
into small pieces with the fingers, although the shear
strength of the intact rock ranged up to 23 MPa.
Mining operation
At the time of closing, this mine produced 1000
tonnes/day of limestone from the bottom bench. Cracks
were clearly observed on the limestone surface of the pit
slope in 1972; and it was found that these cracks were
growing slowly.
In April 1973, the mining operation was suspended,
but the development of the cracks continued steadily. In
the summer, the development of the cracks altered
abruptly, and finally, on 20th September collapse
occurred, with a very loud noise resulting in
300,000-400,000 m 3 of rock debris.
RECORD OF COLLAPSE
Start of monitoring
(i) 29th June 1972: It was found that there were two
cracks in the upper middle region of the final pit slope.
(ii) 5th July 1972: After confirmation that these cracks
were growing, it was decided to monitor the width of
them. Two white marks were painted across the cracks,
96 YAMAGUCHI and SHIMOrANI: SLOPE FAILURE IN A LIMESTONE QUARRY

ill. bcwWawa "'. /

[JOSHIN~ ETSLI '" "~~:~
MI. Iv~su~O ( f M~kunLipass .'~ l ] ~
MI Nanla~
• 24li,4
:

J
Su
M~. Sz;ane . . . . . . .
p~<i,,,.X~
. . _ ! 7 " ~1 L: ~,
Nil( ONP
-, TO,
I K al3U md~l
¢
//

KiryC

~"'~i_ Maeb "~ Iwd3e

~te

\ • ,J Cinlshi~ ~

.°°°, , ,,-,,°.<

.... ~ ,~ ~'... Al~an'O~,~_

."5~
i; .-....-'" " :.. ,, ~ ~' .- (Hikawa - -':
•" "~00~',,• r E /

.Kaisunuma MEIIINOMO
Chi ba"
Tsuru I sagamiha riga:to'~1!1chiharl

IANZJI,WA OYAMA Q.t ~ki y

u H.-:.vo~tud ~ MI Tanzawa Be.~
• .. , " I~67 AE

,.'.- -, KANA'z

Uino,my'a .116,

3~ M t* hlyOSUI111' i
AI.dlsu . I

'lu; Numazu~" 1 ~vOh.~a

t•'
F'knalobas
M i ~ f:i~a~n
~ . ~llfo': SCALE "Jon.ura

~ AMI BOSO
r~.~na I " 1200000 c s ......... ~,,~, Q.N.P.
lcm= 12Kni
" 30~{l, ~ _ ~ Stl,fah,Jm~
A °, , , ,
C. N . l , m ~

Fig. I. Location of mine site (Kanto district near Tokyo)•

and the distance of marks was measured with a mea- (Fig. 2). (b) It seemed to be a tension crack.
suring tape. These measuring points were set up at three (c) The rate o f crack growth o f the different
different points. (1, 2, 3 in Fig. 6.) cracks was not constant.
(iii) 14th July 1972: An additional 9 measuring points
Countermeasures. (a) Additional measure-
were set up. The crack widths were measured every week ments o f the crack width should be per-
or every 5 days. It was also decided to set up a rain gauge
formed after blasting, earthquakes, and
to record the rainfall.
heavy rainfall. (b) The bench blasting pattern
(iv) 15th September 1972: Instability potential con-
should be revised to decrease the charge in
sidered at a meeting.
each hole, to increase the delay number,
Report on the progress of crack growth. (a) and to improve the blasting direction. (c)
2 cracks coalesced making a Y-shape, and Dewatering from the footwall should be
other associated cracks were generated. improved.
 YAMAGUCHI and SHIMOTANI: SLOPE FAILURE IN A LIMESTONE QUARRY
Fig. 2. Pre-failureslope of the pit (black lines show the cracks traced
by a pencil).
(v) Middle of November 1972: Although the rainfall
was less than before, cracks still continued to grow, and
a new crack parallel to the strike of the deposit appeared
in the footwall on the top of the slope. This crack was
on a relatively large scale, and the maximum "throw" of
the fault-like portion reached 10 cm.
A new complex pattern of cracks appeared at the
lower part of the slope. They seemed to be caused by a
compressive force.
(vi) 1st December 1972: In an old prospecting adit
located under the cracked zone of the slope, floor heave,
tension cracks and shear cracks were found at the
boundary of the deposit and in the footwall.
(vii) 3rd December 1972: 2nd meeting on instability
potential.
Main conclusion. (a) The development of
cracks is caused by the movement of rock in
a similar way to a landslide. (b) The cracks
are not significantly influenced by blasting
vibration, by earthquake nor by rainfall. (c)
But, special precautions should be taken in
preparing for the next rainy season (June and
July). (d) The bottom bench should be care-
fully mined to avoid cutting the boundary of
the deposit and the footwall.
(viii) 30th April 1973: The mining operation was
suspended, but monitoring was continued.
R MM.S 23:1~
97
(ix) 29th June 1973 (rainy season in Japan): The
development of cracks continued steadily. Large
amounts of water flowed out from the bottom part of the
slope on rainy days.
(x) 12th September 1973: A small scale rock fall was
observed.
(xi) 19th September 1973: The last measurement of the
crack width was performed.
(xii) 20th September 1973: At midnight, an extra-
ordinary sound was generated.
(xiii) 21st September 1973: The collapse of the slope
was confirmed. Small scale collapses of schalstein and
limestone were still occurring.
It is thought that the slide occurred in the footwall,
because the fragments of schalstein were covered by
limestone debris.
Results of monitoring of the crack widths are shown
in Fig. 6 and Fig. 7. These figures have similar trends to
many records of landslides that have been reported
before: long term steady movement changes gradually to
an accelerating stage, and terminated with final collapse.
ANALYSIS OF COLLAPSE
Mechanism of slope failure
In the case of the slope instability of Kagemori quarry,
the progress of failure is relatively clear. Based on the
phenomena described above, the mechanism of failure is
discussed in the following text.
The compressive and tensile strengths of the limestone
of the Buko Deposit are about 100 and 10MPa, re-
spectively. Although variation of strength must be taken
into account, considering that the joints are not dense in
this rock mass, there is little likelihood that failure
occurred in the limestone rock mass. It might be possible
to hypothesize that the slide occurred along the bound-
ary between the limestone and the schalstein footwall--
but this hypothesis is doubtful, because there of the fact
that the fragments of schalstein were covered by
limestone debris. Therefore, the strongest working
hypothesis is that the slide surface was in the footwall.
The slide surface observed after collapse was irregular
and complex. Probably it was disturbed by small-scale
slides following the major one. A circular slide, of the
soil type, was doubtful because, although the footwall
was partially weathered, it is hard to imagine that the
footwall behind the limestone was entirely weathered
and that the weathered schalstein had the appropriate
shear strength (Table 1).
Based on these considerations and for simplicity,
assume as a working hypothesis that the slide occurred
along a single plane surface. To allow a slide down-
wards, at least some space is necessary at the toe part of
the slope. It is estimated that the schalstein layer existing
at mid-depth of the deposit might have played an
important role. If the weak portion of this layer swelled
out, it is possible that progressive failure occurred and
that the rate of swelling might have been accelerated.
Based on this hypothesis, a simplified model is consid-
ered as shown in Fig. 8.
98 YAMAGUCHI and SHIMOTANI: SLOPE FAILURE IN A LIMESTONE Q U A R R 3

,50"---
/
/
/ ~
,•.f--330
Tunnel

./
I// .'"
I

~ Debris
\ ~/
\
k ///
\ / /
~X ////
\\\--_--,, /

/ ' I I I
0 50 100 m

Fig. 3. Plan of Kagemon open pit (dotted line shows the extent of the slide).

Based on the model let us trace the progress of the
instability of the slope as described in the former Section.
At first, the upper part of the footwall failed, and as a
result of dilatation, two cracks appeared on the surface
of the limestone; but, note that there was an old slide
zone on the western part of the slope. Therefore, the
western part was freer to move, in a m a n n e r similar to
a cantilever beam. Caused by the moment of this
cantilever movement, a tension crack appeared and two
cracks coalesced, making a Y-shape.
It is estimated that, during the next stage, failure of the

/ //
schalstein layer in the deposit began, and the weak part
of this layer swelled out gradually. This stage conicides
with the appearance of a fault-like crack parallel to the
// 450m strike of the deposit in the footwail. Failure of the
schalstein progressed gradually, and, resulting from the
dilatancy of failed schalstein, complex cracks were gen-
erated on the lower part of the limestone surface of the
/ "--,, ~oo~ slope. This also caused floor heave, tension cracking and

Newly found crocks

Z :-,,'L- "°"
.v & /
//E ,'" 320,.
.,YN ,,"
/1 I I / 300 m
~._../_1/ Schotstein seom
,._.~.=.__lC;~,,~:.-< ~<.,,,,., x,..o,0 s,,0e ,one
---J ,Z' "Y//J/ rock moss y /
/
i iI /
/I Newly developed cracks Tunnel
I! ( under treotmenl' )
!I
Fig. 4. Section of Kagemori open-pit. Fig. 5. Sketch of the slope on 3rd of December 1972.
 YAMAGUCHI and SHIMOTANI: SLOPE FAILURE IN A LIMESTONE QUARRY 99

Table 1. Cohesion and fric-

tion of classified schalstein
C(=r)
Class (MPa) #
A 23 0.97
B 13 0.90
13 1st Safety
C 0.26 0.82
Net
D 0.80 1.08
)4 E 0.12 0.82
F 0.05 0.77
2
I

\ 18
'8
)
progressive failure of schalstein both in the footwall and
in the layer in the deposit accelerated.
It is considered that the phenomena leading up to the
2nd Safety Net
collapse of the slope at Kagemori quarry are reasonably
explained by this mechanism of failure.
27( 10

19 ~11
Back analysis of failure
In Table 1, the shear strength and coefficient of
friction of classified schalstein are shown. Classification
12
was a function of the density and gouge material of the
joints, the degree of alteration of the gouge, and the
3rcl Safety Net
elastic wave velocity.
Fig. 6. Cracks and measuring points. The values in the A and B classes were calculated from
compressive and tensile strengths of wet samples.
These samples were prepared following the JIS (Japan
shear cracking in the adit. At the same time, a latent slide Industrial Standard) and tested in a universal materials
surface began to form. testing machine.
In the rainy season, clay minerals in the footwall The values of the D and E classes were obtained by
schalstein were washed out easily with water flow, and direct shear tests. The testing apparatus used is similar

b4
35o I- (o)

300

250
13

E
200
C
O)
E
0
0
150
==

~ -
c3

100

0 I I I I I I I I I I I t I I II
7/:3 B/1 9/2 1014 11/4 1211 1/5 2/5 :3/5 4/11 5/4 6/4 7/2 8/6 9/10 9/19

Dole

Fig. 7(a).
100 YAMAGUCHI and S H I M O T A N I : S L O P E F A I L U R E IN A L I M E S T O N E Q t i A R R ~ '

400

(b)

350
/ i
, /

300

/?/
250
E

E
E
a)
~j 200
o
m

150

100

50

I I I I I I I I I I ] I 1 [ I
7/3 8/1 9/2 10/4 11/4 12/1 1/5 2/5 3/5 4/Ii 5/4 6/4 7/2 8/6 9/10 9 / 1 9
Dale

15

t (c) 18
450

4.OO

350

300

E
25O
c

--~
o. 20O

~50

'IO0

50 18

I I I I 1 I I i I I I t I I1
715 8/I 9/2 10/4 11/4 1 2 / I 115 2/5 3/5 4/11 514 6/4 7/2 8/6 9/10 9 / 1 9
Dote
Fig. 7(b-c),
 Y A M A G U C H I and SHIMOTANI: SLOPE F A I L U R E IN A LIMESTONE Q U A R R Y 101

(d)

o~
~o
I . ^ ~' 19 ~ 12

oil I I I I l I I I l l l I l I l
713 811 9/2 10/4 11t4 12/1 115 2/5 3/5 4/11 5/4 6/4 712 8/6 9/10 9/19

Da~'e

(e)
350 23

300

250

E
E 2oo
(D 21
E
o

.~ 150
o

1oo

50
22 • ~ ; --" ~. _ 22

21
0 I 1 I I 1 1 I l 1 l I I i i i
7/3 8/t 912 10/4 'I'1/4 1211 1/5 2/5 3/5 4/11 5/4 6/4 7/2 816 9PIO 9/19

Date

Fig. 7(d-e).
102 Y A M A G U C H I and S H I M O T A N I : SLOPE F A I L U R E IN A L I M E S T O N E Q U A R R Y

the groundwater pressure is negligible, the equilibrium

27
equation is [2],
400
Wsin0= W pcos0+T.4, I)
where

350
W = weight of rock mass,
0 = angle of sliding surface,
p = coefficient of friction,
r = shear strength,

/
300
A = area of sliding surface.
The specific weight of the rock mass was assumed to
25O be 2.5. The measured value of the intact rock is 2.7 and
E 2.9 for limestone and schalstein, respectively. But con-
E
sidering the effect of weathering, these values were
discounted.
20o
t)
Considering equation (1), it is clear that when either
o
(3. the value of r or of p is determined, the other can be
t~
calculated. As shown in Table 1, variation in the values
150
of the coefficient of friction is small enough to take an
average value of #. Assuming/~ = 0.85, r was calculated
._9.,...~ e / e 2 6 to be 1.13 and 1.45MPa for Face 1 and Face 2,
100 respectively.
24
When groundwater pressure should be considered, the
most simple case is to assume that the slope is fully filled
50 with water. In this case, the equilibrium equation is
W sin 0 = p (W cos 0 - V) + rA (2)
0 I I I
i \
where V = groundwater pressure.
8/23 9/10 9/19 A schematic diagram for this case is shown in Fig. 10.
Dote r was calculated as 3.75 and 3.83 MPa for Face 1 and
Fig. 7, (a-f) Displacement of crack opening; N u m b e r s on the curves Face 2 respectively.
refer to the measuring points. From these calculations, it is reasonable to consider
that the final large-scale slide occurred in the schalstein
rock mass classified as rank C - - a n d that the failure
to the one designed by Hoek. Sampled test pieces were
cast in rapid curing mortar and tests were performed the
day after sampling.
The values of the C and F classes were obtained by
another type o f direct shear test. Because basically the
testing method is the same as the one mentioned above,
description of the apparatus is omitted. The sampled test
pieces were lapped by vinyl sheet, and brought to the
laboratory at the University of Tokyo and tested. The
values of the C class are the ones when the test pieces
were forced to shear along pre-existent joint planes.
M o h r - C o u l o m b type straight lines are shown in Fig. 9.
Two simple calculations were performed to estimate
the resistance of schalstein rock mass to a sliding force.
As the most simple case, limit equilibrium analyses were
performed. Sliding surfaces were assumed as drawn in
Fig. 8, say Face 1 and Face 2 in this figure. When

Table 2. Numerical data for calculation

51 *
Face 1 Face 2
A 245 m-' 263 m 2
0 51 58 c //i 58"
sin 0 0.7771 0.8480
cos 0 0.6293 0.5299
W 114,750 kN 96,000 kN ,/
V 75,390 kN 73,620 kN
Fig. 8. Simplified model of the slope.
 YAMAGUCHI and SHIMOTANI: SLOPE FAILURE IN A LIMESTONE QUARRY 103

15 (o)

10

o • = , 6 * 0 . 8 2 O"v
n
:/

I I I
5 10 15 20

o" v ( M P a ) j

001/8
(b)

O-v

o 5
n
0 0 0 0
4
i.-,

Fig. 10. Water pressure acting on the sliding plane.

CONCLUSION

I i L I J i J The records and consideration of the final slope failure

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
at Kagemori limestone quarry have been briefly
o- v ( M P o )
presented. In this example, it took over 1 yr from the first
(c) crack observation to the final collapse. Various inter-
05
mediate phenomena were observed and monitored.
It is difficult to coherently explain all the phenomena
0.4
because of the complexity of the situation [3]. However,
F this is a good example showing that disastrous accidents
o can be avoided or reduced by monitoring indications
03 found at an early stage.
o o o
After this accident at Kagemori limestone quarry and
publication of the results by the authors (in Japanese
0.2 [4]), many research projects concerning slope stability
have been reported--mainly in the Journal of the Mining
and Metallurgical Institute of Japan.
0.1 Experimental research work on this problem was
performed using centrifugal baro-dynamics [5]. The
dynamic stability problem was researched by Hashimoto
I L L J
0.0 0.1 O2 (13 0.4 et al. [6] using a FEM program. But in many cases,
o"v ( M P o ) actual pit slopes are designed by limit equilibrium
Fig. 9. (a-c) Gv - : relation for the schalstein. C, D, E and F denote analysis (which has been adopted in this paper) because
the class of the schalstein. of the simplicity of this method. To apply this method
for designing an actual open pit slope, it is necessary to
study the geomechanical features of the rock mass [7]
mode was plane sliding. As a result of mining oper- such as the fracture system and joint sets [7] which could
ations, the final pit slope became steeper and high be potential sliding surfaces, the weathering of rock [8],
enough to cause progressive failure of the schalstein rock the classification of the rock mass, and so on. Various
mass in the C class; and the limestone mass covering this monitoring techniques for rock slope movement must be
schalstein failed gradually by the dilatation of this developed and utilized.
footwall. In addition, clayey shalstein which existed at
the base of the slope was washed out and swelled by REFERENCES
rainfall and by the ground pressure in the slope. Under
1. Ando T. and Ogata Y. Paper on new mining safety technology of
these conditions, final plane failure occurred in the mining of international trade and industry (October, 1974). In
schalstein rock mass. Japanese.
I04 YAMAGUCHI and SHIMOTANI: SLOPE FAILURE IN A LIMESTONE QUARRY
2. Hoek E. Estimating the stability of excavated slopes in open-cast
mines. Trans. Inst. Min. Metall. Lond. 767(79), AI09 (1970).
3. Kennedy B. A. and Niermeyer K~ E. Planning Open Pit Mines
(Edited by Von Rensburg), 215 pp. South African Institution of
Mining and Metallurgy, Johannesburg (19701).
4. Yamaguchi U., Shimotani T., Shimomura Y. and Ando Y. A case
study of the land slide happened on a limestone quarry. J. Min.
metall. Inst. Japan 9"7, 1157 (1981). In Japanese.
5. Okamura H., Sugawara K., Akimoto M., Kubota S. and
Kaneshige O. Experimental study on rock slope stability by the use
of a centrifuge. J. Min~ metall. Inst. Japan 95, 7 ~1979i h~
Japanese.
6. Hashimoto B. and Nissato H. Basic study on the estimation ~t
dynamic stability of large rock slope. J. Min metalf, lnst &~pan
100, 561 In Japanese.
7. Yamaguchi U., Shimotani T. and Yamatomi J. Stud~ on geo-
logical factors which influence rock slope stability. Proc. Syrup.
Spring Meeting MMIJ, 121 pp (1980). In Japanese
8. Yamaguchi U., Yamatomi J. and Shimotani T. Freezing melting
of rock and about high speed cyclic exposure testing of rock. Pro~.
Syrup. Spring Meeting MMIJ, 267 pp (1983). In Japanese.