Wetland

Ion exchange

Forest Dr Md. Jahir Bin Alam

 Ion Exchange

Ion exchange is an adsorption phenomenon

where the mechanism of adsorption is
electrostatic. Electrostatic forces hold ions to
charged functional groups on the surface of the
ion exchange resin. The adsorbed ions replace
ions that are on the resin surface on a 1:1 charge
basis. For example:
Ion exchange in water
de-mineralization process
Applications of ion exchange in water & wastewater

Ca, Mg (hardness removal) exchange with Na or H.

Fe, Mn removal from groundwater.
Recovery of valuable waste products Ag, Au, U
Demineralization (exchange all cations for H all
anions for OH)
Removal of NO3, NH4, PO4 (nutrient removal).
 Ion Exchangers (types)

Natural: Proteins, Soils, Lignin, Coal, Metal

oxides, Aluminosilicates (zeolites)
(NaOAl2O3.4SiO2).

Synthetic zeolite gels and most common

-polymeric resins (macroreticular, large pores).
Polymeric resins are made in 3-D networks by
cross-linking hydrocarbon chains. The resulting
resin is insoluble, inert and relatively rigid. Ionic
functional groups are attached to this framework.
These resins are generally manufactured by
polymerizing neutral organic molecules such as
sytrene (to form polystrene) and then cross-linked
with divinyl benzene (DVB). Functional groups are
then added according to the intended use. For
example the resin can be sulfonated by adding
sulfuric acid to get the structure shown above.
Divinylbenzene:
Ion Exchange Resin:
 Resin classification:

Resins are classified based on the type of

functional group they contain and their % of cross-
linkages
Cationic Exchangers:
- Strongly acidic functional groups derived from
strong acids e.g., R-SO3H (sulfonic).

- Weakly acidic functional groups derived from

weak acids, e.g., R-COOH (carboxylic).
Anionic Exchangers:

- Strongly basic functional groups derived

from quaternary ammonia compounds, R-N-
OH.

- Weakly basic - functional groups derived

from primary and secondary amines, R-
NH3OH or R-R-NH2OH.
 Selectivity Coefficients

Preference for ions of particular resins is often

expressed through an equilibrium relationship
using the selectivity coefficient. The coefficient is
described below.

For the exchange of A+ in solution for B+ on the

resin:

A BB A

The barred terms indicate location on the resin

(resin phase) as opposed to solution phase.
For this exchange an operational equilibrium
constant can be defined.

{A}{B }
K A
B

{A }{B}

The superscript and subscript on the selectivity

coefficient indicate the direction of the reaction. The
superscript is the reaction side and the subscript is the
product side of the exchange reaction.
Selectivity coefficients are reported for various
resins and various exchangeable ions. Selectivity
coefficients can be combined to give a variety of
new selectivity coefficients.
For example:

A
KB A
C
KC
KB
Also note that:

1
K B
A
B
KA
 Neglecting activity corrections we can write:

[A][B ]
K A
B

[A ][B]
Where:
[A+], [B+]= moles A+, B+ per liter of liquid

[A], [B] = moles of A+, B+on resin per liter of

resin (bulk volume basis).
This selectivity coefficient is not quite a
thermodynamically defined equilibrium constant
because of the strange choice of concentration
units and the lack of activity corrections. So it is
clearly an operational equilibrium constant.
Factors which affect the selectivity coefficient:

For a given resin type ion selectivity is a function

of ionic charge and hydrated radius and functional
group-ion chemical interactions.

In most cases the higher the ionic charge the

higher the affinity for a site.
The smaller the hydrated radius of the ion the greater
the affinity. This depends on the % cross-linkage of
the resin. The reason that hydrated radius has an
effect on selectivity is that macro-reticular pore
spaces have limited volume as determined by %
cross-linkage. Some exchanged ions can actually
cause a swelling of the resin (its relatively
deformable). The swelling causes a backpressure that
reduces the preference for ions with larger hydrated
radii.
An example of this phenomenon is shown here for
Li and Ag (Ag has a smaller hydrated radius).
Numerical values are relative affinity, not selectivity
coefficients.

% Crosslink
4% 8% 16%

Li+ 1 1 1

Ag+ 4.73 8.51 22.9

By increasing the cross-linkages Ag+ is selected
for adsorption (exchanged because of its smaller
hydrated radius). Note that the absolute amount
adsorbed for both Ag and Li will be lower with
more cross-linkages, however there is a relative
advantage for Ag.
In some cases there are more than electrostatic forces
holding the ion to the functional group of the resin.
For example for weakly acid functional groups such as
carboxylic groups, hydrogen bonding is partially
responsible for attracting H+ ions. Another example is
the strong bonding between Ca and PO 4 when PO4 is
used for a functional group.
All these factors show up in the apparent selectivity
coefficient.
The selectivity coefficient is only applicable
over a narrow range of concentrations
because the activity coefficients vary with
concentration.
Because we need to maintain a charge balance
during the ion exchange process it is more
convenient to express concentration of ions as
equivalents instead of molar concentration.
Therefore, we define:

C = total concentration of exchangeable ions in the

liquid phase (eq/L).
 For example,
if Ca2+ and Na+ are the only exchanged ions.

C = [Na+] + 2[Ca2+]

C = total concentration of exchangeable sites

on resin . This is also known as the exchange
capacity (eq/L of bulk volume). We can now
define "equivalent fraction" for each ion in each
phase.
 + 2+
[A ] 2[A ]
X A+ or X A2+ = or
C C

+ 2+
[A ] 2[A ]
X A+ or X A2+ or
C C

with similar definitions for B.

For monovalent exchange:

A B B A
+
A+ [A ][B ]
K B+
+

[A ][B ]

[A ] C
X A

[B ] C X B C(1 X A )

[A ] C
X A

[B ] C
X B C(1 X A )
Substitute in the mass action expression to
get:

(1 X A )
X A
K A
B

(1 X A )
X A
Rearranging gives:

X A A
X A
K B
(1 X A ) (1 X A )
 For monovalent divalent exchange:

2 2
A 2B 2B A

X A 2 2 X A 2 C
K A
B
(1 X A2 ) 2
(1 X A2 ) C
2
In this form the equation gives the amount
exchanged as a function of the amount in
solution. It is very useful for process design
as demonstrated below.
Exchange Isotherms -
Isotherms are an alternative to describing
equilibrium by selectivity coefficients.
These isotherms have the same format as
those for carbon adsorption. i.e., Langmuir,
Freundlich, etc.
In spite of the non-constant selectivity coefficient,
calculations can be made with these coefficients to
estimate process limits. Note that the most
vulnerable (non-constant) selectivity coefficients
are for those resins that have weak acid or base
functional groups. These functional groups will
protonate and de-protonate as a function of the
solution pH as opposed to strong acid-base
functional groups that tend to be fully
deprotonated or protonated at most pH values.
Kinetics versus equilibrium.
Ion exchange adsorption is much faster
than carbon adsorption and as a result we
can use equilibrium assumption in design
calculations.
 Ion Exchange Design Example

Suppose we want to remove NO-3 by ion

exchange on a strong base anionic resin of
the Cl- form. The resin has the following
characteristics:
NO3-
K Cl-
=4

C 1.3 meq/L
The influent has the following characteristics:

[Cl-] = 3 meq/L

[NO-3] = 1.5 meq/L

Determine how much water can be treated per ft 3
of resin before the bed is exhausted. Assume
equilibrium for the resin.

First we need to determine X NO3 at equilibrium

with the influent (need to estimate the column
capacity relative to the influent composition).
 1.5
X NO- 0.33 (influent)
3
3 1.5

X NO3- X NO- 0.33

NO3-
=K Cl
- 3
=4 =1.97

1-X NO3- 1-X NO- 1 - 0.33
3
Solve this equation for X 0.66 . This
NO3
value (0.66) represents the maximum fraction
of resin sites that can be occupied by NO -3 with
these influent conditions. When this fraction
has been reached the column is considered
exhausted
Thus the total amount of NO-3 this resin can
1 liter of water=

exchange is: 1000gm (1.5 gm of

NO3 in 1000gm of
water)

-
1.3 eq/L(0.66) 0.86 eq NO 3 per liter of resin.

Volume of water that can be treated assuming a fully

Cl- charged resin to begin is:
(0.86 eq/L-resin)/(0.0015 eq/L-water)
570 liters-water/liter-resin

= 4300 gal/ft3-resin ( 1 liter = 0.264 gal = 0.035 ft 3)

The effluent concentration of nitrate will be
practically zero until breakthrough occurs if the
column were initially fully charged with chloride,
since X is practically zero at the effluent end
NO3
of the column. There are some other design
factors that have to be considered though, namely
leakage and regeneration extent. These are
discussed next.
 Regeneration

Spent or exhausted columns must be regenerated

because of the cost of the resin would make one-
time use prohibitive. Since ion exchange is a very
reversible process regeneration can be
accomplished by manipulation of solution
composition.
Example:

A spent column used to remove Ca2+ is to be

regenerated in a batch process to the Na + form. A
strong brine (mostly NaCl) is contacted with the
exhausted resin to replace Ca with Na. The
composition of the brine (regenerant) after
equilibrating with the exhausted resin is:
NaCl = 2 eq/L (117 g/L)
CaCl2 = 0.2 eq/L (11 g/L)
Most of the Ca is from the spent column. Na in
the fresh brine would have been slightly higher
than 2 eq/L.
For this resin:

C 2eq / L
Ca 2+
K Na +
4
 What we need to determine is how effective this
regeneration step is, i.e., what is the magnitude of
X Ca after the regeneration is completed.
2+

In the regenerant after equilibration :

0.2
X Ca 2+ 0.091
2 0.2

X Ca2+ Ca 2+ C X Ca 2+
2
K Na + 2
(1-X Ca2+ ) C (1-X Ca 2+ )
 X Ca2 4(2) 0.091
0.4
2.2 ( )
2
(1 X Ca2 ) 2
1 0.091

Solve for : X Ca 2 0.235

X Na 1 .235 0.765
Only 76.5% regeneration can be accomplished
with this regenerant because even small amounts
of Ca can have a significant effect because of the
high selectivity coefficient in favor of Ca. To get
higher regeneration need to make the NaCl
concentration higher or make the total volume of
regenerant higher to dilute the Ca that comes off
the exhausted column . Both options cost money
and there needs to be a tradeoff evaluated between
higher column utilization and more costly
regeneration. To formalize this trade-off problem
define the following.
Theoretical or total capacity = C (eq/L of bulk
volume).
Degree of column utilization = fraction or
percent of C actually used during an
exhaustion cycle. This is the difference between
the fresh capacity (generally less
C than ) and
the capacity at the end of the exhaustion cycle
compared to C .
Operating exchange capacity = (degree of
column utilization) x C (eq/L of resin).
Regeneration efficiency: ratio of actual
regenerant (equivalents) exchanged divided by
equivalents of regenerant applied times 100
(%).
Assume we have a 1-liter column initially
exhausted with Ca2+ . Assume that X 1, Ca 2

although in reality its likely to be less than this.

For example, in the NO-3 /Cl- problem above
exhaustion occurred at X 0.66 . This number
depends on the selectivity coefficient and the
influent composition). Regenerate with 1 liter of
Na+ at some high concentration to be determined.
Assume that we have the following resin
characteristics.
 Ca 2
K Na 3
C 2 eq/L

Estimate the sodium concentration, C, in the

regenerant required to get X Ca 2 0.1
after regeneration . Note that this represents 90%
column utilization if the column is completely
exhausted. Again, the influent composition will
determine how much of the column capacity can be
exhausted.
C, the regenerant strength, must remain
constant before and after regeneration is
complete so that electroneutrality is
maintained. For the regenerant brine,
assuming no initial Ca and 1 liter each of resin
and regenerant:

0.9 C 1.8 (target is X Ca2+ 0.1)

X Ca 2
C C
 X Ca 2 1 C X Ca2
Ca
(1 X Ca 2 ) 2
K Na C (1 X Ca2 ) 2

1.8 / C C(0.1)
2
2
C(0.0206)
(1 1.8 / C) 3 2(1 0.1)

1.8
2 2
0 .0206
C (1 1.8 / C)

2 2
C (1 1.8 / C) 1.8 / 0.0206 87.38
 2
C 3.6C 84.14 0
Solve for the positive root:

C = 11.2 eq/L

Regeneration efficiency for this process = (Na

exchanged/Na applied)x100. This is the same as
Ca released/C x 100 (for 1 liter).
RE = (0.9(2)/11.2) x100 = 16.1 %
This calculation can be repeated for 50% column
utilization using the same assumptions as above.

0.5
C 1.0
X Ca 2 assuming complete exhaustion
C C

1.0 / C C(0.5)
2
2
C(0.333)
(1 1.0 / C) 3 2(1 0.5)

2 2 2
3.00 C (1 1.0 / C) C 2C 1
C = 3.34 eq/L
RE = (0.5(2)/3.34)x100 = 30%

Typical values for:

Column utilization: 30 60 %

Regeneration efficiency: = 70-45%

One of the consequences of incomplete regeneration
is leakage. Leakage occurs at the beginning of the
exhaustion cycle because there is still Ca 2+
(continuing with the same example) on the resin. As
water passes through the column, Ca2+ is removed at
the influent end of the column so that as this water
passes toward the effluent end of the column it is
free of Ca2+ and therefore pulls Ca2+ off the relatively
high Ca resin. This leakage is generally short-lived
but can make portions of the product water
unacceptable.
Estimating leakage:

X Ca 2 = 0.1
Assume: C = 2 eq/L
Ca 2+
K Na +
3
Influent:
[Ca2+] = 44 meq/L
[Na+] = 30 meq/L
C = 0.074 eq/L

Note that with this influent saturation

(X Ca 2+ = 1) can't be attained
 X Ca 2 1 C X Ca 2
Ca 2
(1 X Ca 2 ) 2
K C (1 X Ca2 ) 2
Na

1 (0.074) (0.1) 3
1.52 x 10
3 2 (1 0.1) 2
 3
X Ca 2 (1 X Ca 2 ) (1.52 x 10 )
2

3
X Ca 2 1.52 x 10

Compared to the influent concentration of Ca 2+

this is fairly low.
 Typical Design Parameters

Total column capacity =

(column utilization)
C(bed volume)
Re generation cycle
1
(Q
X in
Cin )
total column capacity
 Application of ion exchange

Natural organic matter removal by ion

exchange at different positions in the drinking
water treatment lane
A. Grefte1, M. Dignum2, E. R. Cornelissen3, and L. C. Rietveld1
1Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering, P.O. Box 5048,
2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands
2Waternet, P.O. Box 94370, 1090 GJ Amsterdam, The Netherlands
3KWR Watercycle Research Institute, P.O. Box 1072, 3430 BB Nieuwegein, The
Netherlands
Ground water flow determination through
vertical electrical soundings (VES) using the
Schlumberger electrode
 Parameters for Determination of Groundwater Flow Direction

S/No Location Longitude Latitude Elevation (m) SWL (m) Hydraulic

(0E) (0N) Head (m)

1 Elebele1 6.3400 4.8671 20.3 5.1 15.2

2 Elebele2 6.3426 4.8586 19.5 4.6 15.9

3 Emeyal1 6.3517 4.8444 18.2 2.1 16.1

4 Emeyal2 6.3531 4.8283 19.6 1.8 17.8

5 Otuopkoti 6.3395 4.8121 18.0 2.5 15.5

6 Kolo1 6.3762 4.8080 19.3 2.5 16.8

7 Kolo2 6.3752 4.7938 21.7 2.7 19.0

8 Otuoke 6.3640 4.7852 14.5 2.2 12.3

9 Otuogila 6.3928 4.7497 15.0 2.0 13.0

10 Otakeme 6.3606 4.7572 19.0 1.8 17.2

11 Ogbia 6.3137 4.6885 14.2 1.3 12.9

12 Otuogidi 6.3342 4.6997 13.6 2.1 11.5

13 Opume 6.3543 4.6608 12.1 1.5 10.6

14 Oloibiri 6.3644 4.5281 13.1 2.1 11.0

15 Emakalakala 6.3902 4.6481 11.8 2.1 9.7

Geoelectric results and longitudinal conductance values
VES Location Thickness of layers (m) Resistivity of layers (m) LC Protective
No. (mhos) Capacity

h1 h2 h3 h4 h5 1 2 3 4 5 6

1 0.7 3.9 35.2 12.7 46.5 172 68 314 46 830 1347 0.01638 Poor
Otuasega

2 0.6 4.1 44.6 12.3 54.2 105 47 293 34 1021 2836 0.244 Moderate
Oruma

3 0.5 5.7 41 36 103 66 190 318 124 0.605 Moderate

Elebele

4 0.6 4.0 42.9 8.1 36.5 126 50 485 62 518 974 0.1 Weak
Imiringi

5 0.8 4.2 51.5 10.7 55.4 98 31 165 40 621 2120 0.722 Good
Emeyal

6 0.9 4.3 32.8 13.5 57.8 112 65 183 27 363 1245 0.8675 Good
Kolo

7 0.7 4.5 39.2 9.8 43.5 104 79 265 31 449 1689 0.44 Moderate
Otuoke

8 1.1 4.2 52.4 176 81 610 232 0.052 Moderate

Ogbia

9 0.7 6.2 37 29 95 22 206 387 57 0.467 Moderate

Otuogidi

10 0.5 4.0 49.1 213 97 513 179 0.044 Moderate

Oloibiri

11 0.8 3.9 51.8 11.0 56.5 182 103 285 23 540 901 0.708 Good
Opume

12 0.7 4.2 44.6 10.2 35 113 58 263 97 322 784 0.415 Moderate
Emekalaka
la
Protective capacity rating (after Henriet, 1976)
Sum of longitudinal unit conductance (mhos) Overburden protective capacity
classification

< 0.1 Poor

0.1-0.19 Weak

0.2-0.69 Moderate

0.7-1.0 Good
Otu
oke
Henriet, J.P. (1976): Direct applications of Dar Zarrouk parameters in groundwater surveys. Geophysical Prospecting, Vol. 24, pp. 344 353.
Mailet, R. (1974): The fundamental equations of electrical prospecting. Geophysics, Vol. 12, pp. 529 556.
SOCIAL IMPACT
ASSESSMENT
SIAs provide a systematic framework to:
Anticipate social change from a proposed development project
which will change the environment;

Identify methodologies to measure baseline data and project

impacts;

Look at the potential social or livelihoods implications;

Communicate changes to the community;

Outline steps to mitigate or enhance negative or positive

aspects of change;

See that the benefits of change do not empower some groups

over others then if not the proposed development must
change.
SIAs should:
Involve as many community members
as possible
Acknowledge negative consequences
so they can be addressed in an open
manner
Seek to balance both economic needs
with social needs
STAGES IN THE SIA
Steps Description
1. Public Involvement Involve all affected public to voice their
concerns.
2. Identification of alternatives Describe proposed activity and
reasonable alternative.
3. Profile baseline conditions Document the current state of human
environment prior to the effect of the proposed project.
4. Scoping Identify the full range of possible social issues emerge as a
result of the proposed development.
5. Projection of estimated effects Evaluate all possible impacts
to determine the probable impacts.
6. Prediction of responses to impacts Evaluate all possible impacts
to determine the potential impacts
7. Estimate indirect and cumulative impacts Consider the flow-on
ramifications of projects, into the second-, third order of impacts.
8. Mitigation Develop mitigation plan first avoid impacts, secondly
minimize impacts and thirdly utilize compensation mechanism.

9. Monitoring Develop and implement a monitoring programme .

COMPONENT GUIDELINES FOR
SIA
Description of proposed actions;

Relationship of the proposed action to land use plans;

Probable impacts on the ecological processes;

Alternative to proposes actions to avoid or minimize impact;

Identifying unavoidable adverse effects;

Local short term impacts and long-term issues;

Identifying irreversible and irretrievable impacts;

Other considerations such as political, cultural and psychological

impacts
SIA VARIABLES
Population Change

Community/Institutional Arrangements
Communities in Transition
Individual and Family Level Impacts
Community Infrastructure

ISSUES IN SIA
One of the major role of the SIA is to identify both the winners and losers in
any development;
This means that SIA should be socially friendly i.e. accessible to all types of
stakeholders irrespective of their background;
To predict how the nature of the community will change as a result of
development thus is only the community who can identify those effects.

Who have legitimate interests in the community? Or How is the

affected community to be defined and identified?
Participation Typology Some Components
Passive Communication Being told what is going to happen or has already
happened. Top down, information shared belongs only to external professionals.
Communication in information giving Answer questions posed by extractive
researchers using surveys etc. People not able to influence.
Participation by consultation Consulted and external agents listen to views.
Usually externally defined problems and solutions. People not really involved in decision-
making. Participation as consultation.
Communication by material incentives Provision of resources, e.g., labour.
Little incentive to participate after the end of the incentive.
Functional Communication Form groups to meet predetermined objectives.
Usually done after major project decisions made, therefore initially dependent on
outsiders but may become self-dependent, and enabling. Participation as organization.
Interactive Communication Joint analysis to joint actions. Possible use of new
local institutions or strengthening existing ones. Enabling and empowering, so people
have a stake in maintaining structures or practices.
Self-Mobilisation Already empowered, take decisions independent of external
institutions. May or may not challenge existing inequitable distributions of wealth and
power. Participation as empowerment.
Fig. 9 shows a newly blasted slope in limestone and dolomite in 1988 originally with a dip of
about 80. In 1996 the dip of the slope is between 60and 70. The units in the slope consist of
interlayered thin bedded (visible in Fig. 9 just above the sitting person) and medium to thickbedded
units. The same thin-bedded units are found exposed in nearby (less than 50 m away)
road cuts more than 40 years old. Old road cuts made in the thin bedded units with dips of 60 to
70and heights of about 5 m, are still (in 1995) stable and no or very little degradation of the
rock mass is observed in these old road cuts. The rock mass in these old road cuts is still only
slightly weathered. The method of excavation used for the old slopes was by a hand shovel or a
small mechanical shovel. The dip directions of the slopes in the old and new road cuts are
approximately equal and the general position of the old road cuts in the topography is fully
comparable to the position of the new road cut. Both the old and new road cuts are cut into a
hill that flattens above the road cuts. Any surface flow of heavy rainfall is likely to be the same
for both old and new cuts. In addition, with respect to geology (faults, etc.) no major differences
have been noted between the old and the new road cuts. The new road cut is clearly unstable,
large parts show rill erosion and erosion of the thin-bedded units causes undercutting of the
thicker bedded parts, making these unstable.
damage due to the method of excavation and
weathering influence. If the slope had been
designed using the SSPC system the increased
weathering may not have been anticipated, as
the old road cuts do not show this. However,
the
new road cut would never have been designed
with the steep slope dip of 80if poorly
executed
blasting was going to be used.
The slope (Fig. 10, and cross-section Fig. 11) is cut in Upper Muschelkalk light grey calcisiltite
(Tg23), medium bedded, very widely jointed, slightly weathered, strong, and impermeable
except along the joints and bedding planes. The bedding (dip-direction/dip = 162/37) strikes
parallel to the slope of the terrain (dip slope) and dips 36 - 37 towards the road excavation.
Two joint sets are present. One set is vertical (265/85) and strikes approximately perpendicular
to the road cut. A second joint set (337/48) is striking parallel to the slope face and bedding, but
dips about 50 against the slope face direction and thus approximately perpendicular to the
bedding plane. The spacing of this discontinuity set is approximately 15 m. However, this
discontinuity set showed a far smaller spacing of about 5 m in parts of the slope directly below
the part that had slid and in parts directly adjacent to the sliding plane. This is likely due to the
slope geometry that caused existing joints to open and new cracks to form because of tensile
stresses. These additional joints with orientation 337/48 (at a spacing of about 5 m) are further
called 'internal joints'. The bedding plane and the vertical jointing contain some clay infill. The
clay in the bedding planes is likely to result from weathering as the bedding planes often
contain some minor contents of clay. Clay infill in the vertical discontinuity set (265/85) is
likely topsoil flushed in from the terrain surface above. Some karstic solution was observed
along the vertical discontinuity set. The slope has originally been cut at an angle of 80 - 90 at
least some 40 years ago. The slope was stable until April 1990 but already showed the 'internal
joints', likely caused by tensile stresses, and it was found to have failed in March 1991.
The slope has been classified in 1990 before the sliding happened, which resulted in a SSPC
stability probability for sliding along the bedding plane of 55 % for a slope cut of 90. This
indicates that the slope stability against sliding was almost unity, and for example, a very slight

9m
decrease of the condition of the bedding plane due to weathering was sufficient to cause failure.
The fact that tension cracks developed during the lifetime of the slope also indicates that the slid
block above the bedding plane was not fully supported by shear strength along the lower parts
direction 162
of the bedding plane. The clay infill in the vertical joint set (265/85) has not been included in
the calculations of the reference rock mass and in the slope stability probability, as the infill was

road
expected to be flushed into the discontinuities from the terrain surface and not to be present

bedding
deeper in the rock mass. Whether the spacing of the second joint set (337/48) is taken as 15 or 5
m does not make a difference for the calculation of the reference rock mass nor for the
probability of the slope stability. The SSPC classification, and the limiting-equilibrium and

planes
numerical analyses show that this slope was prone to failure. The limiting-equilibrium and
numerical analyses show instability if the friction angle along the bedding planes is less than
about 37 to 38 without water pressures. This is the friction angle resulting from the SSPC

37
system.

slit
Fig. 11. Example II. Geometrical cross
section of the slope