ABSTRACT:
Current geotechnical modelling tools are focused on the numerical analyses and generally not designed to facilitate synthesis of data from site investigation and characterisation. Site characterisation must address key geospatial issues, e.g., complex geology, highly irregular pore-water pressure, complex surface geometry and slip surface definition. An integrated digital methodology is presented that combines geospatial data management techniques with mining geological visualization software and numerical modeling tools. Specialised tools were created that facilitated geospatial analyses of piezometer data and displacement data from inclinometers. The methodology is applied to bedrock landslide in Edmonton, Canada.
1 INTRODUCTION
Natural and human-induced slope movement and slope failures are complex geotechnical engineering problems involving both surface and subsurface conditions and their interactions to triggering factors (Renaud et al. 2000). Assessment of slope movement and associated hazards demands an understanding of the site characteristics and their spatial and temporal variability. In practice, engineers use modern computer software, such as Geostudio (Krahn 2003) to determine the minimum factor of safety associated with the critical slip surface (Renaud et al. 2000, Cheng 2004). Because important decisions are often based on this minimum factor of safety, it is important that the slope stability analyses accurately capture the essential features determined from the site characterisation. Current geotechnical modelling tools are focused on the numerical analyses and generally not designed to facilitate the requirements of site investigation and characterisation. Site characterisation must address key geospatial issues, e.g., complex geology, highly irregular pore-water pressure, complex surface geometry and slip surface definition (Krahn 2003). Figure 1 shows the detailed surface geometry often found in complex slope failures that was captured by modern LiDAR airborne technology.
