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Rock slope stability along road cut of Kulikawn to Saikhamakawn of Aizawl, Mizoram, India

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Abstract

Landslide is a natural hazard which carries water, mud, debris and sometimes large boulders. Earthquakes, heavy rainfall and tectonic forces are natural responsible factors for landslides, whereas overpopulation and rapid development in the hilly region are unnatural factors which involve human activities such as construction/maintenance of roads, highways, railways and buildings by the unplanned excavation of rock slopes. Both natural and unnatural factors have been accountable for the increase in the probability of landslides in the past few decades. In the present study, stability analysis of rock slopes has been carried out along Kulikawn to Saikhamakawn road section of Aizawl. Kinematic analysis has been performed to identify the road cut slopes which have the potential to fail, and mainly two types of failures were found, i.e., wedge and topple failure. In order to check the stability of road cut slopes, Geological Strength Index, slope mass rating (SMR) and continuous slope mass rating (CoSMR) have been used in this study. Numerical modelling has also been performed to assess the stability of the road cut slope. The maximum displacement of 0.79 m with a maximum velocity of 0.78 m/s has been found for rock slope at location L1 using numerical modelling which confirms the finding from kinematic analysis, SMR and CoSMR analysis.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Ministry of Earth Sciences of India, for supporting this research project (MOES/P.O.(GeoSci)/42/2015) financially.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mining Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad, Jharkhand, 826004, India

    Sahil Sardana

  2. Department of Mining Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University), Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, 221005, India

    A. K. Verma

  3. Department of Geology, Pachhunga University College, Aizawl, Mizoram, 796001, India

    Rahul Verma

  4. Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra, 400076, India

    T. N. Singh

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  1. Sahil Sardana
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  2. A. K. Verma
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  4. T. N. Singh
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Correspondence to Sahil Sardana.

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Sardana, S., Verma, A.K., Verma, R. et al. Rock slope stability along road cut of Kulikawn to Saikhamakawn of Aizawl, Mizoram, India. Nat Hazards 99, 753–767 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-019-03772-4

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