Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Stability Improvement Against Toppling Failure in the Upper Plateau of Gebel Mokattam

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Geotechnical and Geological Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Mokattam is an urban, highly populated region in Egypt that has been subjected to many failures over the past decades, causing huge losses. Toppling failure of the upper limestone blocks in Mokattam often develops due to the differential settlement in the underlying claystone as a result of softening caused by infiltrating water through limestone joints. This mechanism leads to block inclination, increasing the tendency of overturning and sliding outside the slope. Previous research attributed the occurrence of failure to this inclination with little attention to safety factor calculation and lacked emphasis on the effect of cumulative water pressure in limestone joints. This study introduces an integrated conception of the failure mechanism in Mokattam, presenting safety factor calculations and providing a method to quantify the adverse effect of rainfall on stability against toppling, and finally introducing a stability improvement alternative. Safety factor calculations showed that limestone blocks that are stable under their weight could experience a significant reduction in the factor of safety (F.O.S) due to the cumulative water pressure and can further experience failure. Upon studying the effect of several parameters on a factor of safety, this study illustrates the significant increase in stability of blocks using rock bolts, providing a guideline that can be used for the optimum usage of rock bolts for increasing stability in similar cases.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15
Fig. 16
Fig. 17
Fig. 18
Fig. 19
Fig. 20
Fig. 21
Fig. 22

Similar content being viewed by others

Data Availability

Enquiries about data availability should be directed to the authors.

References

  • Abouleid A, El-Leboudy A, Hafez H, Eid H (1987) Some geotechnical properties of Mokattam Shale. The Egyptian society of soil mechanics and foundation, vol 2

  • Abd El-Latif M (2012) Slope stability of jointed rock masses. Ph.D. thesis, Ain Shams University, Egypt

  • Abdallah T, Helal H (1989) The stability of EL-Mokattam plateau and its impact on physical planning Cairo, Egypt. Modeling, simulation and control, C, vol 17, No 2. AMSE Press

  • Abdel-Tawab S (1989) Engineering geology of some areas in the greater Cairo. Ph.D. thesis, Ain shams university, Egypt

  • Adel H, Akl S, Hegazy Y (2020) Cost benefit analysis for rock-side slope failure prevention on using reliability based design. Eng Appl Sci 67:2245–2264

    Google Scholar 

  • Al-Jawadi A (2021) Theoretical models of slope stability analysis in the Maqlub mountain rock cut routes. Iraqi Geol J 54(1A):55–68. https://doi.org/10.46717/igj.54.1A.6Ms-2021-01-27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amini M, Ardestani A, Khosravi M (2017) Stability analysis of slide-toe-toppling failure. Eng Geol 228:82–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2017.07.008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowa V, Gang W (2021) Analytical technique for stability analyses of the rock slope subjected to slide head toppling failure mechanisms considering groundwater and stabilization effects. Int J Geo-Engin. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40703-020-00133-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cai JC, Zheng D, Np Ju et al (2022) Boundary effect of toppling failure based on three-dimensional mechanical model. J Mt Sci 19:3314–3322. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-022-7337-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chunlin C (2017) Rock Bolting. In: Chunlin C (ed) Principles and application 1st edn. Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-804401-8.00001-6

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Elbeih SFK (2002) Studying the geoengineering hazards using remote sensing techniques and its application on El-Mokattam Area. M.Sc. thesis, Ain Shams University, Egypt

  • EL-Leboudy A (1985) Analysis of Mokattam rock falls. In: Balkema AA (ed) Proceedings of the eleventh international conference on soil mechanics and foundation engineering San Francisco. Rotterdam, Nederland, vol 4, pp 2321–2324

  • El-Nahhas F, Moustafa A, Abdel-Tawab S (1990) Geotechnical characteristics of limestone formations of Gebel Mokattam area. First Alex Conf Struct Geotech Eng 1:9–19

    Google Scholar 

  • EL-Sohby M, Ellboudy A (1988) Instability of natural slope in interbedded limestone and shale. In: Balkema AA (ed) Proceedings fifth international symposium on landslides. pp 121–123

  • El-Sohby M, Aboushook M, Mazen O (2004) Slope degradation and analysis of Mokattam plateau, Egypt. 2nd international conference on geotechnical site characterization (ISC-2), Porto, Portugal, pp 1081–1887

  • Goodman R, Bray J (1976) Toppling of rock slopes, In: Proceedings of the specialty conference rock engineering for foundations and slopes. American society of civil engineers, Boulder, pp 201–234

  • Helmy H (1996) Stability analysis of jointed rock slopes with special application on Mokattam plateau. Ph.D. thesis faculty of engineering, Ain Shams University, Egypt

  • Helmy H (2005) Assessment of a protection measure of the rockfalls at the upper Mokattam plateau. The Egyptian geotechnical society 15: part 2/2

  • Helmy H, El-Nahhas F, Tawfik M (2007) Stabilization of jointed sedimentary rock slopes using anchored wall. In: Proceedings of the sixth international conference on structural and geotechnical engineering, Alexandria University, Egypt, pp 1011–1018

  • Hoek E, Bray J (1981) Rock slope engineering. The Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, London. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781315274980

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Marinos P, Koukis G, Tsiambaos G, Stournaras G (1997) Engineering geology and the environment. 1st edn, CRC press

  • Moustafa A (1991) Engineering geology of Mokattam city and vicinity, eastern Greater Cairo. Egypt Eng Geol 31:327–344. https://doi.org/10.1016/0013-7952(1)90015-D

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rasha M (2015) Shear strength of interface between swelling clay and sedimentary rock. MSc. thesis, Ain Shams University, Egypt

  • Tawfik M (2005) Numerical analysis of sedimentary rock slopes. MSc. thesis, Ain Shams University, Egypt

  • Wang R, Zheng Y, Chen C, Meng F, Zhang W (2023) Stability analysis of antidip bedding rock slopes with very low-persistent cross joints using a limit-equilibrium model and fracture mechanics. Int J Geomech. https://doi.org/10.1061/IJGNAI.GMENG-8151

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wyllie D (2018) Rock Slope Engineering Civil Applications. Taylor & Francis Group. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315154039

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang G (2018) New stability calculation method for rock slopes subject to flexural toppling failure. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 106:319–328. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmms.2018.04.016

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zheng Y, Wang R, Chen C, Meng F (2021) Analysis of ethod. Front Earth Sci 9:773088. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.773088

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

The authors have not disclosed any funding.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt

    A. A. Jaher

  2. Department of Construction and Building Engineering, Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, Giza, Egypt

    I. M. Mashhour

  3. Soil Mechanics and Foundations Research Laboratory, Department of Public Works, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt

    S. A. Akl & M. Amer

Authors
  1. A. A. Jaher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. I. M. Mashhour
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. S. A. Akl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. M. Amer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to I. M. Mashhour.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

A competing interests declaration is mandatory for publication in this journal. Please confirm that this declaration is accurate, or provide an alternative.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Jaher, A.A., Mashhour, I.M., Akl, S.A. et al. Stability Improvement Against Toppling Failure in the Upper Plateau of Gebel Mokattam. Geotech Geol Eng 41, 4153–4168 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-023-02513-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-023-02513-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation