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Understanding the rock slope stability along Malshej Ghat, India, using rock mass characterisation and block shape classification techniques

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Abstract

Malshej Ghat is one of the busiest transport corridors in Maharashtra. It is highly prone to landslides, as the region receives heavy precipitation and steep slopes along the road section. This manuscript focuses on the applicability and reliability of block size and shape classification techniques in the assessment of the stability of the road-cut rock slopes. Structurally weak zones extending along and across the road section are identified as a lineament, and accordingly, slopes are chosen for in-depth analysis. Kinematic analysis signifies that wedge failure is observed to be the most common type of failure, while planar and toppling failures are observed at places. The rock blocks which are produced as a result of the intersection of different joint sets are mainly cubic, cubic-elongated and elongated in shape, whereas platy, platy-cubic and elongated-platy blocks are very less in proportion. Volume and surface area of rock blocks play a vital role in the movement of the blocks. The rock mass is observed to be nearly poor to fair in quality; however, the numerical simulation shows that the slopes MRS-1, MRS-5, and MRS-7 are critically stable.

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Acknowledgements

This paper is a part of the MSc dissertation work of the first author. We are thankful to the authorities of Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) for allowing this paper to be published. Acknowledgements are due to the Rock Science Rock Engineering (RSRE) group of the Department of Earth Science, IIT Bombay, Mumbai, for providing access to the lab facility. Thanks to Mr Mayur Shinde for his assistance in the field. DPM is thankful to the Department of Research Development Program of SPPU for providing financial support to carry out fieldwork.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, 411 007, India

    Saurabh Prakash Aher, Durga Prasanna Mohanty & Pranay Vilas Bhapkar

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, 247 667, India

    Saurabh Prakash Aher, Pranay Vilas Bhapkar & Sarada Prasad Pradhan

  3. Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, 400 076, India

    Vikram Vishal

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  1. Saurabh Prakash Aher
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  2. Durga Prasanna Mohanty
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  3. Pranay Vilas Bhapkar
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  4. Sarada Prasad Pradhan
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  5. Vikram Vishal
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Contributions

SPA: Fieldwork, methodology, numerical modelling, conceptualisation. DPM: Conceptualisation, writing – original draft, manuscript revision, supervision. PVB: Fieldwork, methodology and writing – original draft. SPP: Supervision, technical inputs, and revision of manuscript. VV: Methodology and supervision.

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Correspondence to Durga Prasanna Mohanty.

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Communicated by George Mathew

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Aher, S.P., Mohanty, D.P., Bhapkar, P.V. et al. Understanding the rock slope stability along Malshej Ghat, India, using rock mass characterisation and block shape classification techniques. J Earth Syst Sci 133, 81 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-024-02284-5

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