Study of the instability mechanisms in a slope of unsaturated sandy soil located in highway Luiz Augusto de Oliveira (SP 215 - Km 181)

• Grant number: 12/19776-6
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: May 01, 2013
• End date: October 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Civil Engineering - Geotechnical Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Oswaldo Augusto Filho
• Grantee: Oswaldo Augusto Filho
• Host Institution: Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• City of the host institution: São Carlos
• Associated researchers: Mariana Alher Fernandes

Abstract

In the last years, the frequency of landslides is increasing in entire Brazilian territory. These processes have induced different kind of damages to the population that live near of the slopes. The landslides are controlled by natural factors and they can be directly triggered by a wide range of the human influences. In Brazil, the researches available about this topic are concentrated in areas with crystalline rocks and soils associated, mainly for the slopes located in the Serra do Mar, Southeast region. In view of that, this framework indicates that it is necessary to improve the studies for areas with other types of geological formation and soils. The main objective of this research is to study and to improve the theoretical and empirical models that relate the rainfall, the degree of saturation and landslide triggering in a sandy residual soil of sedimentary rocks (sandstone). This research will use some techniques for the field investigations and laboratory tests in this slope, such as: surface and subsurface exploration (topographic survey, soil sampling, hand auger drilling), field and laboratory tests (determination of the soil physical index, triaxial compression test, unsaturated soil shear strength, permeability), field instrumentation and monitoring (pluviometer, piezometer and tensiometer). In the sequence, the data and the parameters obtained in the field and in the laboratory stages will be utilized in a program of slope stability (deterministic methods) to evaluate the level of slope stability. The area of study covers a section of cutting slope composed of a sandy soil in the unsaturated condition and located in the city of Ribeirão Bonito, SP. (AU)