STABILITY ASSESSMENT OF ROAD CUT SLOPES q USING SMR TECHNIQUE

Abstract

Road and highway networks play a huge role in Himalayan region transportation and other all type of soclo-economic activities. The stability of rock slopes along the roads and highways is a pertinent question as slope failure may lead to unwanted consequences such as human or property loss. Disruption in traffic is a daily issue in these terrains. The present study is carried out in Rishikesh - Devprayag road section (NH 58) which is one of the busiest roads connecting many holy places like Haridwar, Rishikesh, Devprayag, Badrinath. Slope Mass Rating (SMR) is an empirical system used to measure stability of slopes based on RMR and four corrective parameters. SMR is a quick method, which gives some rating value according to stability of slopes. Some mitigation steps could be taken for slopes having low stability and unwanted consequences can be avoided. In the present study, detail analysis of geological discontinuities were employed on road cut slope faces along NH 58 in Garhwal Himalayas to be used for rock mass classification for Rock Mass Rating (RMR) and Slope Mass Rating (SMR) to assess the slope stability.