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Hydro-mechanical analysis of an infiltration-induced landslide along I-70 in Summit County, CO, The
Thunder, Barbara
Thunder, Barbara
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2016
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Abstract
An infiltration-induced landslide along I-70 in Summit County, CO has experience episodic movements dating to the construction of the original highway in the early 1970s. The seasonal movements of the highway embankment have continually caused damage to the road surface that cost the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) time and money to repair. To better characterize the active landslide and recommend more effective remediation options, a collaboration effort between CDOT, the Colorado School of Mines (CSM), and the USGS Landslide Hazards Program (USGS-LHP) was established in 2010. The work presented in this thesis is part of Phase II of the collaboration to explain the unique site hydrology and how it was affected the stability of the embankment through a hydro-mechanical analysis. Available hydrological data of the site includes stratigraphy data from multiple boreholes, four years of recorded water table behavior from four piezometers in the hillslope, soil hydrological properties from laboratory testing, and atmospheric data from a nearby SNOTEL site. This data was used along with concepts of flow through unsaturated soils to develop a seasonal conceptual model of the watershed hydrology and a 2D numerical model of the hydrology. Results from the simulation were used in a preliminary stability analysis to determine that a rise in the water table during summer months is the triggering mechanism of the landslide. The research concluded that the site history has created the unique hydrology that triggers instability in the slope and that the consideration of variably saturated hydrological conditions are vital in the analysis of infiltration-induced landslides.
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