Soil Physical Properties as Predictors of Soil Strength Indices: Trinidad Case Study

Abstract

Characterizing soil engineering properties and analyzing their spatial pattern has a key role in managing soils for dif- ferent land uses. A study was conducted to generate two soil engineering properties; shear strength (SS) and friction angle (FA) both related to slope stability from the database of soil agricultural indices. A total of 30 soils were analyzed in two batches of 15 for physicochemical and engineering properties. The first batch was subjected to correlation and regression analysis among properties, whilst the second was used to validate model predictions. Soil friction angle showed strong significant correlations with clay and sand percent. Further stepwise regression resulted in these two properties being the only predictors of peak and residual friction angle. None of the tested properties explained shear strength distribution among the soils. The validated model predicted friction angles for the larger database, which showed non-significant temporal differences from the present dataset used in this study. Spatially distribution of both peak and residual friction angles varied across Trinidad, higher friction angles being associated with higher slopes. Combination of this data with other spatial land attributes would greatly improve land management and slope stability prediction

The SAFER geodatabase for the Kathmandu Valley: Geotechnical and geological variability

“…Compilation of geodatabases can help reduce geotechnical uncertainty for design and assessment (cf. Ching and Phoon, 2014;Kulhawy and Mayne, 1990;Roopnarine et al, 2012;Shepheard et al, 2019). A key study Piya (2004) compiled a database of 185 well logs and 328 shallow boreholes to produce a single knowledge base of geological information for the Kathmandu Valley.…”

Determining Characteristic Sand Shear Parameters of Strength via a Direct Shear Test

“…5). In some cases, strength values corresponding to a horizontal displacement of 5 mm can be considered to be the residual ones or those prior to the maximum values (Zydron, Zawisa 2011;Roopnarine et al 2012).…”

Minding the geotechnical data gap: appraisal of the variability of key soil parameters for slope stability modelling in Saint Lucia

“…The most landslide-prone areas, typically encompassing developing countries in sub-tropical and tropical climatic zones, are less well represented. On the other hand, more recently, studies based in developing countries are becoming available (e.g., Roopnarine et al 2012, Havaee et al 2015. Roopnarine et al (2012) reported the results of a study of Trinidadian soils and used soil physical properties to predict friction angle, reporting that the sand and clay fractions were the key predictors of residual and peak friction angle.…”

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