Effect of environmental loads on silty slopes

Research Project, 2026 – 2029

There is currently no established method for including environmental effects, such as temperature and rainfall, when calculating how safe a slope is. These effects cause freezing/thawing and wetting/drying cycles, which weaken the resistance of soils, especially fine-grained soils that tend to creep over time. This has caused slope failures in silty soils in Sweden. Although methods exist in other countries to assess the effects of wetting/drying cycles on partially saturated slopes, Sweden lacks practical guidelines in this area. Additionally, the impact of freezing/thawing cycles and creep on slope stability is not well understood. To address these gaps, the project will use advanced simulations to study how these environmental effects impact slope stability. The goal is to develop a useful tool and practical guidance for addressing and quantifying the environmental loads' effects, specifically when evaluating slope stability in silty soils under Swedish climate conditions. The findings will also help improve understanding and develop training materials on how slopes stay stable under environmental conditions for use in MSc courses and continuous professional training programmes.