Rock Slope Stability Assessment of Limestone Hills in Northern Kinta Valley, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

The uniqueness of karsttopography in Kinta Valley lies with the spectacular shape of the steep-sided limestone towers. However, theinstability ofthese hillslopes may affect the vulnerability of the surrounding area. Thus, this study was conducted with the objective to investigate the failure modes of 9 slopes in the vicinity ofnorthernKinta Valley, Ipoh, Perak. There were two types of failure modes identified in the study area,which are planar and wedge failures. Planar failures were identified on slope GL3of Gunung Lang and slope GR3of Gunung Rapat with the dip direction and dip angle of 280⁰/79⁰ and 004⁰/ 64⁰ respectively. Two wedge failures were identified on slope QXL1of Qing Xing Ling, Taman Saikat with dip direction and dip angle of 252⁰/82⁰ and 302⁰/74⁰ respectively. A wedge failure was identified on slope GL3 for Gunung Lang, slope GR1, slope GR3 for Gunung Rapat and slope QXL2 for Qing Xing Ling,Taman Saikat. The dip direction and dip angle for the respective wedges failure were 345⁰/65⁰, 036⁰/ 49⁰, 006⁰/ 64⁰ and 025⁰/60⁰. No failure was identified on slope GL1, and slope GL2,forGunung Lang and slope GR2, and slope GR4forGunungRapat

ROCK SLOPE STABILITY ASSESSMENT OF LIMESTONE HILLS, SOUTHERN KINTA VALLEY, IPOH, PERAK, MALAYSIA

The uniqueness of the karst topography of Kinta Valley is the result of the spectacular shaped steep-sided limestone towers. The instability of these hillslopes however, may affect the vulnerability of the surrounding area. This paper presents the results of slope stability assessment by using kinematic analysis to investigate the possible failure modes of 7 slopes in Gua Naga Mas (GNM1, GNM2 and GNM3), Gua Kandu (GK1, GK2 and GK3) and Gua Tempurung (GT) located in the southern part of the Kinta Valley, Ipoh, Perak. From the results of the slope stability assessment, it was determined that planar failure and wedge failure were the main failure modes. The GNM1 slope of Gua Naga Mas consist of four wedge failures and a planar failure with dip directions/dip angles of 005⁰/54⁰, 354⁰/59⁰, 124⁰/52⁰, 360⁰/50⁰ and 063⁰/70⁰ respectively. The GNM2 slope consists of a wedge failure with the dip direction/dip angle of 021⁰/64⁰. Two wedge failures and a planar failure were identified on slope GNM3 with the respective dip directions/dip angles of 336⁰/49⁰, 301⁰/68⁰ and 270⁰/71⁰. The GK1 slope for Gua Kandu consists of wedge and planar failures with dip directions/dip angles of 231⁰/49⁰ and 217⁰/49⁰ respectively. The mode of failure at GK2 slope was identified as wedge failure with the dip direction/dip angle of 154⁰/44⁰. No mode of failure was identified on slope of GK3. Slope GT of Gua Tempurung was identified to have two wedge failures with dip directions/dip angles of 011⁰/49⁰ and 321⁰/48⁰ respectively

Stability assessment of limestone cave: Batu Caves, Selangor, Malaysia

The limestone hill of Batu Caves is slowly being turned into a recreation park for slope climbing, base jumping and cave exploring. Quantitative assessment on the stability of the cave is essential to ensure the safety of tourists and visitors. The aim of this study was to quantitatively assess the stability of Gua Damai, Batu Caves, Selangor, Malaysia by using the Q system for rock mass classification, together with other factors such as cave width and thickness of the cave roof. The stability of the limestone cave wall was evaluated using Slope Mass Rating (SMR). A discontinuity survey conducted along the slopes beneath the opening of the cave showed that the rock mass comprised of four major joint sets labeled as J1, J2, J3, and J4 with the dip directions and angles of 110˚/73˚, 325˚/87˚, 243˚/39˚ and 054˚/30˚, respectively. The result of kinematic analysis showed that the dip direction/dip angle of a potential wedge failure was 051˚/59˚. By referring to the ratio of cave roof thickness with cave width, the results showed that the cave is stable. Based on the relationship between Q system and the cave width, the stabilities of Section 4 of Gua Damai is stable while Section 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8 require supports. Based on SMR, the cave walls stability at Portion c, d, and f were not stable while Portion a, b, e and g were stable. Overall, the most stable part of the cave is Section 4 followed by Sections 5 and 2. Sections 1, 3 and 8 are moderately stable while Sections 6 and 7 have poor stability

A systematic approach of rock slope stability assessment: a case study at Gunung Kandu, Gopeng, Perak, Malaysia

The stability of the limestone cliff at Gunung Kandu, Gopeng, Perak, Malaysia was assessed based on the Slope Mass Rating (SMR) system on 53 cross sections of the Gunung Kandu hill slopes. The slopes of Gunung Kandu were identified as class I (very good) to IV (poor). The kinematic analysis showed that 12 out of 53 hill slopes of Gunung Kandu were identified as having potential wedge, planar and toppling failures. The assessment showed that the stability of the western flanks can be classified as stable to unstable with the probability of failure from 0.2 to 0.6. The stability of the eastern and southern flanks range from very stable to partially stable with the probability of failure from 0.0 to 0.4. While the stability of northern flanks are from very stable to stable with the probability of failure of 0.0 - 0.2. This systematic approach offers a practical method especially for large area of rock slope stability assessment and the results from probability of failure values will help engineers to design adequate mitigation measures

Uniaxial compressive strength of Antarctic Peninsula rocks: Schmidt hammer rebound test

The uniaxial compressive strength test is a destructive and time consuming test. A number of non-destructive methods using portable testing equipment are more applicable and easier to conduct. This paper presents the results of a systematic approach to determine the uniaxial compressive strength of rock material using the Schmidt hammer rebound test. A total of five distinct locations (Graham Coast, Davis Coast, Nanson Island, Danco Coast and Trinity Island) were tested using the Schmidt rebound hammer test. Peninsula Antarctic located at northwest of Antarctic region comprising of igneous and metamorphic rocks. Statistical analysis of the results at 95% confidence level showed the Schmidt rebound value of the Graham Coast ranges from 40±1.7 to 41±1.3 with standard deviation of 8.2 to 6.4. The rebound value for Davis Coast was 39±1.6 with standard deviation of 7.7. Rocks from Nanson Island and Danco Coast have the Schmidt rebound value of 54±1.7 with standard deviation of 8.0 and 36±1.3 with standard deviation of 6.2, respectively. The Schmidt rebound value of rocks at Trinity Island ranges from 29±1.4 to 32±1.7 with standard deviation of 6.8 to 8.1. Thus, the respective uniaxial compressive strengths of rock materials from Graham Coast, Davis Coast, Danco Coast, Nanson Island and Trinity Island were 73-108, 50, 59, 164 and 45-59 MPa. The respective ISRM strength classification of rock materials of Graham Coast, Davis Coast, Danco Coast, Nanson Island and Trinity Island were strong (R4) to very strong rock (R5), medium strong rock (R3), strong rock (R4), very strong rock (R5) and medium strong (R3) to strong rock (R4). The results showed a mean of quantification of rock material strength based on the Schmidt Hammer rebound test in Antarctic Peninsula