ABSTRACT
Pile driving adjacent to or in slopes can trigger landslides, specifically in marginally stable slopes and in the presence of sensitive soil deposits. Slope failure incidents due to pile driving have been reported in countries such as Norway, Sweden and Canada where soft sensitive clay deposits are prevalent. However, the failure mechanisms involved in such incidents are not well studied nor understood. Furthermore, the methods currently used to estimate the reduction in the slope’s factor of safety during pile driving lack scientific consensus. This paper describes how pile driving can reduce slope stability by means of empirical relations and analytical solutions from soil mechanics as well as numerical analysis.
