Geotechnical characterization and risk analysis of urban slope instability in the city of Aracaju - Brazil

Abstract

Areas naturally characterized by the presence of hilly relief often marked by the irregular occupation of slopes and their surroundings. This fact, which increases the risk associated to mass gravitational movements. This paper presents a risk analysis of mass movements in 16 slopes in the city of Aracaju, capital of the state of Sergipe, Brazil, using a qualitative method. Geotechnical characterization of soils from of slopes selected for analysis of stability was carried using the OptumG2® software developed by Optum Computational Engineering using the Strength Reduction Method (SRM) to obtain the safety factor. The aim of this study is to conduct a systematic analysis, associating subjective landslide risk studies with rational studies on slope stability analysis. It was found that 50% of the slopes analyzed exhibited a high or very high degree of risk, justifying the landslide risk management policies in the city. Moreover, stability analyses produced coherent results in terms of slope stability, whereby slopes with high and very high risk were classified as unstable, while the slope deemed to be stable presents medium risk of mass movements