PROBABILISTIC TREATMENT OF THE SLIDING WEDGE WITH EZSLIDE

Many of the variables that govern rock slope stability, the orientatio n of discontinuities, the strength parameters belonging to them and th e loading conditions, are random variables. Therefore, the safety fact or itself is a statistic. This paper analyzes the effect of parameter variability through the use of the Monte Carlo simulation technique. T o meet this goal, a Windows based program, EzSlide written in Visual B asic has been developed. EzSlide treats both the single and the multip le-wedge problem;and it is equipped with all the tools necessary to co nduct a probabilistic analysis of the sliding wedge. The capabilities of the Program are introduced through an application. The field data f or the demonstration comes from highway rock cuts along the TransCanad a Highway 17a near Kenora, Ontario. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.