Vol. 5 No. 2 (2025)

View Issue TOC

Slope Stability Analysis of Road Embankments in the Mountainous Terrain of Eastern Equatoria, South Sudan

Aduot Madit Anhiem, Department of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Seri Iskandar 32610, Perak, Malaysia
Published: June 10, 2025

Abstract

Road embankment failures in the mountainous terrain of Eastern Equatoria, South Sudan, represent a persistent threat to regional connectivity, humanitarian access, and economic activity in one of sub-Saharan Africa's most geotechnically challenging environments. The region's steep escarpment terrain, deeply weathered tropical soils, intense monsoon rainfall (1,200–1,800 mm/year), and near-total absence of site investigation data have historically resulted in embankment designs based on empirical rules-of-thumb with no formal factor of safety analysis. This study presents the first systematic slope stability assessment of road embankments along five critical routes in Eastern Equatoria (Torit–Kapoeta, Nimule–Juba, Kapoeta–Narus, Chukudum–Budi, and Lafon–Moli corridors), encompassing 28 embankment cross-sections identified as unstable or potentially unstable through field reconnaissance. Geotechnical characterisation included Standard Penetration Tests (SPT, n = 86 boreholes), laboratory triaxial and direct shear tests, and soil classification per USCS. Slope stability was analysed using the Bishop Simplified Method and Spencer's Method within the Slide2 software package, for both dry-season and post-rainfall saturation conditions. Results indicate that 61% of assessed embankments have Factors of Safety (FS) below the critical threshold of 1.25 under post-rainfall conditions, with five sections recording FS < 1.0 (indicating active or imminent failure). A rainfall-triggered pore water pressure model calibrated to local piezometer data reveals that embankment FS drops by 28–45% within 48 hours of a 100 mm/day rainfall event. Stabilisation recommendations including geosynthetic reinforcement, drainage improvements, slope regrading, and soil nailing are evaluated through par

Full Text:

Read the Full Article

The HTML galley is loaded below for inline reading and better discovery.

How to Cite

Aduot Madit Anhiem (2025). Slope Stability Analysis of Road Embankments in the Mountainous Terrain of Eastern Equatoria, South Sudan. African Maintenance Engineering, Vol. 5 No. 2 (2025).

Keywords

slope stabilityroad embankmentEastern EquatoriaBishop Simplified MethodSpencer's Methodfactor of safetytropical soils

Research Snapshot

Desktop reading view
Language
EN
Formats
HTML + PDF
Publication Track
Vol. 5 No. 2 (2025)
Current Journal
African Maintenance Engineering

References