Rainfall triggers highway slope failures, endangering roads and communities.
Highway slopes built on clay soil can fail due to wet-dry cycles, causing cracks and weakening the soil. A study in Fort Worth, Texas looked at a failed slope and found that both soil softening and rainfall led to the failure. Tests showed that the slope was less stable when fully softened, with a safety factor of 1.46, and even less stable after rainfall, with a safety factor of 1.05.
