Engineering geology assessment
of El-Rabweh landslide, south-east
of Amman City, Jordan
Ali El-Naqa
Abstract The paper focuses on the geological and
geotechnical characteristics of the area of the El-
Rabweh landslide, south-east of Amman City. From
the topography, geology and climate of the area, it is
apparent that the landslide has taken place mainly
due to the presence of a quarry, the actual slide
occurring during the abnormally wet winter of 1991/
1992. The stability of the landslide area has been
assessed using limit equilibrium analysis and stere-
onets. The shear strength parameters were both
determined by direct shear measurements and cal-
culated from the RMR and Q values obtained using
extensive eld data.
Resume Cet article presente les caracteristiques
geologiques et geotechniques du glissement de El-
Rabweh, au sud-est de la ville d'Amman. L'examen
de la topographie, la geologie et la climatologie de la
zone indique clairement que le glissement a eu lieu
principalement a cause de la presence d'une car-
riere, durant la saison d'hiver 1991/1992, particu-
lierement humide. La stabilite de la zone de
glissement a ete evaluee d'apres la theorie des itself and in its vicinity. The results were interpreted with
equilibres limites et en utilisant la projection
stereographique. Les parametres de resistance au
cisaillement ont ete a la fois obtenus par des essais
de cisaillement direct et calcules a partir des valeurs
des coefcients RMR et Q resultant de nombreuses
donnees de terrain.
Keywords Landslides Rainfall Man-induced
RMR/Q system Jordan
Received: 13 July 1999 / Accepted: 2 December 2000
Published online: 17 May 2001
Springer-Verlag 2001
A. El-Naqa
Hashemite University, Institute of Lands,
Water and Environment,
Department of Water Management and Environment,
P.O. Box 150459, Zarqa 13115, Jordan
e-mail: elnaqa@hu.edu.jo
Mots cles Glissements Pluie Actions
anthropiques Indice RMR Coefcient Q
Jordanie
Introduction
The study area (El-Rabweh landslide) is located to the
south-west of Jabal Al-Naser, east of Amman City, Jordan
(Fig. 1). The topography is characterised by steep south-
west-trending slopes in which a vertical quarry some 30 m
high has been cut. As a consequence, the disturbed mass
poses an enormous danger to the residents of the buildings
both at the top and on the lower parts of the El Rabweh
landslide.
The landslide occurred during heavy rainfall in the winter
of 1991/1992. The engineering geological assessment of the
slope stability was based on the discontinuity mapping
conducted on the rock exposures both within the landslide
the aid of stereographic projection techniques. In addition,
a geotechnical investigation of the landslide was under-
taken including boreholes and laboratory tests to establish
the shear strength parameters for the soft materials. Other
tests, such as particle size analysis, Atterberg limits, uni-
axial compressive strength and direct shear tests were also
undertaken.
Topography and climate
The study area is surrounded by hilly mountainous ter-
rain to the south, east and west. As a consequence, surface
water drains inward to the Wadi Huneikin (Fig. 1). It then
ows to the north-north-west where it joins the seil
Amman, the main water course in the area. The mor-
phology of the study area is largely articial due to
quarrying. The area of interest has a predominantly
Mediterranean climate characterised by hot dry summers
and cool to cold rainy winters. The annual rainfall is re-
lated to the orographic effects of the topography and
hence decreases eastwards. The mean annual rainfall for
DOI 10.1007/s100640100111 Bull Eng Geol Env (2001) 60:109116 109
 A. El-Naqa

Fig. 1
Location of the study area

Table 1
Long-term average monthly rainfall and the corresponding amount
Local geology
measured in winter 1991/1992
The eld survey of the exposed rocks within the landslide
Month Long-term average Rainfall in Percent of and in the surrounding area was undertaken to establish
rainfall (mm) 1991/1992 (mm) normal (%)
the different lithological, geological and structural fea-
October 6.9 4.7 68 tures. The eld examination also provided an opportu-
November 28.4 35 123 nity to appreciate the geotechnical characteristics of the
December 49.1 166.4 33 landslide area and to collect samples for laboratory
January 62.6 112.1 179
February 57.3 200.0 349 testing. The study area can be divided into two parts:
March 48.5 15.7 32 the unstable landslide area and the stable area around the
April 13.6 10 73 abandoned quarry to the south-east and east of the
May 3.2 6 192 landslide. The topography of the landslide itself is rela-
Total 269.6 549.9
tively irregular, the difference in elevation between the
highest and lowest points being some 11 m. In the area
of the landslide the bedrock is covered by immature soils
and colluvium with a thickness of 0.20.3 m. These re-
the last 20 years as recorded at the nearest rain-measuring cent deposits consist of angular fragments of chert and
station (Amman airport) is some 270 mm. In 1991/1992, limestones.
the measured rainfall was approximately 550 mm, the The different bedrocks exposed in the area are shown on
largest recorded precipitation for the last 60 years. the general geological map (Fig. 2). The Wadi Sir For-
Table 1 shows the long-term average monthly rainfall, the mation (A7) is the oldest (Tournian age) and is exposed
rainfall in 1991/1992 and indicates this as a percentage of over much of the southern part of the area. It consists of
the mean long-term conditions. This high intensity of thickly bedded, strong, white, micro-crystalline lime-
rainfall in 1991/1992, particularly in December, January stone, although at the top of the abandoned quarry the
and February 1992, triggered numerous landslides and beds are thin to medium (100300 mm) and in places are
exacerbated other forms of ground failure in different interdigitated with clayey marls approximately 50 mm
parts of Jordan. thick.

110 Bull Eng Geol Env (2001) 60:109116


The Wadi Sir Formation is overlain by the Wadi Ghu-
dran Formation (B1). This is of Tournian-Campanian
age and consists of approximately 20 m of interbedded
marls, chalky marls and chalk. The lowest bed, some
1 m thick, is a greenish grey, occasionally red, clay-like
material. The Amman Formation (B2) of Campanian age
is the most widespread bedrock unit in the study area.
This formation consists predominantly of limestones,
silicied limestones, chert, phosphate-bearing strata and
impure limestone.
In the study area the alluvial and supercial deposits
which overlie the Amman Formation can be separated
into three main types: (1) articial ll materials con-
sisting of silty clay with gravels and cobble-sized frag-
ments of limestones and cherts, believed to be builders'
rubble; (2) alluvial deposits laid down from ood waters
and consisting of silty clays with gravel and cobble-sized
fragments of limestone; and (3) the in situ red-brown
oxidised Mediterranean soils in which there are gravel
and cobble-sized fragments of the underlying limestone
bedrock.
The northerly dip of the different rock formations
varies between 16 and 25, being steepest in the vicinity
of the landslide. Small faults are present within the
Wadi Sir Formation. The rock formations are jointed
and fractured, the Amman Formation in particular be-
ing characterised by a high intensity of fractures and
joints.
Engineering geology assessment of El-Rabweh landslide
Fig. 2
Generalised geological map of the study area
Geotechnical investigation
The investigation undertaken can be summarised as follows:
1. Geotechnical mapping including the geology of the area
together with the geometry of the landslide and struc-
tural features of the rock masses.
2. Sub-surface investigations using boreholes with de-
tailed geotechnical logging in order to identify the soil
and rock formations at depth and to obtain quantitative
data to be used in the stability analysis.
3. Geotechnical mapping of the discontinuities and char-
acterisation of the rock mass by means of engineering
classications.
4. Field tests such as the Schmidt hammer rebound test
and point load test to measure the intact strength of the
rock and shape tracer tools to determine the co-efcient
of roughness.
5. Laboratory testing, including moisture content, Atter-
berg limits, grain size analysis, unconned compressive
strength and direct shear strength measurements.
The sub-surface investigation involved drilling four bore-
holes in the area of the landslide (Fig. 2). Boreholes 1 and
4 were drilled at the top of the landslide and extended to a
depth of 40 m while boreholes 2 and 3 at the toe of the
slide extended to only 15 m (Remal Consulting Engineers
1994). The deeper boreholes penetrated rock formations
B1 in the upper part of the landslide and A7 in the lower
part while boreholes 2 and 3 at the toe of the landslide
Bull Eng Geol Env (2001) 60:109116 111
 A. El-Naqa

encountered only the A7 Formation. No free water was
encountered in any of the four boreholes.
In order to obtain the most appropriate parameters,
samples were tested both for their in situ moisture
content and in a saturated condition. The natural mois-
ture contents ranged from 0.5% in the limestones to 27%
in the marly limestone. As shown in Table 2, the liquid
limits vary between 30 and 60% and the plastic limits
between 17 and 36%, with the plasticity index ranging
from 9 to 24 for the silty clay, marl and ne portion of
the marly limestone. When the liquid and plastic limits
are plotted on a Casagrande plasticity diagram (Fig. 3), a
number of the samples fall below the A-line, which
indicates that 60% of the materials can be classied as
ML-CL (silty-clay) with low plasticity, 20% as ML-OL
(silt-organic silty clay with low plasticity ranging between
30 and 50%) and 20% as MH-OH (silt-clays with high
plasticity >50%). The inconsistency of the Atterberg
limits and the clay fraction or the silt/sand fraction is due
to variations within the lithology.
Unconned compressive strength (UCS) tests were un-
dertaken on clay, marl, marly limestone and limestone
samples and gave values ranging from 0.32 MPa for the
silty clay to 43.8 MPa for the limestone. In addition, direct
shear tests were carried out on samples from boreholes 1
at 18 m and 4 at 31 m using stress ranges of 100300 kPa.
The test results for the clayey marl material indicated that
the friction angle (/) decreased from 24 in the natural
condition to 11 in the saturated condition, while the co-
hesion dropped from 40 kPa in the natural condition to
5 kPa in the saturated state.
Wadi Sir Formation (A7) where 105 measurements were
taken.
The discontinuity survey was carried out along a hori-
zontal scan line on the rock face with the length ranging
from 410 m. The processing of the data was carried out
using the computer program STEREO (RockWare Inc.
1990). The orientation data are provided as poles to great
circles plotted on the lower hemisphere in Fig. 4. This
shows that the concentration of the joints is relatively
scattered in the Wadi Sir (A7) rock mass (Fig. 4a). The
major set of joints (K1) is dipping north-eastwards at 50/
57. The second set dip towards the south-east at 130/78.
The K3 set dip north-west at 240/62 while the K4 set
have a similar orientation (210/72). The random distri-
bution of the joint systems within the Wadi Sir Forma-
tion indicates an absence of interrelationships between
the joint distribution and the joints recorded in the Wadi
Ghudran Formation (B1) in which the main landslide
occurred.
Figure 4b demonstrates that the joint system of the B1
(Wadi Ghudran) rock mass has three main sets. The major
sets show a south-south-east dip (K1, 190/60) and south-
west (K2, 240/62) direction, while the third set (K3) is
restricted to a westerly direction (280/30). The joints in
the A7 limestone are marked with slickensided surfaces.
Most of the joint openings are inlled with calcite, except a
joint zone at the southern boundary of the landslide where
the openings sometimes reach 100 mm.

Discontinuity analysis
In the area investigated the main structural features
identied were joints, faults, dipping strata and slicken-
sided surfaces. The geometry of these surfaces was mea-
sured in the eld and recorded on stereographic nets. Two
sets of measurement were made: (1) in the Wadi Ghudran Fig. 3
(B1) exposed in the side slope of the landslide area where Plasticity chart for classication of ne-grained soils from Atterberg
252 measurements were taken; and (2) in the underlying limits using the unied classication system

Table 2
Grain size analysis and Atterberg limits of representative samples. n.d. Not determined; LL liquid limit; PL plastic limit; PI plasticity index
Borehole Depth Lithology Water content Sand Silt Clay LL PL PI
no. (m) (%) (%) (%) (%) (wl) (wp) (Ip)

1 2.6 Crushed marlstone 15 25 61 15 32 17 15

1 4.9 Silty clay 17 15 73 12 30 21 9
1 6.9 Marlstone n.d. 20 70 10 34 18 16
1 8.5 Weak marl n.d. 11 56 33 46 24 22
1 22.8 Chalky marl 3 15 76 9 40 27 13
3 7.5 Silty clay 9 11 48 41 60 36 24
3 11.2 Clayey marl n.d. 18 71 11 44 23 22
4 27.4 Marlstone 26 10 74 16 43 30 13
4 28.1 Silty marlstone 27 5 53 42 56 36 20
4 33.0 Marlstone with clay marl 16 12 84 4 35 26 9

112 Bull Eng Geol Env (2001) 60:109116

 Engineering geology assessment of El-Rabweh landslide

Rock mass characterisation
The rock masses studied were evaluated according to the
geomechanical classication systems of Barton et al.
(1974), who proposed the Q system, and the rock mass
rating (RMR) system, proposed by Bieniawski (1989). The
RMR uses six main parameters: the UCS of the intact rock,
the RQD, the discontinuity spacing, the discontinuity
condition, the groundwater and the orientation of the
discontinuities. The RMRs for the Wadi Ghudran landslide
material (B1) and the Wadi Sir (A7) stable material are
summarised in Table 3. It will be noted that the B1 ma-
terial, composed mainly of chalky marl, has a RMR of 42
while the A7 material has an RMR of 62, suggesting a good
to very good quality rock.

Table 3
Classication of rock masses according to Bieniawski's geomechanics
classication system
Parameter Wadi Ghudran Wadi Sir
(B1) (A7)

1. Intact strength rating 2 7

2. RQD rating 3 17
3. Spacing rating 10 8
4. Discontinuity conditions
4.1 Length rating 6 6
4.2 Aperture rating 1 4
4.3 Roughness rating 3 3
4.4 Filling rating 2 2
4.5 Weathering rating 5 5
5. Groundwater 10 10
6. Orientation of discontinuity 0 0
RMR 42 62
Class Fair Good
Cohesion of rock mass (kPa) 210 310
Friction angle () 26 36

Table 4
Classication of rock masses according to Barton Q system
Parameter Wadi Ghudran Wadi Sir
(B1) (A7)

1. RQD 25 85
2. Joint set number (Jn) 9 15
3. Joint roughness number (Jr) 3 3
4. Joint alteration number (Ja) 0.75 0.75
5. Joint water reduction number (Jw) 0.66 0.66
6. Stress reduction factor (SRF) 1.0 1.0
Fig. 4a, b Q value 7.3 15.0
Stereonet diagram of mapping discontinuities in a the Wadi Sir (A7) Class Fair Good
rock mass and b Wadi Ghudrain (B1) rock mass

Fig. 5
Geological cross section used in the stability
analysis

Bull Eng Geol Env (2001) 60:109116 113

 A. El-Naqa

The Q system evaluates the rock quality (Q) on the basis of: sion and deformation modulus). These represent intrinsic
RQD, joint set number (Jn), joint roughness number (Jr), characteristics of the rock masses, which then depend on
joint alternation number (Ja), joint water reduction (Jw) the structural condition. The cohesion can be determined
and stress reduction factor (SRF). The results are shown in from the following relationship:
Table 4 and again indicate B1 to be only a fair quality rock
but a good quality rock for the Wadi Sir material. C 5  RMRb kPa
where RMRbis the basic RMR which is not corrected for
discontinuity orientation.
The angle of internal friction can be derived from the
Shear strength parameters following relationship (Bieniawksi 1989):
of the rock masses / 5 RMRb =2
The derived values for friction and cohesion are given in
The RMR can be used to derive the shear strength and Table 3. These values were used to assess the kinetic fail-
deformation of the rock masses (i.e. friction angle, cohe- ure conditions of the rock mass encountered on the site of
the landslide.
Table 5
Geotechnical properties of different materials involved in stability
analysis
Material type cd
(kN/m3)
cs
(kN/m3)
c
(kPa)
/
()
Stability analysis
Chalky marl 17 23 20 20 Different methods can be used to assess the stability of
Marl 14 18 15 20 rock and/or soil slopes the selection of a suitable method
Clayey marl 22 27 5 11 being primarily a function of the availability of geotech-
Chalk and marly limestone 17 23 210 26 nical data. In the present study, two methods were used to
Marly limestone 26 27 310 36
check the accuracy of the analysis: the analytical method

Fig. 6
The most critical failure surfaces generated
by computer under a dry and b saturated
conditions

114 Bull Eng Geol Env (2001) 60:109116

 Engineering geology assessment of El-Rabweh landslide

Fig. 7 Limit equilibrium method

Stereonet diagrams of discontinuities and stability assessment of rock The modelling of the slope stability was undertaken using
masses
the computer program PC-STABL5 (Achilleos 1990). In the
using limit equilibrium techniques and the stereographic slope modelling, the slope geometry, loadings, geotechnical
projection technique. properties of the materials and groundwater conditions

Bull Eng Geol Env (2001) 60:109116 115

 A. El-Naqa
should be dened to assess the stability conditions (Nash
1987). An attempt is made to undertake analysis in terms of
shear strength and geometrical parameters. A geological
cross section representing the slope in the landslide area was
used for the assessment of the stability (Fig. 5). The shear
strength parameters were obtained from the direct shear test
on samples from the potential shear. The shear strength
values are given in Table 5. As no indication of the
groundwater was obtained during the drilling of the bore-
hole, the ground was assumed to be unsaturated, although it
was decided to establish a factor of safety assuming satu-
rated conditions.
The factor of safety was determined using the Bishop and
the simplied Janbu methods. A circular slip surface was
assumed in the analysis. With the PC-STABL5 program,
ten critical failure surfaces can be determined from which
the user can choose the most critical surface, i.e. that
which has the lowest factor of safety. A number of different
computer runs were carried out to calculate the factor of
safety under dry and saturated conditions (Fig. 6). Under
dry conditions the factor of safety was found to be 1.096
while under saturated conditions the slope had a factor of
safety of only 0.96. This supports the contention that in the
dry state the slope is marginally stable but that it becomes
unstable in wet conditions.
Stereographic projection
The stability was also checked using stereographic pro-
jection, with the shear strength parameters of the rock
mass derived using Bieniawski's geomechanical system as
described above. The geometrical analyses of potential
failure models were based on congurations obtained
during the eld examination. The stereonet analysis of the
structural data revealed the possible direction of failure.
The graphical stereographic techniques proposed by
Markland (1972) and Hoek and Bray (1981) were adopted
to determine the kinematic feasibility failure condition.
The principle of this analysis is based on the comparison
of the dip and dip direction of the intersection line of the
wedge-planes with that of the slope angle and the surface
friction angle of the discontinuities. The various discon-
tinuity sets were plotted as poles and as great circles on the
Schmidt net. With this study it was possible to examine the
potential instability that would result due to plane and
wedge failures and to calculate the factor of safety. In the
analysis, it was assumed that the dip direction and dip
values of the slope face were 240/75.
Figure 7 shows the stable and unstable areas with respect
to the discontinuity orientation and slope face directions
(free face). It can be seen that it would be kinematically
possible for rock sliding within the B1 rock mass to take
place along the discontinuity planes 1, 2 and 3 with factors
of safety of 0.31, 0.28 and 0.92 respectively. Wedge failure
is also feasible along intersection planes I12, I13 and I23
towards the south-west, which have factors of safety of
0.36, 0.04 and 1.35 respectively. For the A7 rock mass, the
potential block sliding is likely to take place along plane 3,
where the factor of safety is only 0.52. Wedge sliding is
also kinematically feasible along the intersection planes I23
and I34 with factors of safety of 1.38 and 0.99.
116 Bull Eng Geol Env (2001) 60:109116
The factors of safety of the block and wedge sliding given
above have been calculated using the mathematical models
of Hoek and Bray (1981), hence they cannot be directly
compared with the stereonet assessment.
Conclusions
From eld observations, investigation and geotechnical
mapping, the main causes of instability in the studied area
of the El Rabweh landslide are as follows:
1. Excavation of material in a quarry to provide con-
struction material, which weakened the support at the
toe of the hill slope.
2. The presence of vertical and oblique discontinuities
which reduce the shear strength to a low value.
3. The geotechnical characteristics of the friable marls
which formed the landslide material which in part have
suffered tectonic deformation.
4. The outward dip of the beds into the quarry face,
providing an obvious situation for potential failure.
5. The percolation of water during the rainy season into
the joints and fractures which have dilated due to the
reduction of stress when the toe of the hill was removed
during the quarry.
In view of the type of mechanism, it is advised that:
1. The excavation of materials in the quarry area should
be minimised.
2. The construction of new buildings in the vicinity of the
landslide should be avoided.
3. The percolation of storm and foul water into the frac-
tures or joints should be prevented by collecting them
in a drainage system.
4. A means of supporting the toe should be provided, such
as a retaining wall or gabions.
References
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Bieniawski ZT (1989) Engineering rock mass classication. Wiley,
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