Experimental and numerical investigation of the stability of overhanging riverbanks

► We present an integrated laboratory and numerical study of cantilever failures. ► In this laboratory study, the dominant failure mechanism is observed to be toppling. ► Numerical modeling of triaxial tests shows that the Mohr-Coulomb model has a better agreement for ML than CL soil types. ► The magnitude of cantilever displacement is highly sensitive to elastic modulus but relatively insensitive to Poisson's ratio. ► All failures take place in greater upper width than undermining depth.