Method for synchronisation of soil and root behaviour for assessment of stability of vegetated slopes

The stability of vegetated terraces in a study area in Spain is used as a case study to demonstrate the proposed methodology and to compare the results with the traditional use of the perpendicular root reinforcement model. The results of the study show that as the shear displacement (strain) increases, the stress is transferred from the soil that provides most of the resistance at low strains onto the roots that provide the most of the resistance to shear at high strains. Including this behaviour in the overall resistance to failure of the root-soil continuum resulted in a more conservative and realistic assessment of the stability of a vegetated slope immediately after a precipitation event when a progressive failure is most likely to be triggered.