Numerical Modeling of a High Railway Embankment in Hilly Region

Slope stability is a critical concern in geotechnical engineering, particularly for railway embankments constructed in hilly regions. This study presents numerical analyses of a railway embankment section from an ongoing project in Churhat, Sidhi (Madhya Pradesh), adopting the on-site material properties. The focal point of this paper is the stability analyses of slopes, critical due to the substantial heights of railway embankments in the hilly and undulating terrains. The railway embankments were modeled to accommodate axle loads of 25T (250 kN) and 32.5T (325 kN) under a critical train speed of 160 Kmph. The study illustrates how loads propagate from rails to sleepers and subsequently to the embankments through ballast and blanket layers, revealing the development of mobilized acceleration and displacement of soil particles along the embankment length. Results indicated that with same occupancy of land at ground and same top width of embankment being maintained, the strategic inclusion of berms at the slope face would be beneficial and sustainable by saving of fill materials around 8.4%, while delivering stable slopes with factor of safety (FoS) more than 1.9.