Rainfall-induced landslides in Singapore

D. G. Toll, School of Engineering, University of Durham

Minor, shallow landslides have occurred frequently on
the island of Singapore. However, very few major land-
slides (greater than 10 min height) have occurred. Slope
failures in the sedimentary Jurong and granitic Bukit
Timah formations have occurred largely on slopes with
angles greater than or equal to 278. It is clear that rainfall
has been the dominant triggering event for landslides
in Singapore. Observations of past landslide events
suggest that a total rainfall of 100 mm within a six-day
period is sufficient for minor landslides to take place. The
equivalent condition for major landslides would appear
to be 320 mm within 16 days but this is based on very
limited data.
1. INTRODUCTION
Minor, shallow landslides have occurred frequently on the
island of Singapore, particularly as urban development has
greatly increased since the 1970s.
1
Very few major landslides
have occurred although details of nine major landslides are
tabulated in this paper. Also in this paper, some observations
are made of the slope angles at which failure has been
observed. In addition, the rainfall patterns preceding landslide
events in Singapore have been examined to identify the
amount of rainfall that would be expected to lead to landslide
occurrence.
2. THE CLIMATE AND GEOLOGYOF SINGAPORE
The climate of Singapore is hot and humid all year round. The
temperature varies little throughout the year with an annual
average temperature of 26?68C. The average annual rainfall in
Singapore varies between 1600 mm and 2500 mm.
2
Tropical residual soils cover almost two-thirds of Singapore
Island. They are derived mainly from the weathering of the
sedimentary Jurong and granitic Bukit Timah formations
(Fig. 1). The Jurong residual soils exist as interbedded layers of
predominantly medium plasticity clayey silt, sandy clay and
clayey to silty sand materials.
3
The Bukit Timah residual soil
varies from silty or clayey sands to silty or sandy clays
(depending on the degree of weathering) but is commonly
Briefing
Proceedings of the Institution of
Civil Engineers
Geotechnical Engineering 149
October 2001 Issue 4
Pages 211^216
Paper 12138
Keywords:
failures/weather
A
Tanjong Ged
Mu
Pas
ault
int
formation formation
Fig. 1. Generalised geological map of Singapore (from Pitts)
3
Geotechnical Engineering 149 Issue 4 Briefing Toll 211
sandy clayey silt.
4
Some shear strength properties of the
residual soils of Singapore are summarised in Table 1. For the
Jurong soils, average values for f are normally 27358. For
the Bukit Timah soils, average values are 30328.
3. SLOPE HEIGHTS AND SLOPE ANGLES
A small number of major landslides (greater than 10 m in
height) have been reported in Singapore. A brief description of
each of these landslides is given in Table 2.
Pitts,
2, 5
Chatterjea
6
and Li
7
have mapped the occurrence of
minor landslides at the Nanyang Technological University
(NTU) campus in Jurong up to 1995. These have normally
occurred as spates of landslides associated with periods of
heavy rain. A total of 108 slides have been recorded.
8
Only one
of these failed slopes had slope angles less than 278 (Fig. 2).
Data for 35 slope failures taken from Pitts,
2
Tan et al.,
1, 9
Lo et al.,
10
Wei et al.,
11
and Li
7
have been plotted as slope
angle against slope height in Fig. 3. This does not show any
clear relationship between slope angle and slope height.
However, virtually all the failed slopes show slope angles
greater than or equal to 278. Only one slope (Hillview Estate)
failed at a lower slope angle (13?58). It should be noted that this
is an average slope angle reported by Tan et al.
1
It is possible
that failure could have been initiated within a steeper part of
the slope.
4. THE EFFECTOF RAINFALL
It is clear that rainfall has been the dominant triggering event
for landslides in Singapore. The major slips have occurred
during periods of very heavy rainfall (>100 mm/day). Similarly,
the studies of minor landslides on the NTU campus show spates
of landslides occurring after unusually wet periods.
There has been some discussion as to the role of antecedent
rainfall (i.e. the rainfall in the days leading up to the event) as
opposed to the daily rainfall at the time the event occurred.
Brand
19
suggested that antecedent rainfall was not a signicant
factor for landslides in Hong Kong. However, for the less
permeable soils of Singapore it does have a major effect.
1, 7, 12
Lumb
13
used a 15-day period to quantify antecedent rainfall for
Hong Kong. However, Chatterjea
6
and Li
7
have suggested that
such a long period is inappropriate for the rainfall pattern in
Singapore. They adopted periods of ve and six days
respectively. Data from Chatterjea,
6
Wei et al.,
11
Li
7
and Yang
and Tang
15
are plotted in Fig. 4 to show the effect of ve-day
antecedent rainfall. Data from Tan et al.,
1
Pitts,
2
Li
7
and Yang
and Tang
5
have been plotted in Fig. 5 for 15-day antecedent
rainfall. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to plot all
events on both plots as the cases have generally been reported
using either one or the other period.
Figure 4 shows that some minor landslides have occurred
after heavy one-day rainfalls with little antecedent rainfall
References Geological formation
(location)
Description Depth range: m Effective cohesion,
c (kPa)
Average (range)
Effective angle of
friction, f (8)
Average (range)
6 Jurong
(NTU Campus)
Sandy silty clay 1?25^7?45 31 (19^50)
15 tests
27 (24^40)
10 tests
7 Jurong
(NTU Campus)
Silty clay 0?2^0?5 95
1 test
35
1 test
8 Jurong
(NTU Campus)
Silty clay 0?2^0?5 20 (15^22)
4 tests
27
1 test
9 Jurong
(Pulau Ayer Chawan)
Sandy clayey silt 12
18 tests
35
18 tests
9 Jurong
(Pulau Pesak and
Pulau Seraya)
Clayey silt 17
36 tests
28
36 tests
10 Jurong Weathered sandstone 6 32
10 Jurong Shale (20^25) (20^26)
11 Jurong Sandstone/ siltstone boulders,
cobbles and gravel in a silty
clay matrix
(5^100) 28 (17^46)
11 Jurong Silty clay/clayey silt (10^65) (17^36)
12 Gombak Norite
(Bukit Batok)
Clayey silt/ sandy silt 0^16 11 (3^33)
100 tests
36 (25^45)
100 tests
13 Bukit Timah
(Lorong Terigu)
0^21 15 (0^40)
7 tests
32 (30^35)
7 tests
11 Bukit Timah Silty clay/clayey silt (0^125) 30 (13^36)
5 Bukit Timah Sandy silty clay/sandy clayey
silt
(0^42)
17 tests
(20^36)
12 tests
Table 1. Summary of shear strength parameters for Singapore residual soils
212 Geotechnical Engineering 149 Issue 4 Briefing Toll
Landslide Date Height Angle Comments Ground conditions References
Tanjong Gul Pre
1972
25 m 308 A benched cut slope. The slide took place in the upper part of the slope
and affected about 60 m of the slope length. A vertical backscarp of about
2 m was formed and bulging took place at the toe
Volcanic agglomerate, and shale and residual soils. The rocks
were dipping steeply in the same direction as the cut
1
Hillview Estate 1982,
1983,
1984
22 m 13?58 The first major mass movement started in December 1982 due to
fracture of a water pipe, possibly caused by earlier minor movements.
Further major movements occurred in March 1983 and March 1984
during heavy rainfall. The landslide involved about 50 000 m
3
of material
Residual soils derived from Gombak Norite and colluvium
with some recent deposits (Kallang formation) being found
at the toe. Failure probably occurred very close to the
contact between the residual soil and the underlying
weathered norite
1
Depot Road 1978,
1984
40 m 298 A slope on the northern ridge of Mount Faber. A shallow slip occurred
mid-slope in December 1978. The slope was originally benched. A major
slide (in the form of a flow) occurred in March 1984 after a period of
heavy rainfall
The crest of the slope was fill material. The failure occurred
in the bench and resulted in disaggregation of the fill
material which then developed into a debris flow
14
1
Fort Canning 1984 40 m 348 Occurred in Fort Canning Park during heavy rain in March 1984. The
failure surface was shallow, about 3 m below the ground surface, but
about 1500 m
2
of the slope started to move. Ground anchors were used
to stabilise the slope
Residual soils (Grade VI) formed from the sedimentary
Jurong formation
1
Gillman Heights 1985 17 m 348 A cut slope for the Ayer Rajah Expressway at Gillman Heights showed signs
of instability in December 1985. The slope was stabilised using soil nails
Medium dense to dense residual soils (Grade IV and V)
derived from the sedimentary rocks of the Jurong formation
1
Admiralty Road 1987 A road cutting. The slope had been recently cut and graded during road
widening. The initial failure occurred during a nine day wet period with a
total rainfall of 413 mm. The slope failed in five places, two of which involved
the whole length of the slope. The slope was regraded but failed repeatedly,
each time after a period of heavy rainfall
Fill material of weathered granite overlying deeply
weathered in-situ granite
6
Lorong Terigu 24 m 278 This is part of the cut slopes formed during the construction of the Bukit
Timah Diversion Canal. Since construction in the early 1970s a number of
slips have occurred along the canal length with Lorong Terigu being the
largest. The slip surface was found to be 5 to 6 m below ground surface at
its deepest point
Loose to medium dense clayey silt near the surface, becoming
very dense below 25 m. Standard Penetration Test (SPT) values
varied from less than 10 near the surface to over 50 below
25 m. A weaker zone was observed at around 5 m depth
9
Central business
district
17?8 m 538 A number of slope failures occurred during the construction of a
substantial excavation site in the central business district in Singapore.
This was the highest slope to fail
Weathered sandstones and shales of the Jurong formation
(Rimau facies). Degree of weathering changed from highly to
slightly weathered within the top 10 m. The strata dipped
steeply back into the slopes. The shale had softened during
heavy rainfall
10
Bukit Batok/
Bukit Gombak
1989 40 m 278 A cut slope at the Bukit Batok sports complex that failed after heavy rain. A
backscar of 4 to 6 m was formed by the slide and about 100 m of slope was
affected. The slide was 56 m from toe to crest and the maximum depth to
the failure surface was 8?5 m. There was continuous rainfall for three days
prior to the failure (151 mm in total), but the slope failed about 24 h after
the rain stopped. There had also been an exceptionally heavy day of rain (112
mm) 19 days earlier. Water was seen to be flowing out of the slope after
failure. Further shallow slides occurred in December 1991 and drainage
works were implemented to stabilise the slope
15
The ground conditions comprised highly weathered rock of
the Gombak Norite formation. The residual soil of highly
decomposed granite consisted of clayey silt with boulders
11
Table 2. Summary of major landslides in Singapore
G
e
o
t
e
c
h
n
i
c
a
l
E
n
g
i
n
e
e
r
i
n
g
1
4
9
I
s
s
u
e
4
B
r
i
e
f
i
n
g
T
o
l
l
2
1
3
(e.g. slides at NUS and NTU in February to March 1984).
However, it can also be seen that other minor slides take place
with low daily rainfall but where the ve-day antecedent
rainfall is signicant (e.g. 28 December 1984). This suggests
that the conditions for failure are dictated by total rainfall,
since either daily or antecedent rainfall can induce failures. The
diagonal line drawn in Fig. 4, representing a total rainfall of
100 mm in a six-day period, appears to dene the minimum
rainfall that has led to minor failures.
An equivalent lower bound line for minor failures in Fig. 5
shows a line dening a total rainfall in a 16-day period of
240 mm. However, it should be noted that there are very
limited data for minor slides
where 15-day antecedent
rainfall data are available.
Lower bound lines have also
been examined for major
failures for both 5-day and
15-day antecedent rainfall
periods. A line for total rain-
fall of 320 mm represents a
lower bound for most of the
cases in both Figs 4 and 5.
However, the slide at Bukit
Batok in December 1989 falls
well below this line and is
represented by a total rain-
fall line of 150 mm in six
days. Unfortunately, there
are insufcient data reported
to determine the 15-day
antecedent rainfall for this
case study, although the
monthly rainfall prior to
the slide was reported as
316 mm. It is possible that
this 316 mm fell in the
15 days prior to the landslide
event but this cannot be
substantiated.
Therefore, the data suggest
that a total rainfall of 100 mm
within a six-day period
(equivalent to a sustained
1520 mm/day for six days)
is sufcient for minor land-
slides to take place. The con-
dition for major landslides is
less conclusive but perhaps
320 mm within 16 days
could be taken as a possible
indicator (equivalent to a
sustained 20 mm/day for
16 days).
5. CONCLUSIONS
Major landslides in Singapore
are an uncommon event.
A small number of landslides greater than 10 m in height
(up to 40 m) have occurred but less than 20 such events have
been reported. Nevertheless, minor landslides occur frequently.
A study of the major slope failures shows that only one major
failure has occurred on a slope with an angle less than 278. The
data for minor slides on the NTU campus shows that only one
of the 108 recorded slips was on a slope with an angle less than
278. Therefore, it would seem that slopes formed in the Bukit
Timah and Jurong formations at angles below 278 would have
a low likelihood of failure.
It is clear that rainfall has been the dominant triggering event
for landslides in Singapore. The periods when a signicant
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
N
u
m
b
e
r
2024 2529 3539 3024 4549 4044 >55 5054
Slope angle: degrees
Fig. 2. Distribution of NTU landslides by slope angle
35
30
45
40
25
20
15
10
5
0
H
e
i
g
h
t
:

m
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Slope angle: degrees
Bukit Timah
Jurong
27
Fig. 3. Slope height against slope angle for landslides in Singapore
214 Geotechnical Engineering 149 Issue 4 Briefing Toll
number of major slips occurred were periods of very heavy
rainfall (>110 mm/day). Similarly, the studies of minor land-
slides on the NTU campus show spates of landslides occurring
after unusually wet periods. Observations of past landslides
suggest that a total rainfall of 100 mm within a six-day period
(equivalent to a sustained 1520 mm/day for six days) is
sufcient for minor landslides to take place. The condition for
major landslides is less conclusiveperhaps 320 mm within
16 days could be taken as a possible indicator (equivalent to
a sustained 20 mm/day for 16 days).
6. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author would like to thank Associate Professor Harianto
Rahardjo and Associate Professor Leong Eng Choon for their
help in compiling some of the information contained in this
paper.
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Problems and their Control in Singapore. Proceedings of
the 9th Southeast Asian Geotechnical Conference, Bangkok,
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2. PITTS ITTS J. An Investigation of Slope Stability on the NTI
Campus, Singapore. Applied Research Project RPI/83,
Nanyang Technological Institute, Singapore, 1985.
3. CHANG HANG M. F. In-Situ Testing of Residual Soil in Singapore.
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4. POH OH K. B., CHUAH HUAH H. L. and TAN AN S. B. Residual Granite Soils
of Singapore. Proceedings of the 8th Southeast Asian
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3:13:9.
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
1
-
d
a
y

r
a
i
n
f
a
l
l
:

m
m
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
2 Dec. 1985 (2 slides at NUS)
19 Dec. 1984 (3 slides at NUS)
28 Dec. 1984 (1 slide at NUS)
20 Feb. 1984 (3 slides at NUS)
1 Feb. 1984 (2 slides at NUS)
26 Feb. 1995 (20 slides at NTU)
2 Mar. 1984 (12 slides at NTU)
2 Mar. 1984 (8 slides at NUS)
9 Jan. 1986 (5 slides at NUS)
26 Jan. 1984 (2 slides at NUS)
23 Jan. 1984 (5 slides at NUS)
2 Dec. 1989 (Bukit Batok)
5-day antecedent rainfall: mm
28 Dec. 1991 (Bukit Batok)
11 Jan. 1987 (Chong Pang
Admiralty Road, 5 slides)
11 Jan. 1987 (Pasir Panjang, 14
slides at NUS, 9 slides at NTU)
T
o
ta
l ra
in
fa
ll =
3
2
0
m
m
T
o
ta
l ra
in
fa
ll =
1
5
0
m
m
T
o
ta
l ra
in
fa
ll =
1
0
0
m
m
Minor landslide
Major landslide
Fig. 4. Five-day antecedent rainfall for landslides in Singapore
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
1
-
d
a
y

r
a
i
n
f
a
l
l
:

m
m
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
26 Feb. 1995 (20 slides at NTU)
29 Jan. 1984 (slides at NTU)
24 Nov. 1982 (22 slides at NTU)
28 Dec. 1991 (Bukit Batok)
15-day antecedent rainfall: mm
11 Jan. 1987 (Labrador Park,
9 slides at NTU)
1 Mar. 1984 (Fort Canning, Depot Road,
Kg. Bahru, slides at NTU)
2 Dec. 1978 (Mount Faber, Depot Road,
Apollo Hotel)
T
o
ta
l ra
in
fa
ll =
3
2
0
m
m
T
o
ta
l ra
in
fa
ll =
2
4
0
m
m
Minor landslide
Major landslide
Fig. 5. 15-day antecedent rainfall for landslides in Singapore
Geotechnical Engineering 149 Issue 4 Briefing Toll 215
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in Singapore and their Impact on the Urban Environment.
PhD thesis, National University of Singapore, 1989.
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Excavated Slopes in the Weathered Jurong Formation of
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Rotterdam, 1988, 1, 277284.
11. WEI EI J., HENG ENG Y. S., CHOW HOW W. C. and CHONG HONG M. K. Landslide
at Bukit Batok Sports Complex. Proceedings of the 9th
Asian Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation
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445448.
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216 Geotechnical Engineering 149 Issue 4 Briefing Toll