DEVELOPMENT OF AN UNSTABLE SLOPE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM. FINAL REPORT

This report presents a prototype of an Unstable Slope Management System (USMS) and corresponding user's guide. The USMS is a computer program that prioritizes unstable slopes. The system is composed of two parts: a database and priority programs. The database was developed using dBASE III Plus, Ashton-Tate. The priority programs were developed using the expert shell system CLIPS, a NASA developed language. The resulting USMS, at this point, is not an expert system; it is a management system. The USMS was developed by the aid of conversations with Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) personnel. In addition, a questionnaire was sent to WSDOT personnel concerned with unstable slope maintenance. From the conversations and responses to the questionnaire, the factors concerned with site importance were identified. Also, a method to determine the total importance was proposed. The USMS identifies factors that determine the importance of a failure site. These factors pertain to the cause of instability, cost of repair, use of road, and safety to motorists. Data pertaining to these factors are collected for each failure site and stored in the data base. Priority ratings are assigned by the priority rating programs to the data for each site. The priority ratings are multiplied by a weight. The sum of the products represents the total priority. The total priority is a number from 0 to 100, where 100 indicates the highest importance. The total priority represents the importance of the failure site based on the factors identified in the USMS. The total priority of a failure site is independent of all other failure sites.

• Record URL:
  http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/research/reports/fullreports/270.1.pdf
• Record URL:
  http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/research/reports/fullreports/270.2.pdf
• 
• Corporate Authors:

  Washington State University, Pullman

  Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  P.O. Box 642910
  Pullman, WA  United States  99164-2910

  Washington State Department of Transportation

  Transportation Building, 310 Maple Park Avenue SE, P.O. Box 47300
  Olympia, WA  United States  98504-7300

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Ho, C L
  • Norton, S S
• Publication Date: 1991-12

Media Info

• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: 37 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Computer programs; Interviewing; Management; Prototypes; Questionnaires; Ratings; Slope stability; Slopes; Strategic planning; Unstable soil
• Uncontrolled Terms: Management systems
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Bridges and other structures; Geotechnology; Highways; I42: Soil Mechanics;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00623601
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: WA-RD 270.1
• Contract Numbers: GC-8720, Task 2
• Files: TRIS, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jul 31 1992 12:00AM