Probabilistic treatment of the sliding wedge with EzSlide

Many of the variables that govern rock slope stability, the orientation of discontinuities, the strength parameters belonging to them and the loading conditions, are random variables. Therefore, the safety factor itself is a statistic. This paper analyzes the effect of parameter variability through the use of the Monte Carlo simulation technique. To meet this goal, a Windows based program, EzSlide written in Visual Basic has been developed. EzSlide treats both the single and the multiple-wedge problem and it is equipped with all the tools necessary to conduct a probabilistic analysis of the sliding wedge. The capabilities of the Program are introduced through an application. The field data for the demonstration comes from highway rock cuts along the TransCanada Highway 17a near Kenora, Ontario.