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Suction measurement has a vital role in unsaturated soil analysis. However, measuring soil suction remains a challenging task due to a number of issues such as the limited range of suction measurement, cavitation, or long equilibrium time. It is even more challenging when the suction measurement is to be carried on the field. Hence, the development of a new suction measurement device which is able to measure high suction range for a long duration without tedious maintenance and yet portable enough for site measurement is required. In this study, a new sensor which is referred to as NTU Osmotic Tensiometer was developed along with the method to correct for decay and temperature. The NTU osmotic tensiometer is based on polymer swelling capacity in order to measure in-situ soil suction in real time for a very long duration. It requires minimum maintenance as the polymer-based sensor is not affected by the cavitation phenomenon. However, correction for decay and temperature is of paramount importance and therefore explained in this paper. Verification of the NTU osmotic tensiometer was carried out by comparing the field measurement results from the NTU osmotic tensiometer and the small tip tensiometer. The performance of the NTU osmotic tensiometer was found to be comparable with that of the small tip tensiometer, but the NTU osmotic tensiometer is able to measure more than 100 kPa soil suction. Therefore, it is possible to obtain the field soil-water characteristic curve by combining the measured in-situ soil suction from the NTU osmotic tensiometer with the measured in-situ water content from the moisture sensor as illustrated in the paper.

Rainfall-induced slope failures commonly occur in residual soil slopes. Slope failures are triggered by the reduction in soil strength. This is attributed to the decrease in soil suction due to rainwater infiltration. Slope covers like capillary barrier system and vegetative cover are effective methods that can be used to prevent rainfall-induced slope failures. The capillary barrier system is able to limit the rainwater infiltration, and vegetation can contribute to the increase in soil strength. Vetiver grass is widely planted in tropical and subtropical areas of the world for soil and water conservation. This study investigates the characteristics of unsaturated soil slope covered with capillary barrier system and Vetiver grass in comparison with the original slope through numerical analyses and field measurements. The analyses were carried out under the advanced, normal, and delayed rainfall patterns. The results of the analyses indicated that the capillary barrier system played a more significant role than the Vetiver grass in maintaining slope stability, although both the capillary barrier system and Vetiver grass contributed to the slope stability. In addition, both numerical analyses and field measurements showed that under the delayed and normal rainfall patterns, when antecedent rainwater infiltration could increase the soil moisture, the capillary barrier system performed much better compared to Vetiver grass in maintaining soil matric suctions and slope stability.

Soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC) is an essential parameter in unsaturated soil mechanics. Matric suction in unsaturated residual soils changes with varying climatic conditions associated with cyclic drying-wetting conditions that result in hysteresis in the SWCC. The soil mechanical behaviour under wetting is crucial since numerous rainfall-induced slope failures occur during the wetting process. However, many slope stability analyses were carried out using drying SWCC. Consequently, the factor of safety (FoS) calculation may not represent the actual field condition. This paper presents the effect of hysteresis in SWCC on the stability of unsaturated residual soil slopes from Bukit Timah Granite in Singapore. The study focused on the analyses considering the differences in pore-water pressure and water content variations under drying and wetting conditions by performing numerical seepage and stability analyses. Each analysis was carried out on a slope subjected to dry and rainy periods under three different conditions: i) using only drying SWCC; ii) using only wetting SWCC; iii) using combined drying and wetting SWCCs. The results indicated that the FoS variations obtained from the numerical analyses incorporating combined SWCC matched more closely those obtained by incorporating only wetting SWCC than those obtained by incorporating only drying SWCC, regardless of the wetting or drying processes that the soil experienced. Moreover, the numerical analyses under high rainfall intensity by incorporating only wetting SWCC gave a more conservative FoS as compared to those obtained by incorporating combined SWCC. Numerical analyses incorporating only drying SWCC gave the most conservative FoS regardless of rainfall intensity. Keywords: SWCC, Hysteresis, Rainfall, Seepage, Slope stability

Numerous scientific evidence has given credence to the true existence and deleterious impacts of climate change. One aspect of climate change is the variations in rainfall patterns, which affect the flux boundary condition across ground surface. A possible disastrous consequence of this change is the occurrence of rainfall-induced slope failures. This paper aims to investigate the variations in rainfall patterns in Singapore and its effect on slope stability. Singapore's historical rainfall data from Seletar and Paya Lebar weather stations for the period of 1985â2009 were obtained and analysed by duration using linear regression. A general increasing trend was observed in both weather stations, with a possible shift to longer duration rainfall events, despite being statistically insignificant according to the Mann-Kendall test. Using the derived trends, projected rainfall intensities in 2050 and 2100 were used in the seepage and slope stability analyses performed on a typical residual soil slope in Singapore. A significant reduction in factor of safety was observed in the next 50 years, with only a marginal decrease in factor of safety in the subsequent 50 years. This indicates a possible detrimental effect of variations in rainfall patterns on slope stability in Singapore, especially in the next 50 years. The statistical analyses on rainfall data from Seletar and Paya Lebar weather stations for the period of 1985â2009 indicated that rainfall intensity tend to increase over the years, with a possible shift to longer duration rainfall events in the future. The stability analyses showed a significant decrease in factor of safety from 2003 to 2050 due to increase in rainfall intensity, suggesting that a climate change might have existed beyond 2009 with possibly detrimental effects to slope stability. Keywords: Climate change, Rainfall, Seepage, Slope stability