Damage Forms and Destabilization Mechanism of Red Sandstone Roadbed Slopes

Abstract

Red sandstone is composed of sedimentary rocks such as mudstone, muddy sandstone, sandstone, sandy mudstone, and shale, which appear red, brown, or dark red due to the abundance of iron oxides. Terrestrial depositional environments that are widely distributed globally in arid and semi-arid regions are mainly concentrated in sedimentary basins since the Mesozoic era, with China, the United States, India, Australia and the Middle East being the main distribution areas. In China, red sandstone occupies 8.61% of the total land area and is concentrated in the southeast, southwest and northwest regions. Red sandstone has strong weathering disintegration and water softening properties, and the lubrication between particles and softening of minerals after immersion in water will lead to deformation and destabilization of the rock body; Water infiltration into the pore fissures after adsorption of water film thickening, dissolution of cement, triggering particle disintegration and disintegration, easy to cause settlement of the roadbed and slope instability.