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Vertical alignment for highways, railways and water systems inevitably require cuttings and embankment structures to bring the natural topography onto an acceptable design grade.

Embankments and excavations are also required for quarry excavations and containment sites as in landfill.

For cuttings, the natural geological profile must be excavated to a safe angle. Whether in soil or rock, an engineering geological assesssment of the natural ground must be made which demands an understanding of:

• the geological history and the local processes of weathering and erosion,
  
• the local hydrological regime,
  
• soil mositure state and strength,
  
• safe slope angles for construction.

For embankments, the behavior of the natural materials must be understood at the time of placement and compaction, taking into account the changes that may occur to source materials after excavation. The foundations of the embankment are also a consideration.

An embankment design must address:

• the in-situ and as-placed character of the material to be used for construction,
  
• character of foundation materials,
  
• the local hydrological regime,
  
• strength and consolidation characteristics of filling and foundation soils,
  
• safe slope angles for construction.

Creating a cutting or embankment imposes changes to the original site and most importantly to the local in-situ stress and hydrological regime. Embankments and cuttings have been investigated and designed by Antonio Associates for highway, landfill and water supply projects. Cuttings in soil, in tropical residual soils, in fresh and weathered rock masses, have been designed, as well as embankments from soil, chalk, strong rock on competent and weak ground and with impermeable materials for landfill linings.