An empirical system was developed to obtain a quality index for rock slopes in road infrastructures,
named Slope Quality Index (SQI), and it was applied to a set of real slopes. The SQI is supported in nine
factors affecting slope stability that contemplate the evaluation of different parameters. Consequently,
each factor is classified by the degree of importance and influence by assigned weights. These weights
were established through a statistical analysis of replies to a survey that was distributed to several
experienced professionals in the field.
The proposed SQI varies between 1 and 5, corresponding to slopes in very good and very bad
condition state, respectively. Besides the advantage linked to a quantitative and qualitative evaluation of
slopes, the SQI also allows identifying the most critical factors on the slope stability, which is a
fundamental issue for an efficient management of the slope network in the road infrastructure, namely
in the planning of conservation and maintenance operations