Soil Reinforcement

Long ago

Great Wall of China

Decades ago

Nice, France
Decades ago

Highway 39, Los Angeles, CA

Today

Steiner Ranch - Austin, Texas, USA

Scope of this Presentation

Advances in Design for Conventional

Loading
Peak vs. residual shear strength
Limit equilibrium analysis as a design tool
Advances in Design for Unconventional
Loading
Reinforced bridge abutments
Seismic loading & differential settlements
Advances in Reinforcement Materials
Dual function reinforcements
Fiber-reinforcement
Paramsinformacincontacte:
Boris.Castillo@geoserviceing.com.pe

Advances in Design
for Conventional
Loading
Stability Analysis

Unreinforced slope

Stability Analysis

Geosynthetic-reinforced slope
Peak vs. Residual Shear Strength
in Reinforced Soil Design
Most geosynthetic reinforcing
materials are classified as
extensible inclusions
The extensible nature has led
to recommendations towards
use of residual shear strength
for design.

Summary of Guideline
Recommendations
Method/Agency Peak or Residual? Reference
Jewells Method Residual Jewell (1991)
Leshchinsky and Boedekers method Residual Leshchinsky & Boedeker (1989)

Queensland Main Roads Division, Australia Residual QMRD (1997)

New South Wells, Australia Residual RTA (1997)
Bureau National Sols-Routes (draft French Standard) Gourc et al. (2001)
Residual
Demo 82 (FHWA/AASHTO) Peak Elias et al. (2001)

National Concrete Masonry Association Peak NCMA (1997, 1998)

GeoRio, Brazil Peak GeoRio (1989)

Canadian Geotechnical Society Peak Canadian Geot. Soc. (1992)

German Society of SMGE Peak EBGEO (1997)

Geotechnical Engineering Office, Hong Kong Peak GCO (1989), GEO (1993)

Public Works Research Center, Japan Peak Public Works Res. Center (2000)

British Standards, United Kingdom Peak British Standard Inst. (1995)

Leshchinskys hybrid method Hybrid Leshchinsky (2001)

Zornberg and Leshchinsky (2003). Comparison of International Design Criteria for Geosynthetic-Reinforced Soil
Structures. Landmarks in Earth Reinforcement, pp. 1095-1106.
Purposes of Centrifuge Testing

Evaluation of failure mechanisms

Validation of predictive tools

In this particular investigation:

Evaluation of the shear strength
properties governing failure of
reinforced soil slopes
Centrifuge testing in progress
 Do models with the same
residual shear strength but
different peak shear strength
fail at the same g-level?

No

Zornberg, J.G. (2003). Peak versus Residual Shear Strength in Geosynthetic-Reinforced Soil Design,
Discussion and Response 4. Geosynthetics International, December, Vol. 10, No. 6, pp. 234-237.
 Reinforcement Tension Distribution

Height

Modified tension
distribution

Reinforcement
Tension

Advances in Design
for Unconventional
Loading
 Advances in Design
for Unconventional
Loading

Unconventional Loading:
Bridge Abutments

Geosynthetic-reinforced soil systems

designed to support approaching roadway
structure
Geosynthetic-reinforced soil systems
designed to support bridge foundation
Eliminate differential settlements in bridge
approach
 West East
Abutment Central Abutment
Columns

Founders/Meadows, Denver, CO

The Founders Meadows Structure (I-25)

Wing Wall

Girder

Instrumentation
Box Upper MSE
Wall

Front MSE
Wall Lower MSE
Wall
 Features

Potential to alleviate Bump at the

Bridge problem
Avoid disadvantages associated with
the use of deep foundations
(mobilization, noise)
Construction in stages and smaller
work area
Abu-Hejleh, Zornberg, Wang, and Watcharamonthein (2002). Monitored Displacements of Unique
Geosynthetic-Reinforced Soil Bridge Abutment. Geosynthetics International, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 71-95.
Unconventional Loading: Seismic
Loads & Differential Settlements

Seismic Performance of
Reinforced Soil Slopes

Source: Nova and Sitar, 1998

 OII Superfund site, Monterey Park, CA

Toe Buttress Wall: Typical Profiles

a) Downslope Outside
b)
OII Property Line
Property Line Property Line
Toe Buttress Toe Buttress

Waste
Waste Waste
Waste

Sedimentary Rock
Sedimentary Rock
Concrete Pier
 Simulation of Seismic Loads &
Differential Settlements
Monitored 1996 Settlements

Predicted Final Settlements

Body Forces to Simulate
Earthquake Loading

Sandy Gravel
Backfill
Waste

Displacements
Imposed to Induce
Concrete Pier Final Settlements

Bedrock
Waste
 Advances in
Reinforcement
Materials

Most agencies preclude use of

non-granular soils
Different seepage conditions
 Permeable Geosynthetic
Reinforcements
Permeable geosynthetic reinforcements
may be useful to stabilize poorly draining
backfills
In this case, geosynthetic layers would
work not only as reinforcements but also
as lateral drains

Salmon Lost Trail Pass - Idaho

 Advances in Reinforcement
Materials: Fiber-reinforcement

Fiber-Reinforcement

Fiber reinforcement may provide clear

advantages over continuous planar
reinforcements in projects such as:
thin soil veneers
localized repair of failed slopes
areas prone to seismic activity
 Fiber-Reinforcement
However
fiber-reinforced structures have been
conventionally designed using
homogenized approaches.

This has possibly prevented:

proper characterization of the actual contribution
of the fibers to stability
optimization of fiber products
implementation in design
 Control
Volume
Cover

W
S
z

t T
N
L
Refuse

Control
Volume
Cover

t.H W
S
H z

t T
N
L
Refuse
 Discrete Framework for Fiber-
Reinforcement: Fiber Breakage Mode
A

Control Area

A
Af: Fiber Cross-Sectional Area

Control Area

le
Zornberg, J.G. (2002). Discrete Framework for Limit Equilibrium Analysis of Fibre-Reinforced Soil.
Gotechnique, Vol. 52, No. 8, pp. 593-604.

CL soil, 1 fibers
 CL soil, 2 fibers

CL soil, 1 & 2 fibers

 SP soil, 1 & 2 fibers

Advances in Design for Conventional

Loading - Remarks
Reinforced slopes constructed with the same
reinforcement layout and backfill sand, but
with different sand densities failed at different
g-levels
Stability is governed by soil peak shear
strength
Very good agreement was obtained between
limit equilibrium predictions and
experimental results
g-level at failure
location of the failure surfaces
 Advances in Design for
Unconventional Loading - Remarks
Reinforced Bridge Abutments:
Minimize the bump at the bridge problem
Monitoring data has shown an excellent
performance in a structure constructed near
Denver, CO
Seismic Loading & Diff. Settlements:
The performance of reinforced soil structures
during seismic events has been excellent
Geosynthetic reinforcement is particularly
suitable for stabilization of steep veneer slopes

Advances in Reinforcement
Materials - Remarks
Dual Function Reinforcements:
Reinforcements with in-plane drainage capabilities
offer a design alternative for mitigating these adverse
conditions

Fiber-Reinforcement:
The fiber-induced tension is a function of the fiber
content, fiber aspect ratio, and interface shear strength
of individual fibers if fiber pullout is the governing
failure mode
Experimental programs on fiber-reinforced specimens
have shown very good agreement with predictions
 Overall Conclusions
Design methodologies for reinforced soil
systems are consistent with conventional
geotechnical procedures.
New horizons in reinforced soil technology
are taking us to approaches to handle
unconventional loads and to new
reinforcement materials . This allows
solving problems that could not be
handled with conventional geotechnical
approaches.