School of Architecture,

Building, and Design

BACHELOR OF QUANTITY
SURVEYING (hons)
Construction Technology 3
MSE Wall: Geotextile Report

Group Member:
Shum Wen Jun
Sow Wei Henn
Sahil Gunesh
Jason Wong
Table of content
No. Content Page
1 Introduction 1

2 Manufacturing process of geotextile 2

3 Construction process of geotextile 6

MSE retaining wall

4 Advantages and disadvantages of 7

geotextile in building construction

5 Case study in Malaysia 11

6 Case Study at overseas 13

7 References 15
 MSE retaining wall: Geotextile
Introduction
Reinforced earth is a construction material composed of soil fill strengthened by the inclusion
of rods, bars, fibres or nets which interact with the soil by means of frictional resistance. The
present practice is to use thin metal strips, geotextiles, and geogrids as reinforcing materials
for the construction of reinforced earth retaining wall. The three components of a MSE wall
are the facing unit, the backfill and the reinforcing material.

MSE retaining wall

Since our main topic is about geotextile MSE wall, I will now only focus on the main
component of geotextile MSE wall which is geotextile.

MSE wall with geotextile as soil reinforcement

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 Manufacturing process of geotextile
Materials needed for manufacturing of geotextiles
Geotextile are porous fabric made from polypropylene, polyester, polyethylene, polyamide
(nylon), polyvinylidene chloride or fiberglass. Polypropylene and polyester are the most
commonly used to produce geotextile. The physical properties of these materials can be
varied by the use of additives in the composition and by changing the processing methods
used to form the molten material into filaments. Yarns are formed from fibres which have
been bundled and twisted together, a process also referred to as spinning.

raw material of polypropylene raw material of polyester

Types of geotextile
Geotextile can be categories into woven or non-woven. In the manufacture of geotextile,
engineer will consider the function and performance requirement and the requirement will
determine the manufacturing method (woven or non-woven).

Woven Geotextile Non-woven Geotextile

Woven geotextiles
Woven geotextile fabric is made by weaving polypropylene fibres together. This process
gives woven geotextiles traits such as separation, reinforcement and high load capacity.
Non-woven geotextiles
Non-woven geotextile fabric is made by a process called needle punching. This process gives
non-woven geotextiles traits such as separation, filtration, and drainage.

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Manufacturing process of woven geotextile
Woven geotextiles are created using traditional weaving techniques. the warp yarns, which
run parallel with the length of the geotextile panel (machine direction), are interlaced with
yarns called fill or filling yarns, which run perpendicular to the length of the panel (cross
direction).

Many different weave variations can be used. The different variations will influence the
physical, mechanical and hydraulic properties of the finished textile. When engineers are
seeking the right product for practical problems, they often segment woven geotextiles into
medium and high strength (for reinforcement function) or high flow (for filtration functions).

Tighter weave for high strength Looser weave for high flow

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Manufacturing process of non-woven geotextile
Non-woven geotextiles are made by laying down fibres in a random manner and needle
punching them together to form a mat of fabric. Needle punching entangles the fibres to
mechanically hold the mass together. Fibres can be created as part of the manufacturing
process or introduced. In spun bond manufacture, fibres are extruded directly from the
polymer. In carding manufacture, the fibres are pre-fabricated, they are often supplied in
bales.
The two different non-woven process determine the performance of the finished product
because the carding process uses various raw material input and combination of fibres,
whereas a spun bond process only uses one raw material input. A spun bond geotextile is
stronger per unit of mass than carding geotextile but a carding geotextile may elongate more
than a spun bond geotextile.

Spun bond geotextile Carding geotextile

Raw materials are sourced as pallets and stored in silos. The pellets are melted and then
extruded into fibres. The fibres are laid down to form a loose mat which is then needled
together and compressed to create the finished geotextile. The geotextile is then rolled and
wrapped ready for dispatch.

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Various pre-fabricated fibres are place on the feeder conveyor to form a mat. The mat is then
needled together and compressed to create the finished geotextile. The geotextile is then
rolled and wrapped ready for dispatch.

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Construction process of geotextile MSE retaining wall

1. Start with an adequate working surface and staging area

2. Lay a geotextile sheet of proper width on the ground surface with 4 to 7 ft at the wall face
draped over a temporary wooden form.
3. Backfill over this sheet with soil.
4. Construction equipment must work from the soil backfill and be kept off the unprotected
geotextile. The spreading equipment should be a wide-tracked bulldozer that exerts little
pressure against the ground on which it rests. Rolling equipment likewise should be of
relatively light weight.
5. When the first layer has been folded over the process should be repeated for the second
layer with the temporary facing form being extended from the original ground surface or the
wall being stepped back about 6 inches so that the form can be supported from the first
layer. In the latter case, the support stakes must penetrate the fabric.
6. This process is continued until the wall reaches its intended height.
7. For protection against ultraviolet light and safety against vandalism the faces of such walls
must be protected. Both shotcrete and gunite have been used for this purpose.

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 ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF
GEOTEXTILES IN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION

ADVANTAGES:
1) ECONOMICAL

The geotextile-reinforced wall is very cheap and economical to be constructed due to the high
tensile durability and high tensile strength which most likely reduce the number of
maintenance needed.

2) FUNCTIONAL

Geotextile reinforcement can effectively induce an apparent cohesion for cohesionless

backfill to assume a vertical slope even without a facing .The wall can tolerate large
settlements and differential settlements without destress .The wall will not exhibit any
appreciable creep as long as the backfill is predominantly granular .

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3) FACING ELEMENTS

Facing element is to provide a form of compaction, serve as a faade and protect the granular
fill from outside weathering. It is up to the users to define the type of facing used. It may be
made of various materials, including concrete, timber, natural rock, metal, automobile tires,
shotcrete and gabion baskets.

4) SEPARATION

Geotextile serves to separate two dissimilar materials such as different soils, landfill material
and the native soil, stone material and subgrade soil, old and new pavement, foundation soils
and various types of walls and so on.

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5) FILTRATION

Geotextile is able to retain soil and other fine material ,while allowing water to pass
through .If there were no drainage of water taking place ,movement ,and therefore retention
of soil ,would not be of concern .Filtration occurs through the development of a soil filter
behind the geotextile. As the water passes through, soil is filtered out and collects behind the
geotextiles. As build-up takes place, a natural soil filter is developed.

DISADVANTAGES:
1) GEOTEXTILE CLOGGING

Clogging may be caused by accumulation of chemical and biological materials .Biological

clogging usually occurs with the formation of surface biofilms ,generation of slimes and the
growth of the interconnection of bioconcentrations .Chemical clogging occurs due to the
precipitation of iron oxide onto the fibres .These types of clogging are a major concern for
drainage in leachate-collection systems .

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2) BLINDING
Blinding occurs when the geosynthetic filters are in contact with internally unstable soils .As
a result ,if the hydraulic flow moves the base soil particles ,these particles accumulate at the
base of the soil-geotextile filter interface and a low permeability zone is created .The
development of pore water pressures is related to the decrease of permeability at the soil filter
interface .Consequently ,it affects the structure stability .

3) DEGRADATION

The time of exposure to UV rays may cause some level of degradation since all the
geotextiles contain polymers in their formulation. All the geotextiles are sensitive to UV
effects. Loss of properties such as tensile resistance and deformability may occur in
prolonged exposure of UV rays.

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Case Study on MSE geotextile retaining wall in Malaysia:
Project: Moonlight bay resort villas, Batu Ferringhi, Penang, Malaysia
Client: Ivory Meadows Sdn Bhd, Penang, Malaysia
Contractor: Ivory Associates Sdn Bhd, Penang, Malaysia
Whats the condition of the site, location of the project affecting the design
This project is a luxury property development on Penang Island. It consists of 2
condominium blocks and 70 exclusive villas built into the surrounding hill side with a view
towards the sea, Andaman Sea.
As the project is located near the beach, the nature of the soil is made up of residual granite
soil mantle with a thickness up to 20m overlying the granite rock strata. In addition to that,
granite boulder often exists within the weathered soil layer close to the surface. This nature
combination of soil is naturally strong and stable with effective shear strength properties of
friction and cohesions approaching 30 kPa. This project had been planned to be a terraced
development set into the existing hill slope and are designed in such a way to minimize the
amount of slope earthworks. This helps to reduce the cost of excavation and backfill.

The retaining wall plays a role in the accessway into the development. With the need of
opening up the land for the road carriageway, the alignments of the road are in a series of
retaining walls that are designed on the hill slide slope. The retaining wall supports the road
carriageways through its design where existing slopes are being cut steeply and being
replaced with the retaining wall.
The construction of the walls involved excavation of the slopes to the designed base level for
each wall with minimum thickness of 150mm foundation formed through the compacted
crusher run material. This provides a hard level surface on which to place the first course of
the retaining wall blocks. The materials used in this project are reinforced soil walls made up
of facing blocks specifically Allan Block, AB3 with good aesthetics values that comply with
the surrounding environments and it can be enhanced its functional ability with the usage of
geosynthetic reinforcements specially Polyfelt PEC geocomposite reinforcement.

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The advantages of using this design is that it is less time consuming when compared to the
conventional reinforced concrete wall which required a lot of onsite works. Another
important factor is that with the usage of geosynthetic reinforced segmental wall system, the
temporary steep cut exposure can be kept to a minimum as the wall is made up of
components like concrete fascia units and geosynthetic reinforcements are pre-made and
backfilling immediately once the walls are being built. This helps to cut a lot of time and cost
in the work.
As mention above the specially chosen Polyfelt PEC geocomposite reinforcement consists of
high modulus, high strength polyester yarns that yarns support the internal tensile loads of the
retaining wall while the composite structure provide good installation damage resistance and
dissipation. To further enhance the wall stability, crusher run material was chosen for the
reinforced fill behind the block wall face with compaction up to 95% Standard Proctor.

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Case Study on MSE geotextile retaining wall at overseas:
Location: Anantara Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Client: Abu Dhabi Tourism Development and Investment Corporation (TDIC), Abu Dhabi,
UAE.
Consultant: Halcrow Yolles International, Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Contractor: Al Jaber Engineering and Construction (ALEC), Abu Dhabi, UAE.

The Anantara Qasr Al Sarab project is one of the various new projects that used the geotextile
in the construction of their front walls as geotextile has become popular in the construction
industry for its performance and functional advantages over other materials. In this case
study, well look into the challengers faced by developers, how the retaining wall was
constructed, the conclusion reached by contractor and so on.
The developers had the foresight to minimise the carbon emissions from concrete by using
geo-textile sandbags to build 5.5 kilometres of retaining walls.
Also, data from the contractors were also positive and concluded the project has given an
excellent value. Also, they have saved up to 3000 truckloads of construction materials (steel,
aggregate, sand, cement, etc).

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The section of one the retaining wall is shown below:

1. For the retaining wall system, miragrid GX110/30 geogrid with a galvanised steel
mesh was used as reinforcement for height not exceeding 6m and for height
between 6m and 12m, Miragrid GX80/30 was used. The spacings were constant and
were kept at 5m. These materials are really strong and considering their light weight,
transportation was easy.

2. Length of anchorage used, was in the range of 80% to 100% of walls height.

3. Sand obtained from the desert was used as backfill, thus reducing cost of
transportation, and furthermore, saved a lot of time.

4. Before beginning of construction, geocell was placed at the toe of wall to protect
against erosion caused by wind which is quite frequent in the desert. Also, starting
construction 0.5m below existing sand level reduced the risk of sand erosion.

5. Geosynthetic retaining wall faces were shotcreted and rendered to give the resort a
design that blended well with its environment. The walls were like an old Arabic Fort
which gave it a pleasant appearance considering its environment.

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References
Builder's Engineer. (n.d.). Retrieved October 29, 2017, from
http://www.abuildersengineer.com/2012/12/mechanically-stabilized-earth-retaining.html
T. (2011, December 18). Geotextile Fabric Types and Construction. Retrieved October 29,
2017, from https://textlnfo.wordpress.com/2011/11/07/geotextile-types-and-construction/
Brookside_admin, A. (n.d.). Major Differences Between Woven and Non-Woven
Geotextiles. Retrieved October 29, 2017, from
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geotextiles/
Huber, M. (n.d.). The Difference Between Woven And Non-woven Geotextiles. Retrieved
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non-woven-geotextiles
MrGeosynthetic. (2010, July 21). Geotextile lecture (part 2 of 4) [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfus39NBKU0
MrGeosynthetic. (2010, July 21). Geotextile lecture (part 3 of 4) [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtlWAr9JpDE&t=216s
Textile Learner (n.d) .Definition of Geotextiles ,Advantages of Geotextiles ,Application of
Geotextile .Retrieved from : https://textilelearner.blogspot.my/2011/05/definition-of-
geotextiles-advantages-of_3329.html
MDPI (n.d) .Changes of Permeability of Nonwoven Geotextiles due to clogging and cyclis
water flow in labotary conditions ,Retrieved from : www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/9/9/660/pdf
Jonathan T.H.Wu (February ,1994) .Design and Construction of Low Cost Retaining
Walls .Retrieved from : https://www.codot.gov/programs/research/pdfs/1994-research-
reports/retainingwalls.pdf
Federal Highway Administration Research and Technology (January ,2011) .Geosynthetic
Reinforced Soil Integrated Bridge System Interim Implementation Guide .Retrieved from :
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/infrastructure/structures/11026/003.cfm
GGC awarded to Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort. (August,2013). Retrieved November 03, 2017,
from http://www.constructionweekonline.com/article-23997-ggc-awarded-to-qasr-al-sarab-
desert-resort/
Tencate Mirafi (n.d.). Reinforced Soil Case Studies. Retrieved November 3, 2017, from
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19401.pdf
Builder's Engineer. (December,2015). Retrieved November 18, 2017, from
http://www.abuildersengineer.com/2012/12/construction-details-retaining-walls.html

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