Influence of Soil Reinforcement on Horizontal Displacement of MSE Wall

Mechanically stabilized earth(MSE) walls offer simpleconstructiontechniques,pleasing aesthetics,and cost-effectivesolutions as an alternative to conventional gravity walls. However, design and construction should be carefully evaluated to achieve satisfactory perfor- mance of the wall. A case study is presented on a MSE wall located on State Highway 342 in Lancaster, Texas. The horizontal movement of the MSE wall was between 300 and 450 mm within 5 years of construction. A forensic investigation was performed to determine the causes of the excessive movement. It was identified that inadequate reinforcement length was one of the contributing factors that caused horizontal displacement of the MSE wall. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of soil reinforcement on excessive movement of the MSE wall. As a part of the forensic investigation, two inclinometers were installed at the site to monitor any additional movement of the MSE wall. The inclinometer results suggested that the wall continued to move at an average rate of 4.5 mm/month during the investigation period. A finite-element (FE) program was used to simulate horizontal displacement and stability of the MSE wall. It was observed that the numerical modeling results were in good agreement with inclinometer results. A parametric study was conducted to identify the effects of soil reinforcement on horizontal movement at varied wall heights and backfill conditions. Numerical analyses results indicated that the effect of reinforcement stiffness was not significant at a wall height of 4 m compared with 8 and 12 m. The wall movement varied from 74 to 29 mm for an increase in reinforcement stiffness from 250 to 42,000kN= ma t 1:0H reinforcement length. The variations in displacement with reinforcementlengthssuggestedthatsubstantialreductionindisplacementoccurredforanincreaseinlength-height(L=H)ratiofrom0.5to0.7. FEmodelingresultswereusedforsensitivityanalysisemployingastatisticalanalysisprogram.Basedontheanalyses,reinforcementlengthand stiffness wereidentified as influential factors for thehorizontal displacement of MSE walls at a specific height.DOI:10.1061/(ASCE)GM.1943- 5622.0000297. © 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.

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