Reinforced steep slopes

Geosynthetics with high tensile strength and stiffness such as geogrids, woven tapes/strips are used in reinforcement applications. Examples are reinforced soil walls, reinforced steep slopes, slope repair by reinforced soil, basal reinforcement at the base of embankments on soft ground or embankments over piled foundations, as illustrated in Figure 5.6. 

Reinforced steep slopes definition and formulation of the problem... 

Work has been done in a number of states using tire shreds as a subgrade fill in the construction of highway embankments and other fill projects. Tire shreds weighs considerably less than conventional soil fill and this allows construction on weak compression foundation. The use of tire shreds for most projects is considerably cheaper than alternatives, such as expanded shale aggregate and polystyrene insulation blocks. Scrap tire materials have also been used to retain forest roads, protect coastal roads from erosion, enhance the stability of steep slopes along highways, and reinforce shoulder areas. The importance... 

Reinforcement fabrics n. Fabric system used in the construction of steep slopes and retaining walls. By stabilizing the soil mass, they reduce the stress on the retaining wall... 

Reinforcement in a slope contributes to stability in two ways. Firstly, the reinforcement directly improves the shear resistance of the soil to resist the shear loading caused by the steep face. Secondly, the reinforced zone acts to hold the unreinforced soil mass of the interior in equilibrium without overstressing the underlying foundation soils. 

The tests of the specimens under compressive load proved a considerable increase of bearing capacity due to fibres. The descending branch of the load-deformation curve is long and its shape is strongly related to the kind of fibres used. In the case of elastic fibres a quasi-linear behaviour is observed, but for ordinary polymeric fibres the elastic quasi-plastic behaviour should be expected. Thanks to the artificial cohesion, the reinforced sand is used for construction of walls and slopes with steep gradients between 60° and 90° also in various geotechnical works (Aldea 2007). 

There is a large variety in reinforcement techniques with geosynthetics, from a simple horizontally placed reinforcement underneath embankments to steep geo-textile/geogrid reinforced slopes. 

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