Technical Paper by S. Naemura and H.

Miki

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF GEOTEXTILE REINFORCED SOIL STRUCTURES FOR ROAD EARTHWORKS IN JAPAN
ABSTRACT: The application of geotextiles as reinforcement in embankments and retaining walls for permanent and temporary roads has recently gained popularity in Japan, particularly since the publication of Design and Construction Manual for Reinforced Soil using Geotextiles. This manual sets the technical standard in Japan for the design and construction of earthworks involving geosynthetic reinforced embankments and walls. This paper describes the design of reinforced embankments using clayey soil fills with high water contents and the design of reinforced soil walls. A construction example, along with instrumentation results, is given for each case. KEYWORDS: Reinforced embankment, Reinforced soil wall, Clayey soil, Consolidation, Geotextile. AUTHORS: S. Naemura, Research Coordinator for Geospace Use, Planning and Research Administration Department, Public Works Research Institute, Ministry of Construction, Tsukuba 305, Japan, Telephone: 81/298-64-2211, Telefax: 81/298-64-2840, and H. Miki, Director, Soil Mechanics Division, Materials and Construction Method Department, Public Works Research Institute, Ministry of Construction, Tsukuba 305, Japan, Telephone: 81/298-64-2211, Telefax: 81/298-64-2840. PUBLICATION: Geosynthetics International is published by the Industrial Fabrics Association International, 345 Cedar St., Suite 800, St. Paul, Minnesota 55101, USA, Telephone: 1/612-222-2508, Telefax: 1/612-222-8215. Geosynthetics International is registered under ISSN 1072-6349. DATES: Original manuscript received 2 August 1995, revised manuscript received 21 September 1995 and accepted 16 November 1995. Discussion open until 1 September 1996. REFERENCE: Naemura, S. and Miki, H., 1996, Design and Construction of Geotextile Reinforced Soil Structures for Road Earthworks in Japan, Geosynthetics International, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 49-62.

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INTRODUCTION

The Design and Construction Manual for Reinforced Soil Structures using Geotextiles was published in Japan by the Public Works Research Institute (PWRI) in 1992. The manual is based on joint research conducted by PWRI and 22 private firms. It gives design and construction standards related to reinforced embankments, reinforced soil walls and soft ground stabilization. It also addresses newly developed applications of geotextile reinforced soil, such as the control of differential settlement using a combination of geotextile reinforced soil and continuous natural fiber soil reinforcing techniques. The proposals made in the manual for the design and construction of geotextile reinforced soil give special consideration to the following characteristics of soil structures in Japan: (1) In light of the frequent occurrence of earthquakes in Japan and consequent earthquake damage, seismic design is applied to reinforced embankments and reinforced soil walls exceeding a certain height. (2) The amount of annual precipitation in Japan is high and the widespread distribution of high water content clayey soil derived from volcanic ash makes the use of such soil unavoidable. For this reason, consideration is given to the use of high water content clayey soils in reinforced embankments, and stability analyses, which takes into account the increase in soil strength due to consolidation. For reinforced soil walls, fill cohesion and the internal friction angle of the fill are considered in internal wall stability analysis under certain conditions. (3) PWRI (1992) provides guidelines for the design and construction of reinforced embankments, reinforced soil walls, and for soft ground stabilization. To ensure compatibility between design methods, circular slip methods are used for stability analysis of the reinforced soil. (4) Sites where soil reinforcing methods may be applied include road earthworks in mountainous areas with steep slopes, alluvial plains with soft ground, and urban areas. Consideration is given to structure types that may be adapted to a wide range of site conditions. This paper reviews design procedures for reinforced soil structures based on the methods proposed in the PWRI manual, together with case histories. Particular interest is paid to the design and construction of reinforced embankments using high water content clayey soils and reinforced soil walls used as temporary structures. 2 REINFORCED EMBANKMENTS

Stability analyses of geotextile reinforced embankments must consider the following failure mechanisms: (1) Failure surface passing through the reinforced region, e.g. internal circular slip stability analysis. (2) Failure surface passing outside the reinforced region, e.g. external circular slip stability analysis.

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(3) Sliding and surface erosion of the soil masses between geotextile layers, e.g. internal sliding stability analysis. A circular slip analysis is used to assess internal and external stability. In evaluating internal stability, it is assumed that the sum of the geotextile tensile forces, Ti , increases the restoring moment and the following equation is used to determine the value of Ti necessary to provide the required factor of safety: FS = M R + RT i MD (1)

where: FS = factor of safety for circular slip failure; MR = restoring moment of unreinforced soil mass = R{cli + (Wi - uli )cosi tan}; MD = disturbing moment of unreinforced soil mass = RWi sini ; R = radius of slip circle; c = soil cohesion; li = base length of soil slice; Wi = total weight of the soil slice per unit width; u = pore water pressure at the base of soil slice; i = angle between the normal to the tangent of the arc at the base of a soil slice, and the vertical; = internal friction angle of soil; and Ti = geotextile tensile force at intersecting base slice i. The number, length and spacing of reinforcing layers are determined from the value of Ti required to meet a prescribed value of FS, and the required reinforcement pullout resistance. Embankments constructed using high water content clayey soils may become unstable due to high construction induced pore water pressures. In such cases it is desirable to dissipate excess pore water pressures at an early stage by installing horizontal drains such as nonwoven geotextiles. When designing embankments using geotextiles as drainage layers, rapid acceleration of embankment consolidation is assumed, and a total stress stability analysis is performed that takes into account the increase in undrained shear strength of the embankment fill due to consolidation. When the factor of safety obtained exceeds 1.2, analyses are performed assuming that the horizontal geotextile drains will be effective in accelerating consolidation. However, when the calculated factor of safety is less than 1.2, analyses are performed using Equation 1 assuming that any gain in embankment fill strength due to accelerated consolidation will be supplemented by the use of tensile reinforcement. Horizontal geotextile drains can be used over the full embankment width for embankment drainage, or vertical drains can be used, with the former method used when the embankment material is soft and trafficability is required. The vertical spacing of horizontal geotextile drains was investigated using one dimensional Terzaghi consolidation theory for horizontal drains covering the full construction width, and using Barrons consolidation equation for sand drains, with the modifications illustrated in Figure 1 when vertical drains were employed. The transmissivity of horizontal geotextile drains must be sufficient to ensure dissipation of excess pore water pressures. The following equations can be used to determine the transmissivity criteria of geotextiles (Giroud 1983): (k g)(Hg) > B 2k s

c vst o

if 10 6 T o 1

(2)

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(a) d
de

(b) d d

(c)

dw de

de

Figure 1. Drain layout and effective drainage diameter: (a) regular triangular vertical drain layout, plan view; (b) square vertical drain layout, plan view; (c) longitudinal cross-section of horizontal drain and effective drainage diameter.
Note: de = effective drainage diameter; dw = drain diameter; d = drain spacing.

(k g)(Hg) >

B 2 k sH s if T o > 1 c vst o

(3)

where: kg = coefficient of in-plane permeability of geotextile; Hg = geotextile thickness; B = width of geotextile between two free draining media (in this case B = embankment width); ks = coefficient of vertical permeability of soil layer; Hs = depth of soil layer to be consolidated; cvs = vertical consolidation coefficient of soil; to = time during which consolidation stress is applied (construction time); and To = time factor corresponding to to . 3 CONSTRUCTION OF A REINFORCED EMBANKMENT USING A HIGH WATER CONTENT CLAYEY SOIL

The following is a case history of the construction of a 7 m high road embankment, in Akita Prefecture in Japan, using a site excavated fill. The fill was a mixture of volcanic ash, clayey soil, and sandy silt derived from a construction borrow pit. The top soil layer at the borrow pit was a brown sandy silt with a natural water content of 50%, underlain by a dark gray clayey volcanic ash soil with a natural water content of 130%, and a whitish-gray clayey volcanic soil with a 40% natural water content. The soils from each of these layers were mixed after excavation and the resultant soil mixture had a water content 50 to 120% depending on the soil mix ratio. The average water content of the fill during construction was 70%, yet differed markedly between layers due to precipitation. The degree of saturation of each layer after compaction was between 90 and 99%. Biaxial geogrids and spunbonded nonwoven geotextiles were used for reinforcement as indicated in Figures 2 and 3 which show a cross-section and a plan view of the test embankment, respectively. The test embankment was 7 m high, 15 m wide and 25 m long at the crest with 1V:1.5H side slopes. The geotextile was 3 mm thick with a tensile strength of 38 kN/m and a rupture strain of 70%. The geogrid had a tensile strength of 19 kN/m and a rupture strain of 11%. Two different geosynthetic reinforcement designs were used on either side of the centerline of the embankment. The left side of the embankment used geotextiles placed

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LEGEND Nonwoven geotextile Geogrid Strain gage Extensometer (two directions)

Soil moisture gage Pore water pressure gage Casing for inclinometer Settlement gage
C L 15 m

7m
P12

P13
G7 G8 P14

P11
G3 G4 G5

P10

P9

Sand layer

Figure 2. Standard cross-section of test embankment.

Notes: P9, P10, P11, P12, P13, P14 represent pore water pressure gages; G3, G4 ,G5, G7, G8 represent extensometers.

To Atika 4m 2m
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 11 10 9 8 7

Soil moisture gage placement area Strain gage placement area Thin-wall sampling Pore water pressure gage Inclinometer Displacement stake Water content/saturation gage placement area

25 m

6 5 4 Nonwoven geotextile Geogrid and nonwoven geotextile 3 2 1

15 m Figure 3. Plan view of test embankment.

2m 4m

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at 300 mm vertical spacings, while the right side used only geogrids at 600 mm and geotextiles at 1200 mm vertical spacings. All of the geogrids and geotextiles were placed at a 4% slope from the embankment centerline. The entire embankment was underlain by a sand layer, 500 to 1300 mm thick, constructed with a crossfall (Figure 2). Measurements of geotextile strain, pore water pressure in the embankment fill and foundation, and settlement and deformation of both the embankment and the foundation were made (see instrumentation layout in Figures 2 and 3). Figure 4 shows the pore water pressure data obtained at the second and ninth geotextile layers from the bottom of the embankment. The excess pore water pressure rises near the center of the embankment and dissipates rapidly to the edge of the embankment (a) Pore water pressure (kN/m )
2

P10

P11 P9 P12

Time elapsed (days) (b) Pore water pressure (kN/m )

2

P13 P14

Time elapsed (days)

Figure 4. Pore water pressure in the test embankment: (a) second layer of geotextile from the bottom of embankment; (b) ninth layer of geotextile from the bottom of embankment.

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due to the nonwoven geotextiles. Figure 4 also indicates a large rise in the excess pore water pressure during construction on the right side of the embankment where the geotextiles are widely spaced. It was concluded that excess pore water pressures will dissipate rapidly if spunbonded nonwoven geotextiles are placed at 300 mm vertical intervals. Figure 5 shows the strain generated in the geotextiles in the second and tenth layers (from the bottom of the embankment) on the left side of the embankment. Figure 6 shows that the strains generated in the geogrids reach values of approximately 2%, indicating that considerable tensile loads were generated in the geogrids. In contrast, the

(a) Elongation strain (%)

60 days after start of construction

150 days after start of construction

Horizontal distance from center of embankment (m) (b) Elongation strain (%)
60 days after start of construction

150 days after start of construction

--Horizontal distance from center of embankment (m)

Figure 5. Strain in geotextile: (a) tenth layer of geotextile from the bottom of embankment; (b) second layer of geotextile from the bottom of embankment.
Note: Left side of embankment in Figures 2 and 3.

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(a)
60 days after start of construction

Elongation strain (%)

150 days after start of construction

Horizontal distance from center of embankment (m) (b) Elongation strain (%)
60 days after start of construction

150 days after start of construction

Horizontal distance from center of embankment (m)

Figure 6. Strain in the geogrid: (a) tenth layer of geogrid from the bottom of embankment; (b) second layer of geogrid from the bottom of embankment.
Note: Right side of embankment in Figures 2 and 3.

strains developed in the geotextile were extremely small, with strain values peaking at approximately 2 months (0.5% strain) after the commencement of construction and then decreasing. This suggests that an increase in soil strength due to consolidation transfers load away from the geotextile and stabilizes the embankment. The geotextile strains (Figure 5) were measured using strain gages attached to a plastic net overlay (Figure 7), and verified using the strain values measured by extensometers attached to

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Figure 7. Plastic net overlay used to measure strain in the geotextile.

the geotextile. The extensometers measured almost identical strain values thus confirming the data plotted in Figure 5. Overall, the installation of closely spaced nonwoven spunbonded geotextile horizontal drains in the test embankment was a practical method for providing effective drainage and consolidation of a high water content clayey fill. 4 REINFORCED SOIL WALLS

There are a number of methods to model the internal stability of a slip surface in a steep embankment (Fukuda et al. 1989). The PWRI Manual (1992) proposes the use of circular slip analyses in which the tensile forces induced in the geotextile are assumed to generate an additional restoring moment. Since the calculations are based on limit equilibrium analysis the geotextile restoring force is resolved incrementally into two components, and a factor of safety, FS, is determined using the following equation: FS = R [cl i + (W i cos i + Ti sin i) tan + T i cos i] R(W i cos i) (4)

Assuming that the distribution of tensile force acting on the geotextiles is triangular, (similar to the distribution of soil pressure, Figure 8) the tensile force provided by the geotextiles is calculated as the tensile force, T = Ti , required to obtain a minimum factor of safety of 1.2 using Equation 4. When calculating the geotextile spacing it is necessary that the tensile force acting on each geotextile layer does not exceed the design tensile strength of the geotextile for that layer (i.e. Ti > Treq ). The geotextile length should provide sufficient anchorage to prevent pullout and, as a general rule, the geotextile length should be the same for each layer to prevent a slip failure which may occur if the geotextiles in the lower layers are shorter than those above. For external stability analysis, the geosynthetic reinforced zone is assumed to be a monolithic block, and

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bi

zi H

Triangular distribution of geotextile tensile force Area = Ti

bi Incremental soil slice zi

Wi

Ti > Treq i li

Figure 8. Circular slip analysis and the calculation of required tensile force, Treq , of the geotextile.

analyses are conducted to examine stability against sliding and overturning. The bearing capacity, and overall stability of the foundation and wall, must take into account the earth pressures acting on the geosynthetic reinforced zone. 5 CONSTRUCTION OF A GEOTEXTILE REINFORCED SOIL WALL

A trial geotextile reinforced soil wall was constructed at the Gassan Dam site in Asahi village in Yamagata Prefecture (Minami et al. 1987; Naemura and Onodera 1993; Onodera et al. 1993). The right-hand bank of the cofferdam is situated on a tuff formation with a steep slope of 30 to 40_, and contains talus deposits. Even though the slope had been protected with concrete blocks, a large scale landslide was expected to occur when the dam reservoir was filled. A geotextile reinforced soil wall was constructed to provide a temporary base for the installation of landslide prevention piles intended to prevent a large-scale landslide. First, an embankment with a maximum height of 5.6 m and side slope of 1V:0.5H was constructed on the 1V:2H protective concrete block slope (Figure 9). The wall facing was constructed using canvass bags filled with tunnel excavation waste, which were

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1m

8m 26 kN/m2 Strain gages

B5 B4 B3 C3 B2 C4 B1
Wall face displacement gages

C1 C2

L = 3.9 m

Geotextile Multi-layer settlement gage

5.6 m

Concrete blocks
Steel bar anchor

Figure 9. Location of geotextiles and instrumentation for the geotextile reinforced soil wall at the Gassan Dam site.
Note: L = length of geotextile.

Geotextile 2 1 (kN/m) 0 ---1

Figure 10. Distribution of geotextile tensile loads in the geotextile reinforced soil wall at the Gassan Dam site.

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wrapped with geotextiles. The embankment fill was a site excavated material with a unit weight, = 19 kN/m3, internal friction angle, = 30_ and cohesion, c = 0. Since the embankment was required to support heavy machinery, the wall was designed to accommodate a surcharge of 26 kN/m2. The presence of a highway passing above the construction site precluded excavation at the toe of the wall, thus concrete protection blocks were used for the foundation. Since the lower geotextile layers could not have the required embedment lengths, due to the concrete block foundation, steel bar anchors were installed to provide the necessary anchorage resistance. Geotextile strains, anchor strains, pore water pressures, settlement and horizontal wall face displacements were monitored during construction. Relatively large tensile loads were measured in the lower geotextile layers, but these were much smaller than the design loads (Figure 10). This may be attributed to the friction between the concrete protection blocks and the embankment, and the cohesion of the embankment fill, which was ignored in the design, but from subsequent testing was found to be, c = 36 kN/m2. The face of the geotextile reinforced soil wall moved inwards, towards the slope, during the first 40 days (Figure 11). This was likely caused by consolidation settlement of the embankment fill due to dissipation of excess pore water pressures. After this period of time, the horizontal wall face displacements were outwards. Since the horizontal wall face displacement patterns are more or less the same for each layer, and little variation was observed in the tensile loads in the geotextiles, this outward movement may be attributed to displacement of the steel bar anchors due to slip between the concrete protection blocks and the embankment. The embankment was constructed between September 1992 and September 1993 and was removed after the construction of the landslide prevention piles between October 1993 and October 1994. Horizontal wall face displacement (mm) 3 Outward 2 1 0 ---1 Inward ---2 ---3 ---4 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 Elapsed time (days)

B4 B2 B5 B1

Figure 11. Horizontal wall face displacements.

Notes: Measurements at B3 were unreliable and are not reported. See Figure 9 for location of wall displacement gages B1, B2, B4 and B5.

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CONCLUSIONS

The effectiveness and practicality of a construction method using geotextiles to reinforce high embankments constructed using high water content clayey fill was assessed and studied in a trial section of a national highway. The spunbonded nonwoven geotextile provided drainage which accelerated embankment consolidation, and tensile reinforcement ensuring traffickability during construction, as well as, embankment stability. Instrumentation measurements revealed that placing the geotextile layers close together can result in rapid fill consolidation. The use of geotextile reinforced earthworks in road construction is expected to increase. Studies are being performed to improve design methods and assess the effectiveness of wall facings, particularly rigid wall facings to reduce wall deformations and improve overall stability. REFERENCES Fukuda, N., Takahashi, Y., Otani, J., Ouchi, M., Nishimura, J., Kinoshita, E. and Yoshizawa, K., 1989, Comparative Studies of Proposed Design Method of Geotextile Reinforced Steep Embankment, Proceedings of the 24th Japan National Conference of the Japanese Society for Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Tokyo, Japan, June 1989, pp. 1-4. (in Japanese) Giroud, J.P., 1983, Geotextile Drainage Layers for Soil Consolidation, Civil Engineering for Practicing and Design Engineers, Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 275-295. Minami, K., Shimada, I., Nakada, H., Uehara, S., Maruo, S. and Nakane, A., 1987, Large scale experiment on collapse of geotextile reinforced retaining wall, Proceedings of the 22nd Japan National Conference of the Japanese Society for Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, pp. 1727-1730. (in Japanese) Naemura, S. and Onodera, S., 1993, Geotextile-Reinforced Earth Structures - 7. Design Concept for Reinforced Earth Structures, Tsuchi-to-Kiso, Vol. 41, No. 10, JSSMFE, pp. 91-97. (in Japanese) Onodera, S., Doi, T. and Emura, Y. , 1993, Behavior of Steep Reinforced Embankment using Geotextiles on the Slope, Proceedings of the 28th Japan National Conference of the Japanese Society for Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, pp. 2773-2776. (in Japanese) Public Works Research Institute, 1992, Design and Construction Manual for Reinforced Soil Structures using Geotextiles, Internal Report No. 3117, Public Works Research Institute, Ministry of Construction, Tsukuba, Japan, 404 p. (in Japanese) NOTATIONS Basic SI units are given in parentheses. B bi = = embankment width (m) width of soil slice in circular slip analysis (Figure 8) (m)

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c cvs d de dw FS H Hg Hs kg ks L li MR MD R to Ti To Treq u Wi zi i

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

soil cohesion (N/m2) vertical consolidation coefficient of soil (m2/s) drain spacing in plan view (Figure 1) (m) effective drainage diameter (Figure 1) (m) drain diameter (Figure 1) (m) factor of safety for circular slip failure (dimensionless) height of embankment in circular slip analysis (Figure 8) (m) geotextile thickness (m) depth of soil to be consolidated (m) in-plane coefficient of permeability of geotextile (m/s) vertical coefficient of permeability of soil (m/s) length of geotextile (m) base length of soil slice in circular slip analysis (m) restoring moment of the unreinforced soil mass (N-m/m) driving moment of the unreinforced soil mass (N-m/m) radius of slip surface (m) time during which consolidation stress is applied (construction time) (s) tensile force generated in the geotextile layer at intersecting base slice i (N/m) time factor corresponding to to (dimensionless) required geotextile tensile force (Figure 8) (N/m) pore water pressure at the base of soil slice (N/m2) weight of soil slice per unit width in circular slip analysis (N/m) height of soil slice in circular slip analysis (Figure 8) (m) unit weight of soil (N/m3) angle between the tangent to the slip circle and the surface of the geotextile reinforcement (Figure 8) (_) internal friction angle of soil (_)

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