SOIL REINFORCEMENT

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION WHAT IS REINFORCED SOIL WHY DO WE NEED TO REINFORCE SOIL CONPONENTS OF REINFORCED SOIL SYSTEM WHAT CAN BE USED AS REINFORCEMENT

INTRODUCTION
DEFINATION  Henry Vidal,who proposed the principle of reinforced earth(Vidal,1969),described reinforced earth as``a material formed by combining earth and reinforcement.  In this defination earth covers all types of ground and soil occuring in nature and reinforcement includes all linear components that can withstand major tensile stresses

WHAT IS REINFORCED SOIL

IN SCIENTIFIC TERMS:
 Reinforced soil structure is an internally stabilized system involving reinforcement installed within and extending beyond the potential failure mass(as in case of reinforced soil walls and soil nailed excavations) which eliminates the need for a structural wall or support as the interaction between the soil and reinforcement mobilize the tensile capacity of closely spaced reinforcing elements

WHY DO WE NEED TO REINFORCE SOIL

Soil is reinforced in order to strengthen it for one or more of the following conditions:
 Improving load bearing capacity of soil  Excavating upto greater depths  To avoid land sliding  Carrying earth pressure,hydrostatic pressure etc  Bearing forces of water during floods  Carrying huge traffic loads in case of highways  Carrying overburden pressure

COMPONENTS OF REINFORCED SOIL SYSTEM

A Reinforced Soil System(RSS) is a composite system consisting of following components:  FACING PANEL (commonly made of concrete, steel plate ,wire mesh ,block etc.
 SOIL REINFORCEMENT STRIPS

(galvanised steel ,geotextiles etc)  SELECT FILL( cohesionless soil meeting specific defined requirements)

COMPONENTS OF REINFORCED SOIL SYSTEM

The frictional forces created when combining select fill with flexible metallic or non metallic reinforcing strips results in a robust structural material ,commonly known as REINFORCED EARTH. The strips are attached to facing panel ,which may be manufactured from steel or concrete

COMPONENTS OF REINFORCED SOIL SYSTEM

The facing material selected generally dependent on it having sufficient durability to accommodate the design life of the structure, and also to meet the aesthetic needs of the project. The REINFORCED EARTH acts as a monolithic mass and supports its own weight as well as any applied loads as discussed earlier

COMPONENTS OF REINFORCED SOIL SYSTEM

WHAT CAN BE USED AS REINFORCEMENT

GEOSYNTHETICS
It is defined as a planar product manufactured from a polymeric material used with soil,rock,earth as an integral part of the project. These can be one of the following: 1.GEOTEXTILES: A permeable geosynthetic made of textile materials. Geotextiles in fabric form are being used as basal reinforcement in embankments and fills. 2.GEOGRIDS: Geogrids are reinforcement formed by a regular network of tensile elements with apertures of sufficient size to interlock with surrounding fill material * made of High Density Polyethene(HDPE) *has interconnected longitudunal and transverse members * formed by stretching the sheet and punching holes 3.GEOCOMPOSITES: Geotextiles ,goegrids and other such structures combined using membranes to make use of different attributes

WHAT CAN BE USED AS REINFORCEMENT?

REINFORCING STRIPS
Reinforced members are composed of thin wide aluminium or steel plates called ties. *Their flexibility and tensile strength are the essentiel elements. * They are made of galvanised steel,stainless steel or aluminium alloy *They are tied using nuts and bolts of the same material *Their durability depends on chemical and electrochemical behavior in contact with soils

FABRICATION OF GEOTEXTILES

FABRICATION OF GEOTEXTILES

GEOTEXTILE CHARACTERISTICS

To ensure satisfactory performance of the reinforcement, a low elongation under stress and good design with respect to a type of soil being reinforced is essential. Geogrids are more suitable for grainy and non-cohesive materials (sand and gravel) while woven geotextiles or reinforcing geocomposites are better for cohesive, finegrained soils (clayey soil).

Benefits of geosynthetics
Improvement of mechanical properties of soil. otherwise unsuitable types of soil can be used expensive structural designs are avoided extension of the existing road or railway embankments to increase their capacities can be easily achieved If vegetation cover provided over it, helps resisting erosion construction time is shorted as work can be done throughout the year embankment safety and stability is increased natural appearance of landscape is maintained costs for construction is optimised

MECHANISM OF REINFORCED SOIL

Mechanism of reinforced soil can be explained by considering an element of cohesionless soil. If vertical stress is applied on unreinforced soil, it undergoes both lateral and vertical deformations.

UNREINFORCED SOIL SAMPLE

is the vertical stress acting on soil sample. 3 is the lateral stress acting on the soil sample. v is the vertical deformation. h is the lateral deformation.
1

If reinforcement in the form of a plane sheet is introduced in the sample before load is applied, the deformations are restrained due to the interaction between the soil and the reinforcement.

Stability of reinforced soil structures

The shear stress at the interface of soil and reinforcement generates strains in the reinforcement and tensile force is mobilized in it. If this force is greater than the tensile capacity of the sheet reinforcement, rupture failure occurs. This is called tensile failure.

 It is likely that a slip occurs between soil and reinforcement, if deformations are high or interface is smooth. This is called Pull-out failure. These two conditions need to be examined to ensure the stability of reinforced soil structure.

SOIL NAILING
Soil nailing is an economic, in situ method of reinforcing and increasing the overall shear strength of unsupported or unstable soil/rock excavations or slopes It basically involves installing threaded steel bars into slopes or cuts as excavation proceeds from top down. Steel bars are installed in drilled holes and then grouted to tieback the face of the wall. A constructed face is installed over the steel bars, typically made of shotcrete as a face cover, which is reinforced using woven wire mesh over steel plates.

TECHNIQUE OF SOIL NAILING

A bench is excavated ranging between 4 and 6 feet in height. Holes are drilled into the excavated face typically measuring 6 to 8 inches in diameter in soil and 3 to 4 inches in rock. And are angled at 15 degrees below horizontal. The hole is pumped full of ready-mixed grout soon after drilling to ensure the hole remains open. Nails, generally continuously threaded steel bars, are long enough to penetrate the failure plane of the excavation, and are inserted immediately following grouting.
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 The nails are equipped with centralizers to ensure central placement in the grouted hole The concept is to stabilize the soil by creating a grouted mass that the surrounding soil will act upon in friction. The grout also provides corrosion protection for the nail. Once the grout sets, the protruding nails are fitted with a steel plate to transfer forces from the wall to the nail. Reinforcing steel is applied and the face is shotcreted.

NOTE - because of the potential that the soil will collapse after being excavated, a soil nailing contractor only cuts as long a bench as crews can complete in a 24-hour period.

. Holes are drilled into the excavated face.

Reinforcing steel is applied

The face is shotcreted

Lasell Building N17 - Newton, MA

ADVANTAGES
Soil nail walls can be built to follow curved or zigzagged outlines. The equipment used is highly portable and can fit easily into small spaces. The process is flexible and makes modifications easy to carry out (e.g., nails can be moved as needed during construction).

 It generally requires less space and manpower. Construction causes less noise and traffic obstruction on highways. The process creates less impact on adjacent or nearby properties than do other construction methods.

DISADVANTAGES
The method cannot be used at sites where groundwater is a problem. It is inappropriate for sites with soils having very low shear strength, in sand and gravels that lack cohesion, and on sites with other unsuitable soils. Soil must be able to stand unsupported while it is being nailed and before shotcrete application

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