Contribution of suction on the stability of reinforced-soil retaining wall

Abstract

Existing design methods of a reinforced-soil retaining wall were established for walls with cohesionless soil backfill. However, local soil has been used widely in the construction of such a wall for economic reasons. Laboratory and numerical studies have pointed out the merit of using cohesive backfill in association with geosynthetic reinforcement. Since the compacted soil was in an unsaturated condition during the construction of the reinforced wall, the apparent cohesion derived from both soil mineralogy and suction could contribute to the stability of the wall. This paper considers methods to include the suction contribution to the existing design guidelines based on slope stability analysis, i.e. simplified method and simplified stiffness method. The analyses were carried out on a case study of geosynthetics reinforced soil retaining wall. Results show that the contribution of suction as part of cohesion existing in the cohesive backfill could be considered for the stability analysis of reinforced soil retaining walls using the available design guidelines.

Analyses and design of steep slope with GeoBarrier system (GBS) under heavy rainfall

“…the existing design guidelines or simplified method (AASHTO, 2009;Berg et al, 2009) and the simplified stiffness method (Allen and Bathurst, 2015). As shown by Gofar and Hanafiah (2018), the methods gave comparable results in terms of stress transferred to the reinforcing element.…”

Present practices and emerging opportunities in bioengineering for slope stabilization in Malaysia: An overview

“…It prevents soil movement or internal erosion within the slope while reinforcing the soil along potential sliding planes ( Kim et al, 2019 ). Moreover, geotextiles could lower the pore water pressure within the slopes during rainfall, thus increasing its shear strength ( Gofar & Hanafiah, 2018 ). Besides, the use of geotextile in cut slopes where the soil is composed of weak materials ( Niroumand et al, 2012 ) has proven to be beneficial as the material helps to transfer the excessive shear stress from weak soil to tension in geotextile.…”