A geosynthetic reinforced earth retaining structure to eliminate lateral earth pressure on concrete grade beam walls – a case study

Laxmi Kant Kachhwal, Matthew Dean

In the proceedings of GeoSt. John's 2019: 72nd Canadian Geotechnical Conference

Session: Geosynthetics

ABSTRACT: The lateral earth pressure and differential settlement were the major concerns for the construction of a commercial building with anticipated heavy point loads on the slab-on-grade floor. This paper demonstrates a geosynthetic reinforced earth (GRE) retaining structure used to eliminate the lateral earth pressure on the concrete grade beam walls, by leaving a gap in between the grade-beam wall and the GRE structure. The wrap face GRE structure was designed using bi-axial geogrid which reinforced granular material and was fronted by wire-mesh baskets. This approach not only allowed for the grade beam walls to be designed with the assumption of zero lateral earth pressure but minimized differential settlement concerns that could affect the slab-on-grade. This paper presents the design approach of the GRE structure and incurred construction challenges.

RÉSUMÉ: La pression latérale du sol et le tassement différentiel étaient les préoccupations majeures pour la construction d'un bâtiment commercial avec de lourdes charges ponctuelles prévues sur une dalle sur terre-dans cet article montre une structure de soutènement renforcée de matériaux géosynthétique (GRE) utilisée pour éliminer la pression exercée latéralement par la terre sur les murs de la poutre de fondation de béton, en laissant un vide entre le mur de la poutre de fondation et la structure GRE. La structure GRE à face enveloppante a été conçue à l'aide d'une géogrille biaxiale qui renforçait les matériaux granulaires et était surmontée de paniers grillagés. Cette approche a non seulement permis de concevoir les murs de la poutre de fondation en supposant une pression latérale du sol nulle, mais aussi en minimisant les problèmes de tassement différentiel qui pourraient affecter la dalle sur terre-plein. Ce document éfis de construction auxquels elle est confrontée.

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Cite this article:
Laxmi Kant Kachhwal; Matthew Dean (2019) A geosynthetic reinforced earth retaining structure to eliminate lateral earth pressure on concrete grade beam walls – a case study in GEO2019. Ottawa, Ontario: Canadian Geotechnical Society.

@article{Geo2019Paper223,author = Laxmi Kant Kachhwal; Matthew Dean,title = A geosynthetic reinforced earth retaining structure to eliminate lateral earth pressure on concrete grade beam walls – a case study,year = 2019}