Innovative mechanically stabilized earth walls with geotextile geocells

ABSTRACT: Structures reinforced with geosynthetics consist in increasing the mechanical performance of a soil (mainly shear resistance) by associating it with flexible geosynthetics inclusions. One of the important issues in the construction of geosynthetic reinforced walls is the supply of natural backfill materials with the required properties needed for the stability of the wall. Indeed, unlike geosynthetics that exhibit stable properties due to extensive quality controls during the manufacturing process, soil matrix will vary from a site to another and even from the beginning to the end of the excavation work. It influences the soil stability itself and also the soil-geosynthetic interface. As it minimizes the influence of soil characteristics on the stability of the reinforced structure, M3S geotextile geocells make possible, in addition to the construction of reinforced structures with complex shapes, to reuse the soil material excavated on-site to build the wall, including those with very poor geotechnical characteristics. This publication presents the M3S cellular system and its mechanical and functional characteristics. It also gives a case study on the construction in 2019 of two MSE walls as part of the A71 motorway bypass on the APRR network, France.