Search

This document provides a summary of the different topics presented at the Special Session organized by the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) Technical Committee on Soil Reinforcement (TC-R). This Special Session brings together very interesting studies regarding soil reinforcement in the field of geosynthetics. Studies presented include topics both from theoretical and practical points of view of reinforcement geosynthetics including general products and applications, cases studies on road embankments under challenging site boundary conditions, research on deterministic and probabilistic design of reinforced fills over voids, numerical analysis of reinforced soil wall structures, encased granular column technique, and geosynthetic-reinforced bridge abutment behavior.

Most often the focus on the mechanical contribution of reinforcement geosynthetics in soil reinforcement applications has been on the strength of the material. In fact, under operational conditions the performance of these systems is controlled by the stiffness of the geosynthetic, not its strength. An appreciation of the role of geosynthetic stiffness in soil reinforcement applications is complicated by the rate-dependency of many products which means that their load-strain properties are time-, strain- and temperature-dependent. This paper describes the quantification of these properties using a simple isochronous load-strain model with properties fitted from laboratory creep testing. The implementation of the model and its consequences on the quantitative performance of mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) wall loads and deformations, reinforced fills over voids, and a thin reinforced granular base over a soft clay foundation are demonstrated.