Performance Monitoring of a Rammed Aggregate Pier Foundation Supporting a Mechanically Stabilized Earth Wall
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Volume 23, Issue 4
Abstract
The use of rammed aggregate pier (RAP) foundations for support of retaining walls and earth fill embankments has increased in recent years to become a geotechnical solution for rapid construction of earth structures in soft ground conditions. A nominal mechanically stabilized earth wall was constructed over piers installed in relatively compressible soil to investigate the performance of RAP foundation elements in terms of stress-deformation and settlement behaviors for such applications. Geotechnical instrumentation consisting of total earth pressure cells, settlement plates, and vibrating wire piezometers was installed within the pier elements and at the foundation surface for short- and long-term monitoring of pier response. Monitoring data indicate: (1) mobilization and concentration of vertical stress on pier elements and matrix soil; and (2) load transfer response for the boundary condition associated with support of geogrid-reinforced earth fill. The practical implications of the experimental research findings are briefly discussed.
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Acknowledgments
This research was sponsored by Geopier Foundation Company, Inc. and Iowa State University. This material is also based upon work supported under a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. The writers are grateful for this sponsorship. The MSE wall was designed by Tensar Earth Technologies, Inc. Brendan FitzPatrick, Associate Project Engineer with Geopier Foundation Company, designed the RAP foundation. Peterson Contractors, Inc. of Reinbeck, Iowa installed the RAPs and constructed the MSE wall. The writers would also like to acknowledge David White, Associate Professor at Iowa State University, for his oversight of the research program and Thang Phan, graduate student at Iowa State University, for assisting with the site investigation and instrumentation installation.
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Published In
Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 23 • Issue 4 • August 2009
Pages: 244 - 250
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: May 16, 2008
Accepted: Dec 11, 2008
Published online: Jul 15, 2009
Published in print: Aug 2009
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