Assessment of Reinforcement Strains in Very Tall Mechanically Stabilized Earth Walls
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VIEW THE REPLYPublication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 138, Issue 3
Abstract
The grade raising associated with the Third Runway Project at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport included construction of tall mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls, including the near-vertical, two-tier, 26-m North MSE wall and the near-vertical, four-tier, 46-m tall west MSE wall. Twenty reinforcement strips at critical wall cross sections were instrumented with over 500 strain gauges to monitor strains during and following construction. The reinforcement loads inferred from observed strains are of interest because of their great height and global reinforcement stiffness, which place these walls outside the range in height and stiffness used to calibrate commonly used design methods. This paper presents the development and distribution of reinforcement strains measured during and following the construction of these walls. The reinforcement stresses calculated using the original reinforcement load design methods and design friction angle agreed with those inferred from the measured strains. The accuracy of two standard-of-practice and two alternate design methods is evaluated by comparing the reinforcement loads inferred from measured strains to those calculated using the actual friction angle of the reinforced fill material. Advantages and limitations in these design methods are identified, and recommendations for the improvement of some of these methods are provided.
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Acknowledgments
We thank the Port of Seattle, S. Kyles, and especially the lead geotechnical construction inspector, D. Berta, for providing helpful information about the wall construction. We also appreciate the significant contributions of HNTB Corp., which provided project management and civil engineering services for the MSE walls. We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of M. Bailey of Hart Crowser, Inc., the geotechnical engineer of record, the contractor's instrumentation engineer, P. E. Mikkelsen of GeoMetron, Inc., and instrumentation specialist, D. Yonemitsu, of Yonemitsu Geotechnical Services. Finally, we thank Dr. S. Boyle of Shannon & Wilson, Inc., and Dr. W. J. Neely for helpful discussions and review of the draft manuscript.
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Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 138 • Issue 3 • March 2012
Pages: 345 - 356
Copyright
© 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 10, 2010
Accepted: Jun 18, 2011
Published online: Jun 21, 2011
Published in print: Mar 1, 2012
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