Development of a Reinforced Soil Arch: How to Put the Dirt to Work

The construction, maintenance and replacement of crossing structures within North America are significant aspects of the transportation infrastructure. Cost effective means of constructing, maintaining and replacing crossings are vital to maintaining the transportation system. Historically, economical crossings were constructed with locally available materials. Where ideal construction materials were not readily available, construction techniques were developed to utilize the local materials. By utilizing the knowledge of the behaviour of reinforced soils with the understanding of soil arching, reinforced soil arches can be constructed using local mineral soil fill reinforced with economical geotextile fabrics. The construction of a 33 m long by 2.4 m wide reinforced soil arch on an industrial log haul road on the north end of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, demonstrated that significant cost savings can be realized by constructing crossings with reinforced soil arches.