Behavior of a Trial Embankment with Reinforced Steep Slope and Mechanically Stabilized Earth Wall: A Numerical Analysis

Department of Highways, Thailand has been using the reinforced earth structures for road embankments and bridge abutments for nearly a decade. Different methods of earth reinforcement, i.e., reinforced steep slopes (RSS) and mechanically stabilized earth walls (MSEW), are commonly selected based on their flexibility and steepness of the slope faces. Different reinforcing materials consisting of three types of extensible materials (e.g. polypropylene, polyethylene, and polyester) and two types of inextensible materials (steel wire grid and metallic strips) were tested in laboratory for their properties such as tensile strength, elongation, rupture strength, and yield strength as well as the pullout resistance properties. To investigate the effects of different reinforcing materials used in road and bridge construction, a trial embankment of 15 x 18 m² and 6-m high incorporating three RSS sections and two MSEW sections was modeled using the finite-element analysis. The result from this study will be beneficial for future implementation of the reinforced earth structure in the road embankment and bridge abutment construction in Thailand.