Field Experiment of Reinforced Earth Wall

A field test conducted at the U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station indicated that the reinforced earth concept provides another alternative for constructing earth structures which may prove to be more economical when compared with conventional methods under certain conditions. Based on instrumentation measurements collected during construction and during loading of a retaining wall backfilled with sand and reinforced with galvanized steel ties, it appears that the Rankine earth pressure theory provides a good approximation for the measured lateral pressure when the wall is carrying little or no surcharge load. Prior to failure under a substantial surcharge loading, the measured lateral earth pressure was maximum at the middle third of the wall and varied from 1.0 to 1.2 times the Rankine active earth pressure. The curve connecting the points where maximum tensile stress occurred in the reinforcing ties did not coincide with the theoretical Rankine failure surface.