Design of Mechanically Stabilized Earth Retaining Walls

Abstract

This chapter deals with the design of mechanically stabilized earth retaining wall using strip reinforcement. Internal and external stability requirements of an MSE wall with strip reinforcement are discussed in details in this chapter. For internal stability of an MSE wall, safety against pullout and breakage of reinforcing strips is checked. For external stability, safety against overturning, sliding, and bearing capacity is also checked. The overall safety of the MSE wall (internal and external) was performed considering various design parameters such as constant/varying strip length and spacing between the strips (along the wall height and the wall length) under different types of applied surcharge loading conditions (line load, strip load, and embankment load). Additionally, a step-by-step procedure was introduced in this chapter to perform internal and external stability requirements for safe and economical designs. A number of design problems are also presented in this chapter and its solutions are explained in details. These problems are first hand-solved, and then, resolved using the MSE Wall-1 application of the foundationPro program. Finally, two design projects are suggested at the end of this chapter to allow the reader practice the concepts learned herein.