USE OF REINFORCED EARTH STRUCTURE IN

RAILWAYS


Presented By:

Pradeep S Pol
Dy CE(C) / Design
Central Railway, Mumbai.
Under Guidance Of:
Shri V. B Sood
Prof. Track -II

Course Director:
Shri Naresh Lalvani
Sr.Prof. Works
Senior Professionals course (Bridges and General)
INDIAN RAILWAYS INSTITUTE OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, PUNE


SYNOPSIS

A New system for using earthy materials for construction made its appearance
fairly recently. Owing to its similarity with the coupling of concrete and its steel
reinforcement a new system has been invented in France by Henry Vidal and Scholosser
in 1960 and gave a suggestive name of Reinforced earth.
This technique consists of reinforcing the earth with horizontal metal elements
extending from a thin facing of concrete or steel, into a suitable backfill to form a
retaining wall. This technique can result in saving in areas where full side slopes cannot
be adopted, such as built up areas, Ghat section with sidelong slopes and also on poor
soils where foundation for conventional retaining wall is costly.
Though this technology is new in Indian Context, some of the Infrastructure
Development companies are now using this technique for ROBs. However this
technology is not used for railways in India, but has a potential of its use. This
presentation will put light on basic concept, design and specification for materials with
some example of its use for railways.

1. Introduction:

Reinforced earth is a combination of earth and linear reinforcing strips that are capable
of bearing large tensile stresses. The strips or linear elements are usually of metal or
plastic. The reinforcement provided by these strips enable the mass to resist the tension in
a way which the earth alone could not. The source of this resistance to tension is the
internal friction of soil, because the stresses that are created within the mass are
transferred from soil to the reinforcement strips by friction.














Fig shows the arrangement of the reinforcement strips and details of the joints.




Fig shows the locations where the R.E. Wall is suitable.















Components of Reinforced Earth

1 Reinforcing Fill
Any suitable well graded granular material which is able to develop sufficient
friction between reinforcing material and soil. Generally it should be granular,
cohesion less material, should have very less amount of reinforcement corroding
elements.
2 Retaining Fill :
Normally same fill material as in the reinforcing fill may be used but not
mandatory. Material with some inferior quality can be used. In such case the
design earth pressure on the facing element will increase it needs to be designed
for that increase pressure.
3 Reinforcing Material:
Reinforced members are composed of thin wide steel or aluminum strips called
ties. The flexibility of reinforcing strips and their tensile strengths are essential
elements.
Other types of polymeric material which can be used as reinforcement are
1. Geotextile: Geotextile in fabric form are being used as a basal
reinforcement of embankment and fills on the ground
2. Geogrids: These are made up of High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) and
interconnected longitudinal and transverse Member. These are made from
sheets of polymer by punching holes and stretching the sheets in one or
two direction.
3. Geogrids: which are made up of High Modulus Polyester Fiber (PET)?
These grids are made from weaving polyester fiber into high tensile yarns
and forming interconnected members.
All polymeric reinforcement is normally provided with a black coating to protect
it against an Ultra Violet rays.
4 Facing Element :
Facing Element form the outer skin of the reinforced soil wall. Theses
elements keeps the reinforcement at a desired elevation in the reinforced soil wall
and also protect the granular at the edge falling off. A large variety of facing
elements are in use. Panel Blocks and wrap around system are of common use.
The choice depends upon the type of reinforcement used. Panels are used with
HDPE reinforcement, while normally blocks are used where with PET
reinforcement. Facing element can also be given an attractive pattern and finish to
enhance the architectural appearances of the reinforced soil wall.
5. Draining Layers:
Reinforcing soil derives it strength from frictional interaction between the
soil fill and reinforcement hence keeping the soil fill fully drained ensures the
wall in better stability. Although the fill material is specified a free draining it is
desirable to keep the drainage layer at the face of reinforced soil wall.
6. Footing:
Where soil has adequate bearing capacity a concrete pad footing is
provided. In case facia panels are used footings may be made of trough shaped to
allow for the small rotation of the panel during and after the construction of wall.
Level concrete footing is adequate for Block type Facia or wraparound facing.
7. Basal Reinforcement:
Where subsoil is clayey and does not have adequate bearing capacity,
basal reinforcement is adopted . The Basal Reinforcement has to be of adequate
width. The required width of the basal reinforcement is usually more than the
width of the reinforced soil structure. (i.e. the width between two face walls.) The
width required depends on the thickness of the clayey layer as well as the required
factor of safety against the failure in bearing capacity.

Stability of a reinforced earth retaining wall

Stability of a retaining wall built with reinforced earth should include two types
of analysis
1. General Analysis : General analysis of the structure shall be not different
than the conventional gravity retaining wall. General analysis is performed
for checking the external stability of the structure. In these analysis the
factor of safety against possible failure by 1) sliding at the base. 2)
Overturning about the toe. 3)Excessive bearing Pressure and 4) Excessive
settlement of the structure , will be checked.

MINIMUM REQUIRED FACTORS OF SAFETY








2. Internal Stability Analysis : The Chief purpose of the internal stability
Analysis is to determine the length of the reinforcing strips and horizontal
and vertical spacing between them.


Failure Mode
Load Combination
Static Only Static + Seismic Static +
Drawdown
Sliding 1.5 1.1 1.2
Overturning 2.0 1.5 1.5


Above figure shows the procedure suggested by Vidal and Schlosser for
computing the internal stability of the mass of the reinforced earth. For a mass of
a reinforced earth nearly a rectangular cross section is recommended where a
width is approximately equivalent to height of the wall. The surface A-C limits
the wedge of the reinforced earth. Its equilibrium can be analyzed by expanding
on the ideas governing the coulombs method for conventional case of earth thrust.
Design of Components:
Design of the skin: The design of the skin elements is simple, once the lateral
earth pressure has been calculated. Normally the required thickness of the
curved element is small, too thin for practical installation and additional
material is required for higher factor of safety and protection against corrosion.
The design of skin is based on the principles of design of thin shell.
Design of Tie: The key features and dimensions pertaining to the ties are shown
in Fig. 5





Fig 5 shows the typical arrangement of tie with the facing material




It is assumed that the wall is perfectly flexible and frictionless. If the wall is made of rigid
skin element, then the effect of wall friction will lead to slightly lower active earth
pressure than assumed herein. It is further assumed that the wall will move laterally
during construction by sufficient amount to mobilize a state of active earth pressure in the
soil behind. This movement results from the relative displacements needed to
mobilize the skin friction between the soil and ties. Thus the lateral earth
pressure against the wall is assumed to increase linearly with depth.

The ties are designed specifying the following criteria:

The ties must be strong enough to prevent failures by breaking in tension (tension mode
of failure).
The ties must have sufficient contact surface to develop adequate friction to prevent
failure by pulling out (bond mode of failure).
The tensile force in the tie element increases from zero at the free end to maximum at the
face of the wall, like the earth pressure distribution. The tensile force also increases
linearly with depth.

Selection of Materials for Components:

Soil:

4.2.1. The selection of the soil intended for a reinforced earth structure is based
on technical as well as economic considerations. The soil must be able to
develop friction. Since the friction between the soil and the reinforcement
is a fraction of the angle of the internal friction of the soil. The design of a
reinforced earth structure requires that the earth reinforcement coefficient
of friction to be either higher than or equal to 0.4. This makes it necessary
to avoid soil with too much clay content, and necessitates the establishment
of simple criteria to be used in the selection of reinforced earth backfill
material.

Minimum specification for selecting backfill:

Sieve size % passing

150 mm 100
75 mm 75-100
0.2 mm 0-25
And Plasticity Index < 6.

Facing elements: The facing is made of either metal units or precast concrete
panels which are easy to be handled and quickly assembled

Metal facing: Metal elements are manufactured from mild or galvanized
steel and have the same properties as those of reinforcing strips. In cross
section, it is semi-elliptical and there is a continuous horizontal joint along
one edge. Holes are provided for bolting the facing elements to one
another and to the reinforcing strips. Because of the shape in profile and the
thinness of cross section, it can adopt itself to significant deformations.






Concrete panel facing: The precast concrete panels are cruciform shaped
and are separated by a substantial joint.



Reinforcing Strips: The reinforcing strips are made of mild galvanized steel,
stainless steel or aluminum alloy. Bolts and nuts for fixing the ties are made of
the same material as that of the reinforcing strips. The durability of the strips
depends on the chemical and electro-chemical behavior of these metals when
in contact with soil particles.

Compaction:

Compaction is not essential to the stability of a reinforced earth structure, but it is
necessary wherever there is need to minimize settlement within the structure, as in the
cases where the structure will support a highway or carry concentrated loads. Structures
such as walls for gardens and terraces and protective walls for revetment have been built
without compaction. When reinforced earth is used in road construction, the earth fill
material is compacted in a manner similar to that of an ordinary embankment. In order to
avoid disturbance to the facing, heavy compactors should go no closer than two meter to
the wall facing. The area close to the facing should be compacted with light compacting
equipment.

Durability of the Reinforced Earth stricture:

As the durability of the R.E. Structure depends upon the properties of the
components of the RE Structure. Such as durability of reinforcing Material as well as
frictional properties of the Fill soil used.

Conclusion :

As there are Presently Not many literature is available particularly with regard
behavior of RE Wall to Railway Loading . Even Very Few countries codes are specifying
about the RE Structure. Hence there is a need to study the Behavior of RE Structure
under Railway Lading, with some Model / Prototype Study and Update the Codes
Specifying the Railway Loading

















References:
1. Soil Mechanics in Highway Engineering. Rico Rodrigvez; H Dell
Castillo; G.F Shower.
2. Technical Papers of National seminars on recent Development in Earth
retaining Structures for Bridges and Flyovers Of IIBE 2006 and 1998
3. Various web sites