SECTION 23. oy REINFORCED EARTH WALLOo 2B. 22 23 Ba BS 236 23.7 238 Bd 2.10 2.1 SECTION 23 — REINFORCED EARTH WALL, GENERAL REINFORCED EARTH PANELS .CAST-IN ELEMENTS ; ‘MANUFACTURING HANDLING AND STACKING JOINT FILLER REINFORCING STRIPS SELECTED BACKFILL CONSTRUCTION DRAINAGE PULL-OUT TEST FOR REINFORCING 823-4) 823-1 823-1 823-1 823-2 823-2 $23.2 823-2 823.3 S234 823-5 $23.5231 23.2 SECTION 23 - REINFORCED EARTH WALL, GENERAL 7 Reinforced Earth Wall shall be carried out under the direction of a competent supervisor and by personnel with approved previous experience in the erection of Reinforced Earth Walls. Before commencement of work, detailed calculations and working drawings for the reinforced earth panels, reinforcing stips, etc. for each wall shall be submitted to the ‘S.O. for approval. No works shall proceed until approval has been given. Any royalty for patent rights shall be the responsibility of the contractor. REINFORCED EARTH PANELS Conerete Mix Concrete mix for the rein‘orced earth panel shall be Class 30/20 as shown oa the Drawings and shall conform to the relevant requirements of Specification Section 9 — Concrete. Reinfércement Reinforcement steel shall be in accordance with the provisions set out in Specification Section 9 Conerete and positioned as indicated on the drawings. Formwork Steel formwork shall be used and shall conform to the requirements of Specification Section 9~ Concrete. ‘The tolerancés for the completed panel shal be : + alldimensions with 5 mm + the difference between the length of the diagonals ball not excced 10 mm. ‘CAST-IN ELEMENTS Tie Sips Tie strips shall be suppliod pre-bent and galvanised and shall be purchased from ‘approved sources. ‘Tie strip shall be bolted or clamped in the position as shown on the ‘Drawings when pouring concrete. Tie strip plate separation shall not be less than 5 mm nor greater than 7 mm unless noted otherwise, 82341BS 23.6 BT Dowel &Tubes Dowels shalt be plastic, diameter 20 mm (+ 0, -2mm). Tubes shall be rigid plastic, internal diameter 30 mm [+ 2mm, -0). Lifing Anchors : Lifting anchors cast into the top of the panels shall be of an approved type and shall not be displaced from their correct position and alignment when castig. MANUFACTURING Panels shall be cast face down on a flat area, withthe exterior face at the botom of the ‘mould and the tie strips upwards. Concrete shall be placed, vibrated and cured as specified. The exterior surfaces of the panels shall be uniform and shall be free of blowholes, stains chips or cracks. HANDLING AND STACKING Panels shall be handled with care to avoid chipping or cracking, scratching of the front face or deformation of dowels and tie strips. Pancls shall be stored in such a manner as to prevent staining of the front faces and to be stacked clear of the ground in such a manner as to ensure that = i) Not more than 6 panels are in any one stack; ii) Tie strips do not impinge on the face of the panc! ; iil) Support points ar: one above the other through the stack ; iv) Panels which do 2ot meet the above specification shall be rejected. JOINT FILLER Filler for the vertical joints shall be flexible open cell polyurethane foam strips of 40 _mm square cross section t» ASTM D 1564 or equivaleat. For the horizontal joints, a resin boided cork filler board’ conforming to ASTM D’ 1752or equivalent shall be used. REINFORCING STRIPS Reinforcing strips shall comply with A.S. 1204 and shall be either = i) Plain flats cut from continuously hot dipped galvanised sheet of minimum yield stress 300 Neo? ; or Plain or ribbed flats in accordance with the composition and property requirements of AS. 1204 Grade 256 ; or ii) Other approved material. $23.223.8 Galvanising shall be a minimum 600 g/m (ie. 85 yam equivalent thickness) generally complying with A.S. 1650 or equivalent. Reinforcement shall be cut to length and holed in the specified locations. Reinforcement shall be inspected to ensure that itis, free from defects that may impair its strength and durability. Bolts and nuts for bolting the seinforcing strips shall be of strength Grade 8.8 to B.S. 3692 or equivalent, M12 hat dip galvanised or equivalent protective coating. SELECTED BACKFILL Selected backfill shall be granular material, free from organic or other deleterious material. ‘The selected backfill shall have the physical and electrochemical limits as defined below = (i) oC @ Physical Friction The angle of internal friction of a saturated soil specimen by shear box test should not be less than 36 degrees. Grain Size Distribuion ‘The physical criteria shall be deemed to be satisfied (and the measurement of fiction angle shall not be required) where the percentage (by weight) of the material less than 75yim size is less than 15%, or the percentage (by weight) of the material less than 15jum size is less than 10%. Materials which include a percentage (by weight) of material less than 15,m size between 10% and 20% shall be accepted provided the criteria of friction is satisfied. Materials which include a percentage (by weight) of material less than 15jm greater than 20% shall not be acceptable. No elements of material shall be larger than 250 mm. For structures in soft water, coarser and well-drained material is preferred. Chemical pH Value ‘The pH value of the materials shall be in the range of 5 to 10. Soluble Salts Where the resistivity of the material (see sub-clause 3) is in the range of 1000- to 5000. ohm-cm ar the material is of industrial origin, the concentration of chloride (C11) and sulphate (SO/) shall be checked and shall not exceed the following limits ~ ‘Material Outside Water In Soft Water CI (aghks) 200 100 SO? (me/ke) 1000 300 823-3 oO23.9 (iii) Sulphides ‘Where the origin of material rises the possibility of the presence of sulphide, the concentration of the sulphide shall be checked and shall not exceed 300 mghkg for structures outside water and 100 mg/kg for structures in soft water. Electrochemical Resistivity ‘The resistivity of the backfill material shall be determined on a saturated specimen after ore hour of soil-water contact at 25 degree centigrade. ‘The resistivity ofthe material shall be greater than the following limits (Outside Water In Soft Watér Resistivity (ohm-cm) 1000, 3000 CONSTRUCTION ii) Erection of Wall Panels All excavation fer reinforced Earth Wall shall be carried ovt to firm ground and to the levels as shown on the Drawings. A concrete levelling footing, Class 20/20, shall be cast accurately o the ines and levels as detailed on the Drawings. The footing shall be cast atleast 12 hours before the placement of wall panels. ‘Concrete panels shall be placed vertically with the aid of alight crane lifting from the lifting anchor provided. Panels shall be placed in successive horizontal lifts in the sequence indicated on the Drawings. As fill is placed, the panels shall be held vertically by temporary timber wedges in the extemal Joint at the junction of the two adjacent panels and by clamps atthe staggered Joint between the panels. External bracing is also required for the initial row of panels. During each stage of the erection, the panels shall be checked for alignment and level by using the spacer bars and plumb bob for each panel. Backilling and Compaction Backlilling shall be carried out closely behind the concrete panels soon 2s that level is erected. At each level, the backfill shall be properly Jevelled and compacted before placing and bolting the reinforcing strips. Backfilling and compaction shall be casried out in accordance with the Earthworks Specification. During backfilling, trucks and heavy vehicles shall be kept back at least 1:5, metres from the face of the wall and crawler tracks shall not be directly in. contact with the reinforcing strips. 823-423.10 BAL iy ii) ‘Tolerances ‘The general tolerances applied to the finished wall shal be as follows :- No point on the facing shall be more than 500 mmm from its theoretical position defined on the Drawings. Local variations measured by a 3 metre straight edge shall not exceed 25 mm. DRAINAGE ‘Subsoil drainage pipes, where indicated on the Drawings, shall be 100 mm diameter ‘porous concrete pipes or ecuivalent. If PVC pipes are used, they shall be perforated with 4 n0s. 10 mm diameter concentric holes staggered at 150 mm spacing, longitudinally. All subsoil drainage pipes are to be laid to the levels shown on the Drawings. ‘| : PULL-OUT TEST FOR REINFORCING STRIP 1 ‘The Contractor shall carry out such pull-out tests for the reinforcing strip as directed by the S.O. The Contractor shall allow in his rates for any delay which may arise in carrying out such tests. All tests shall be carried out during the initial stages of the construction of the reinforced earth wall to measure the resistence of the reinforcing strip to pull forces and hence to assess the effective friction developed between the earth and the reinfércing strip in the reinforced earth block. Test Strip a) Each test consists of a specimen of reinforcing strip buried within the reinforced strip buried within the reinforced earth block. b)__Ench test strip shall be covered by a rigid tube at each end to minimise ‘end effects and to provide a constant length of strip exposed to the earth, The distance between the facing panel and the start of the ‘exposed strip shall be such that the test area is within the resistant zone of the reinforced earth block and as directed. ©). The test strip.shall pass through an opening in the facing panel to be provided by the Contractor such that a jack and extension measuring device can be attached for the measurement of oad and corresponding extension. z Test Procedure Tests shall be carried out at depth of overburden equal to 3m, 6m and 9m. ‘Two tests shall be conducted at each level of overburden and at each location as directed by the S.O. The strips shall be withdrawn by means of a jack supported off bearers placed against the facing panels. Load and extension sball be recorded until the load reaches 2 constant value and/or the displacement reaches 300 mm. 823-5O © Test Loads ‘The maximum test load shall be equal to the yield stress of the strip mulkipled by its cross-sectional area. The maximum residual friction shall be between 10-20kN, 823-6