Soil reinforcement & Ground Stabilization

The nature of the soil itself, whether it is sand, mud, clay, chalks, stones, or even crushed stones, determines its behaviour when a load is applied on it. In general, soils have a poor load bearing capacity.

Constructions such as a building, a bridge or even a car or a volume of earth represent a consequent load applied on a determined surface on the soil. When this load exceeds the bearing capacity of the soil, the soil tends to crack, to subside.

The principle of reinforced soil is to improve the tensile strength characteristics of the soil-reinforcement matrix. Materials which are likely to be combined with the reinforcement, have limited tensile strength pro¬perties.

The interaction between geotextile and surrounding materials is fundamental for the reinforcing effect. The reinforcement is effective only when tensile stresses in the reinforcement can be transferred to the surrounding material. The reinforcement might be a potential slip surface, independent of its strength, if the frictional characteristics are not sufficient. The properties of the matrix of the soil and the reinforcement are the main item, not the properties of the soil or the reinforcement independently.