Use of novel materials for reinforced soil walls on weak soils

Reinforced soil walls are gaining considerable attention as retaining structures and providing a valuable alternative to traditional reinforced concrete walls. They present a good ratio between cost effectiveness and a low environmental impact. The present work deals with a numerical case study conducted to examine the feasibility of using novel reinforcing and facing materials in the construction of reinforced soil walls built on weak soils. The study was conducted in the Thiruvananthapuram city, Kerala, India. It was proposed to construct two-lane parallel bridges to the existing bridges across a canal at two locations in Thiruvananthapuram city where the subsoil conditions are very poor and the maximum height of the embankment could be up to 7 m including foundation near the abutments. Owing to the large costs of the conventional retaining wall structures, the possibility of providing other flexible forms of retaining structures is explored numerically in the present study.