Calibration and Validation of Design Methods for Geosynthetic-Reinforced Retaining Structures Using Partial Factors

The technique for constructing geosynthetic-reinforced soil retaining structures is now in widespread use. Since its first use in the late 1960s, construction processes have become more technologically advanced, and the number of alternatives has reduced, with most of the construction techniques being standardised. This type of reinforced structure has been in use for nearly 30 years, during which time its reliability has been proved. At the same time, work is in progress to standardise the design of these structures using the new international format of Ultimate Limit States and Serviceability Limit States calculations and associated partial factors. This study presents the procedure currently being prepared for the future standard in France. First, a preliminary parametric calibration based on typical structure profiles is described, comparing different stability calculation methods and different partial factor combinations. Second, design validation of instrumented case histories is performed.