Simplified approach to the analysis of a reinforced soil bed as a two-layer soil system

It is a well-established fact that the behaviour of reinforced soil beds can be predicted to a reasonable degree of accuracy using a rigorous finite element method of analysis at each increment of loading. However, there is much scope for establishing a simple and reasonable method to predict the load-carrying capacity of a reinforced soil bed, as the finite element method of analysis is not yet popular among practising engineers. In this paper it is attempted to analyse a reinforced soil bed system subjected to a strip load by treating it as a non-homogeneous two-layer soil system. The proposed design methodology is an extension of Binquet and Lee’s procedure for the analysis of a reinforced soil bed. In comparison with the results of a rigorous non-linear finite element analysis of a reinforced two-layer soil bed, the proposed simplified approach provides satisfactory estimates.