Experimental evaluation of the effects of surcharge width and location on geosynthetic-reinforced soil walls

Surcharge width and location effects on the behaviour of geosynthetic-reinforced soil walls were experimentally evaluated using the results of three physical models (constructed at the COPPE/UFRJ Geotechnical Laboratory). The walls were well-instrumented in order to monitor the values of the toe load, the reinforcement load, the horizontal facing displacement and the horizontal stress at the back of the block facing. The walls were similar except for the surcharge conditions. At the end of the loading, the toes of the walls were gradually released to verify the influence of the different toe restraints. The results clearly showed the influence of the surcharge width and location on the wall behaviour, and also showed that the surcharge location and toe release can change the position of the maximum mobilised tension along the reinforcement. Furthermore, the location of the surcharge may affect the shape of the facing displacement profile.