NEW TECHNIQUES, USES HIGHLIGHT TODAY'S RETAINING WALL MARKET

Once, all retaining walls may have been more or less alike. Today, they are varied, custom-designed, and highly innovative. New approaches to retaining wall needs are saving money, time, and valuable land in road projects, bridge abutments, and other settings all over the country. One key development of recent years is the increasing acceptance by engineers of segmented retaining wall (SRW) technologies. Proponents cite major cost savings compared with reinforced cast-in-place concrete and claim major gains in market share. Basic elements of an SRW are modular blocks assembled to form the surface of the wall, plus some form of geogrid, often made of textile or polymer material, buried in the earth behind the wall. The geogrid provides stability by enabling the entire earth mass behind the wall to act as a composite; it then becomes a mechanically stabilized earth structure. Other relatively new retaining wall techniques also involve adding structure to the soil mass and can often produce major space as well as cost savings. Walls can be built top down without disturbing the soil or structures behind the wall using tiebacks or soil nailing. Soil mixing and vertical earth reinforcement are two additional retaining wall techniques that hinge on getting a mass of soil to do at least some of the work of holding itself up.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/10480594
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Contained in a special advertising section of this journal issue. Page Range: pp 56, 58-62
• Corporate Authors:

  American Society of Civil Engineers

  1801 Alexander Bell Drive
  Reston, VA  United States  20191-4400
• Publication Date: 2000-1

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Photos;
• Pagination: 6 p.
• Serial:
  • Civil Engineering
  • Volume: 70
  • Issue Number: 1
  • Publisher: American Society of Civil Engineers
  • ISSN: 0885-7024
  • Serial URL: http://www.pubs.asce.org/ceonline/newce/html

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Cast in place concrete; Cement treated soils; Civil engineering; Earth walls; Geotextiles; Material reinforcement; Reinforced concrete retaining walls; Retaining walls; Slope stability; Soil nailing; Soil stabilization; Technological innovations; Tiebacks
• Uncontrolled Terms: Segmented retaining walls; Soil mixing
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Design; Geotechnology; Highways; I24: Design of Bridges and Retaining Walls;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00781755
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 20 2000 12:00AM