Analytical Investigation of Load Over Pipe Covered with Geosynthetic-Reinforced Sandy Soil

Abstract

A geosynthetic reinforcement layer can be placed above the pipe in a ditch within the sandy soil cover to reduce the load on the crown of the pipe. The vertical load (V) on the crown of the rigid pipe without the geosynthetic layer is given as $$V={C_{\text{d}}}\gamma {B^2}$$, where $$\gamma$$ is the total unit weight of sandy soil, B is the ditch width and $${C_{\text{d}}}$$ is the load coefficient. The analytical formulation for load on the crown of the pipe covered with a single layer of geosynthetic-reinforced sandy soil has been developed earlier. In this paper, an attempt is made to derive an analytical formulation to investigate the load coefficient for pipe covered with sandy soil reinforced with two layers of geosynthetic reinforcement. It is observed that the two layers of geosynthetic reinforcement provide more benefits than a single-layer reinforcement in terms of the load reduction on the pipe. It is also noted that the stiffness of geosynthetic, buried depth, layer spacing and rut depth affect the load on the crown of the pipe. An illustrative example is presented in order to explain how the engineers can determine the load on the pipe using the analytical expression presented in this paper.