Evaluation of Construction and Demolition Waste and Other Alternative Fills for Strip-Reinforced Soil Walls

Abstract

This article assesses the pullout performance of ribbed metallic strips embedded in fill soils that do not conform to conventional design criteria for mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls. These alternative fill soils include gravelly and sandy recycled aggregates from construction and demolition waste, artificial and natural sands, and fine-grained lateritic soil. The research included soil characterization tests and large-scale pullout tests, conducted as part of this study. The results showed that the reinforcement pullout behavior was similar for recycled, artificial, and natural sands, indicating that soil particle size played a crucial role in mobilizing the interface pullout resistance. However, in the case of recycled sand, stress concentration at the reinforcement level led to particle crushing during pullout conditions, causing this material to exhibit less efficient performance compared to other sands. The fine-grained lateritic soil demonstrated inferior behavior compared to sandy soils, despite the interparticle bonding provided by the sesquioxide coating characteristic of intensely weathered tropical soils. Finally, an analytical prediction tool based on experimental results was developed, providing an alternative method to make conjectures about the performance of different soils during the pre-design stages, particularly based on particle size attributes.