Field measurements in a partly submerged woven geotextile-reinforced pile-supported embankment

Abstract

The geosynthetic reinforcement in a pile-supported (GRPS) embankment can be designed using the CUR226 (2016) design guideline. This design guideline adopted the Concentric Arches model (Van Eekelen et al, 2013, 2015). The validated application of this model is limited to GRPS embankments whose geometry and materials meet the conditions of the field cases and experiments used for the validation of the Concentric Arches model. This means for example that: the whole embankment should be located above the groundwater table and that at least one geogrid layer should be used as reinforcement. If these requirements are not met, additional measurements are requested by CUR226 to demonstrate that the system comes within the framework of the guideline. This paper presents and discusses field measurements that were therefore conducted in a partially submerged GRPS embankment. The embankment was reinforced with two layers woven geotextile and no geogrid. It was concluded that the Concentric Arches model matches the measured geotextile strains very well, so that we may conclude that the CUR226 is also applicable for geotextile-reinforced piled embankment without geogrids. Furthermore, an increasing groundwater level seems to result in a reduction of the geotextile strain. It is recommended to conduct more research to further analyse the influence of water in GRPS embankments.