Lateral Resistance of Single Pile Located near Carpet Shred Reinforced Slope

Abstract

Carpet shreds and carpet shred-soil mixtures can be used as alternative backfill material in many geotechnical applications. In this study an experimental testing program was undertaken using small scale model tests with goal of evaluating the lateral resistance of a single pile located near a reinforcing sandy slope. A broad series of conditions including unreinforced cases, was tested by varying parameters such as: carpet shred content, aspect ratios of carpet shreds, pile distance from the slope crest, relative density of sand, angle of the slope, embedded length, skin friction and cross section of pile. The carpet shred content and aspect ratio were found to influence the lateral resistance of single pile located near reinforcing sandy slope. The optimum carpet shred content and aspect ratio of carpet shred were 1.5 and 3 respectively, and with these values a good improvement in lateral resistance of piles was reached.