Parametric Studies on the Behaviour of Reinforced Soil Retaining

Figure 2.3: Typical Reinforced Earth System (Scholsser and Delage, 1987)
Two stages that marked the technological development of the reinforced earth are:
The invention of the facing with concrete panels in 1971. Presently most of the
structures are idealized with this type of facing.
The development and the fabrication in 1975 of ribbed reinforcement strips for
high adherence. These strips, 5mm thick, made of ordinary mild galvanized steel
enable a large improvement of the soil-reinforcement friction
Therefore, since its invention in 1963, the reinforced earth technique has been
quickly accepted on a worldwide basis as an economical and efficient solution and
has been extensively used since then, in retaining walls and bridge abutments for
highways, expressways and railroads lines as well as for other structures as
industrial, civil, defence and water works projects. The reinforced earth is presently a
well-known operating process generalized and accepted all over the world. Some
applications of the techniques are shown in Figure 2.4. Structures were constructed
in 32 countries and there are presently several specifications issued by state institutes
on this technique (Germany, United States) (William and Bell, 1979).
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