An innovative Geonail system for soft ground stabilization

Soil nails are widely used in stabilizing and retaining the ground during constructions, with the high yield steel bar the most commonly used soil nail material at present. The classical method of soil nail construction is, however, not effective in soft clay as it is difficult to establish a good bond strength and global soil improvement. An innovative soil nail installation method has been developed for the Airport link in Australia, which combines the applications of fracture grouting techniques and composite GFRP soil nails to stabilize the ground soil as well as to compensate for the settlement of ground. Extensive laboratory and in-situ tests have been carried out to verify the mass soil properties methods and the performance of the Geonail system for the local and global stabilization of the soft ground.