FEM to investigate the effect of overlapping-reinforcement on the performance of back-to-back embankment bridge approaches under self-weight

The focus of this paper is to investigate the stability of embankment bridge approaches constructed by close back-to-back geosynthetic reinforced soil retaining walls self-weight. The finite element method incorporated in the PLAXIS computer software was chosen and parametric studies were carried out by varying the distance of the overlapping length reinforcement, LR, to investigate its effects on the critical failure surface, the factor of safety, the wall displacement and the required tensile strength of reinforcement, when by back-to-back geosynthetic reinforced soil retaining walls are very close. The effects of height and width on the performance of close back-to-back MSE walls were also investigated.