Evaluation of the effect of toe restraint on GRS walls

The effect of toe restraint on the behavior of geosynthetic-reinforced soil (GRS) walls was evaluated using the results of three large-scale walls constructed at the COPPE/UFRJ Geotechnical Laboratory. The walls were similar, with the exception of the toe restriction. The walls were well-instrumented in order to monitor the values of the reinforcement load, toe load, horizontal facing displacement, horizontal stress at the back of the block facing and vertical displacement on the top of the walls. Results clearly showed the influence of the toe restriction on the walls' behavior. A higher toe restraint led to a greater toe load and lower maximum reinforcement load, as well as lower horizontal facing displacement and vertical displacement. Furthermore, the measured values of the reinforcement load were compared to the values predicted by design methods found in the literature, in order to verify the prediction accuracies of those methods. Results are presented and some limitations of those methods are discussed.