Investigation of kinematic behavior and earth pressure development of geogrid reinforced soil walls

This article deals with the results of parametric studies focusing on the reduction of the active earth pressure in geogrid reinforced retaining structures due to geogrids with varying reinforcement ratio, i.e. number of reinforcement layers per specimen height, and reinforcement stiffness. A reduction of the earth pressure due to a surface load was apparent already underneath the topmost reinforcement layer. This effect was observed for both, structures with and without a facing connection of the reinforcement. With increasing reinforcement ratio, the sliding soil wedges decreased in size and only an unconfined soil area, beneath a developing soil arch in between two reinforcement layers, caused a horizontal earth pressure on the facing. All observations were merged to formulate a mechanical model idea that is presented at the end of this article.