A 12-year long-term study on the external deformation behavior of Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil (GRS) walls

Geosynthetics reinforced soil (GRS) walls constructed on weak grounds may change in both the horizontal earth pressure and deformation on wall facing. However, only few studies were done in the literature to measure and analyze the horizontal external deformation behavior of GRS walls constructed on soft grounds for a long period of time. The present study describes the external deformation behavior of GRS walls observed for 12-year long-term performance. The horizontal deformation of the geosynthetics-wrapped-facing GRS walls shows a passive behavior along one third of the wall height, from top going downwards, and active behavior for the rest of the wall height. Even if the geogrid and nonwoven geotextiles are exposed directly to sunlight and rainfalls in a span of 12 years, they have functioned well as wall facing. Therefore, the geosynthetic reinforcement material is strong enough to resist ultraviolet rays.