Introduction The purpose of this project was to design a Mechanically Stabilized Earth Retaining Wall (MSE wall) with

square facial precast concrete blocks with one steel strip of circular cross-section attached to each block. The reinforcement was assumed to be 60 ksi steel. The square panel sizes used for comparison in the analysis: 1x1ft, 1.5x1.5, 2.5x2.5, 3x3, and 5x5. The design of the wall was controlled by the internal stability requirements that need to be satisfied for MSE walls. The factor of safety against yielding was checked in the bottom reinforcement layer where the lateral stress is the highest and the resulting tensile force in the reinforcement is the greatest because no point loads were used in the design and the lateral pressure distribution simply increased linearly with depth. The factor of safety against pullout was computed assuming a total length of reinforcement into the backfill. Various bar sizes were used in the analysis. Initially, a constant bar diameter of 0.2 in was assumed in order to determine the factor of safety for pullout and yielding. For the larger sized panels, the factor of safety against pullout and yielding was lower than 1.5 because each panel contained only one bar and the tributary area (svxsh) used to calculate the tensile force in the reinforcement was much greater than the smaller panels. The bar size was later revised using the solver in Excel to find the bar size at which the factors of safety against pullout and yielding were greater than or equal to 1.5. The bar size corresponding to the 1x1ft panel was used in the final design because it gave the lowest cost per square foot of face of the MSE wall.

Data The following soil properties were assigned and used in the design: Table 1. Soil Properties
H (ft) i (kN/m^3) (lb/ft^3) Ka 15 25 16.66667 15.6 99.2316 0.405859

The factor of safety was calculated keeping the bar size constant resulting in the two black curves. However, for some of the panels the bar size was not great enough to have an adequate factor of safety, because the design required one strip per panel. The bar size needed to have a high enough factor of safety was solved for in excel. The factor of safety for yielding controlled for the larger panel size because the tributary area that each strip occupied was so large it required a thicker bar in order to meet the internal stability requirement.

For a square panel: S = b^3/12

The volume of steel need to have a factor of safety greater than or equal to 1.5 was calculated for each size of panel. The minimum size is for B = 1 ft.

MSE walls range from ($19 to $37 per ft2) of face, generally as function of height, size of project and cost of select fill. (FHWA) Estimated total cost = $28/sf Percent of Total Contractor Reinforcement Facing System Backfill w/ Placement Finish 20 to 30% 20 to 30% 25 to 20% 35 to 40% -----------------.25*28 = $7.00/sf .35*28 = $9.80/sf $1/sf Estimate

The cost of reinforcement was changed in order to make comparisons for the design. The weight of reinforcement required was calculated for each design and this was multiplied the cost of steel at $.9/lb. The optimum design was chosen to be B = 1 ft since it resulted in the lowest cost per ft^2 of face.

Drainage provisions A gradient could be used at the top of the MSE wall to prevent ponding of water on top of the wall. A column of well graded gravel is place directly behind the wall for drainage. The gravel has a high coefficient of permeability allowing the water to drain away from the edge of the wall. A discharge pipe is placed at the bottom of the column. The discharge pipe is place so that the bend in the reinforcement does not exceed the max value. A chimney drain is place at the end of the reinforcement or 15 ft from the inside face of the wall. The drainage allows the reinforcement to be protected from excessive corrosion.

Typical Design for Drainage (FHWA)

Max bend in reinforcement (FHWA)

Method of construction Preparation of subgrade - Removal of unsuitable materials - If necessary use ground improvement Placement of a leveling pad - Generally unreinforced concrete - Serves as a guide for facing panels Erection of first row of panels - First row must be shored up to maintain stability and allignment Placement and compaction of backfill to the first layer - Fill should be compacted to 95 to 100% of the AASHTO specified maximum density - Water should be added to reach the max density - Moisture content less than optimum is recommended - Compaction should be performed a minimum distance of 3 ft from the edge of the wall - Closer to the wall a smaller hand compactor could be used Placement of first layer of reinforcement - Place and connect reinforcement perpendicular to the facing panels Placement of backfill over the reinforcement - Repeat the steps above for each layer

Design Conclusion The design consists of a 15 ft high retaining wall with 15 layers of reinforcement. The bar size for each layer is constant and is equal to .136 in. The factor of safety against pullout and yielding of the reinforcement were checked and were greater than or equal to 1.5. The length of each layer of reinforcement was kept constant at 15 ft. The bottom layers do not require the same embedment length but they were all kept the same to make construction easier. The proper measures need to be taken in order to have adequate drainage for the wall. This ensures there is not a lot of hydrostatic pressure against the wall and that the water drains away from the reinforcement. The methods of construction must be followed by compacting each layer of reinforcement and connect them to the face panels. The costs computed may be different depending on the commercial availability of materials and the area where the project is to be completed.