Seismic stability of geosynthetic-reinforced soil bridge abutment (model experiments)

摘要

A series of shaking table tests were performed to validate a high seismic stability of preloaded and prestressed geosynthetic-reinforced soil bridge abutment. A well-graded gravel was used as the backfill supporting a relatively heavy model bridge girder, while the backside unreinforced backfill was made of Toyoura sand. It is shown that a large drop in the prestress and cyclic expansion of the backfill, of which both may seriously damage the structure, can be effectively prevented by connecting the top ends of the tie rods used for preloading and prestressing by means of a newly developed ratchet connection system. It is shown that the dynamic behaviour of plane strain and three-dimensional models were similar.