Performance of Geosynthetic-Reinforced Walls Supporting the Founders/MeadowsBridge and Approaching Roadway Structures. Report 1. Design, Materials, Construction, Instrumentation and Preliminary Results

摘要

The objectives of this investigation are: Assessment of the structure's overallperformance under service loads using movement information collected at the three monitored sections; Assessment of CDOT and AASHTO design procedures and assumptions regarding the use of reinforced soil structures to support bridge foundations and to alleviate the bridge bump problem. Measured backfill material strength, structure external and internal movements, developed soil stresses, geogrid strains, and soil moisture will be compared with the values and performance expected from the design; Collection of performance data and representative stress-strain-strength parameters for future calibration and verification of a numerical model. This model can be used as a design and analysis tool to predict more rationally the response of reinforced soil structures supporting bridge and approaching roadway structure under different field, design, and loading conditions. This report initially presents an overview of the new Founders/Meadows design, materials and construction stages. The results of large-size triaxial and direct shear tests on the gravelly backfill soil material are presented and discussed. A description is then presented of the two-phase instrumentation and monitoring program. Finally, the results of the first phase of the monitoring program and some preliminary instrumentation results from the second phase, obtained before the bridge opened to traffic, are presented and discussed.