Reinforced Earth Retaining Walls

Reinforced earth is a man-made earth fill in which thin bars, rods, fibers, or nets have been placed to improve the overall qualities of the soil. This paper describes the results of analytical and laboratory studies on small reinforced earth retaining walls. Experimental data were compared to analytical solutions for wall failure by either pullout or breaking of the reinforcing elements, and found to be in reasonable agreement. Cost estimates for prototype structures suggest that the cost of reinforced earth could be as low as half the cost of other conventional earth retaining walls.