Geosynthetic Reinforced Retaining Walls and Bridge Abutments – Best Practice

Retaining walls made out of geosynthetic reinforced soil (GRS) are used for an increased number of applications as an alternative to conventional concrete retaining walls because of their advantages like the saving potential due to material use, construction time and their environmental benefits as well as their variable constructible facing. For geogrid reinforced bridge abutments the use of active or passive concrete panels (segmental or full height) is common. On the basis of two large-scale experiments (1:1) and five real projects, this paper deals with the basics and the advantages of geosynthetic reinforced soil structures, which become increasingly important for infrastructural and railway projects.