Development in mountainous areas of the Philippines has been continuous over the last decade. Working on these areas often involve the alteration of the topography to make space for roads, utilities, and pads for buildings, thus, requiring the construction of soil retaining structures. Conventional retaining structures such as reinforced concrete retaining walls and rubble masonry walls are commonly used in these areas. However, these types of structures are very rigid, can accommodate minimal differential settlement, may hamper the drainage of the adjacent soil mass, and are not economical for very high fills. Reinforced soil retaining structures were found to be better alternatives when working with high fills where settlement and drainage are a concern. This paper presents the design considerations for high Reinforced Soil Structures (RSS) considering the topography, drainage requirements, volcanic and tectonic earthquakes. Design methodology and construction considerations shall be discussed. Slope modelling and stability analysis utilizing limit equilibrium methods shall likewise be presented.
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