Geosynthetic-reinforcement is used to mitigate the effects of sinkholes and other voids on geotechnical and other civil structures under which they form. The reinforcement is placed to create a load-transfer mechanism that transfers the load of the overburden soil to the surrounding ground. Physical model tests of the behaviour of unreinforced and basally-reinforced granular fills over voids were conducted in a geotechnical centrifuge using a trapdoor model where soil arching and mechanisms of deformation were investigated. A comparison of the reinforced and unreinforced soil behaviour is presented, with a discussion on the load-displacement behaviour (arching), soil deformation, and geosynthetic deflection.
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