Segmental Retaining Wall Reinforced with Geogrids, in New Hospital Works (Salamanca, Spain)
Abstract
The construction of a new hospital, located by the river Tormes in the Spanish city of Salamanca, involved the expansion of roads and the construction of a new way of access to the complex, as well as a large retaining wall to bridge the gap between them and the river level. The project original solution was in situ foundations and precast concrete walls. However, at both ends of the alignment of Transición Española Avenue, there were several construction constraints (such as the existence of rainwater chambers for discharging into the river, a large-diameter drainage pipe at the back of the walls, communications, and gas services). The need to maintain steady access to the old hospital in service during the COVID-19 pandemic was furthermore required. The wall was founded on fills with low bearing capacity in other sections. Finally, a reinforced segmental retaining wall (SRW) was adopted as the optimum choice. It consists of concrete block (segmental) facing with a high-quality fill reinforced backfill, reinforced with polyester (PET) geogrids. The facing required a variable inclination from 80º in the main wall to vertical at the junction with the existing precast structure. The design was constrained by several factors: the limitation of length of the geogrids by existing structures or services, the alignment having a sinuous section to allow for planting, that it was set within a floodable zone and was founded on fills, and traffic overload. The design of the reinforced soil structures required new geotechnical tests and an analysis by analytical and finite element methods. The maximum height of the wall reached 8.9 m and the final measured face area of 2200 m2. The works were undertaken during the first half of 2020.
Keywords
Citation
Rodríguez Martínez, M. T., Amo Sanz, P. (2022). Segmental Retaining Wall Reinforced with Geogrids, in New Hospital Works (Salamanca, Spain), Vol. 7, Issue 2, p.62-71. doi: 10.4417/IJGCH-07-02-05
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4417/IJGCH-07-02-05
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