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Guidelines for the Use of Fiber Reinforced Soil (FRS) in Highway Construction
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2019-07-31
[PDF-4.21 MB]
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Edition:Final, June 2016 – November 2017
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Abstract:Fiber Reinforced Soil (FRS) is essentially polypropylene fibers mixed with soil to reinforce the soil mass against shear or tensile failure. This concept has been in use in one form or another throughout history such as clay bricks and mud roofs reinforced with straw in traditional construction in many parts of the world. However, despite its proven record, long history, affordability and ease of construction, this technology has been underutilized, primarily because until relatively recently, extensive laboratory testing, usually in the form of time-consuming and complex triaxial and direct shear tests, was required in order to determine an appropriate application rate. In other words, if an engineer was interested in using FRS, extensive testing was required for each fiber type and range of concentrations of possible interest. However, with significant developments in theoretical models, laboratory testing and field application and verification in the recent years, soil and fiber properties can be used as input values in mathematical models to predict the magnitude of increase in shear strength of the FRS relative to the unreinforced (i.e. raw) soil, and use the resulting data in stability analysis programs to obtain the desired factors of safety in the earthwork project at hand. When the engineer is satisfied with a potential fiber type and application rate, targeted verification tests can be performed as necessary to improve confidence in design. FRS is applicable to a wide range of projects (e.g. retaining walls, slopes, foundations, and pavement subgrades). However, the focus of this study was on its application in repairing shallow slope failures. This report contains a brief review of different slope stabilization techniques beyond soil reinforcement, followed by descriptions of major discrete models developed for FRS, sample preparation and testing procedures in the laboratory, important concepts, and field implementation. Two case studies are also provided together with detailed slope stability calculations, which illustrate alternative methods of using commonly available slope stability analysis programs in combination with FRS data from spreadsheet calculations vs. special programs which can accept fiber properties and application rate as input values in their algorithms. The case study projects included in this report constitute the largest applications of FRS in the United States.
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