Influence of supporting systems on behavior of mse wall

The use of foundations for support of retaining walls and earth fill embankments has increased in recent years to become a geotechnical solution for rapid construction of earth structures in soft ground conditions. With a growing number of successful case histories involving foundations in difficult ground conditions for various transportation applications, researchers have continued to investigate the behaviour and support mechanisms of the foundation elements. In the present work, different types of foundations are used to analyze behavior of reinforced earth retaining structures for 6m height of wall. Rammed Aggregate Pier (RAP), pile foundations and drilled shafts are used in this study. These foundation types can overcome space constraints. Analysis is carried out by using Finite Element program PLAXIS 2D. Wall deformations, settlement of ground behind the wall and facing panel deflections were compared for all three types of foundations used in the study. For drilled shaft, wall deformations, settlement of ground and facing panel deflections were found to be less compared to RAP and pile foundation.