Calculated and observed behaviour of a reinforced embankment over soft compressible soil

Abstract

The finite element analysis of an instrumented geotextile-reinforced test embankment is described and the results are compared with the field measurements. The embankment was constructed to failure on a soft compressible organic clayey silt deposit at Sackville, New Brunswick. The analysis adopts a fully coupled large-strain elasto-plastic Biot consolidation model with modified Cam-clay material behaviour. It is shown that the analysis captured many features of the embankment behaviour. However, it is concluded that the elasto-plastic modified Cam-clay formulation is not adequate for accurately and simultaneously predicting the multiple characteristics (e.g., vertical and horizontal deformations, pore pressures, and geotextile strains) of the embankment behaviour, primarily because of the rate sensitive nature, and the consequent progressive failure of the foundation soil. Key words: embankment, geotextile, reinforcement, analysis, field behaviour, deformations.