Question

9. Define Reinforced fill. What is the reason to use this system?

Answer 1

Reinforced fill is a compacted mass of soil with predominantly horizontal layered
reinforcing elements to improve its tensile and shear capacities.

Reason

Soil reinforcement is necessary in lands where chances of erosion are high. It is particularly useful in areas with soft soil as it cannot provide adequate support to any construction or building. This type of soil is also highly susceptible to various environmental and natural factors such as high compressibility, poor shear strength, temperature changes, etc.

Also, soil can easily carry compressive loads but not tensile loads. When soil reinforcement is performed by placing tensile elements in the soil, its natural stability and strength is enhanced. This is achieved by bringing reinforcement elements in contact with surfaces in the aggregate and sub-base of soil mass. When pressure on the soil mass causes a strain on the reinforcements, it creates a tensile load which can resist soil movement and provide additional support.

Geosynthetic materials like geotextiles, geogrids, geonets, geomembranes, geosynthetic clay liners, geofoam, geocells and geocomposites are used as reinforcement in the soil based on the purpose of reinforced fill for which it is to be constructed.