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REINFORCED SOIL BEHAVIOUR IN RAILWAY APPLICATION

Session: Transportation and Linear Infrastructure III / Transports et infrastructures linéaires III

Marco Couture, Terre armée (Canada)
Shahriar Mirmirani, Terre Armée (Canada)
Marc-André Carrier, Terre armée (Canada)

Although the mechanically stabilized earth walls are widely used in the road and civil industry, there are questions by some with this system in railways application, especially for high-speed railroad construction. One of the uncertainties is due to lack of information about the stress on the structures under dynamic and cyclic load with high frequency, mainly for high speed trains. This article will explain the interaction between the soil and the soil reinforcements in this condition and will present the achievements in the latest research program on Reinforced Earth walls in railway application under dynamic loading and discuss the effect of cyclic loads on the steel strip soil reinforcements. In addition, a project will be briefly presented for high speed train application. The safety and durability of the structures over time is another big concern for railway organizations. This subject is also discussed here in brief and a procedure is proposed to monitor the durability of the walls with steel reinforcements. Another concern in the design of bridges crossing a railway is the stability of the structures in case of train derailment and impact on walls. Different methods of crash wall construction are discussed to insure the safety and stability of bridges with mechanically stabilized earth abutments.