Improving Stability and Settlement Performance of Tall MSE Gabion Walls Using Targeted Ground Improvement-PPT Presentation

PPT Presentation

Pdf Summary

The presentation describes a large data-center development with ten MSE retaining walls totaling about 8,950 feet. Walls reach approximately 65 feet in height, and extensive subsurface exploration identified variable residual soils, weathered rock, and areas of auger refusal. Key challenges included utilities within reinforced zones, weak soils beneath wall bases, settlement estimates as high as 11 inches, and global stability concerns.<br /><br />The design team evaluated wall-system tolerances and potential measures such as soil replacement, deeper embedment, reinforced leveling pads, preloading, lightweight fill, and ground improvement. Targeted ground improvement was selected for locations where settlement or stability performance required it. Design criteria included limiting settlement at the wall face to 5 inches, controlling differential settlement, providing a load-transfer platform, and meeting minimum safety factors for bearing capacity and global stability.<br /><br />The analysis covered utilities, load-transfer platforms, settlement, global stability, and locations and depths requiring ground improvement. Lessons learned emphasized applying a common solution to multiple problems when practical, coordinating closely with contractors during construction-document development, and aligning expectations with delegated designers for submittal reviews.

Keywords

data-center

MSE retaining walls

ground improvement

settlement

global stability

load-transfer platform

subsurface exploration

bearing capacity

utilities

design criteria