REPAIRING A FAILING MSE WALL USING SOIL NAILS-Video

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Video Summary

Reed Bailey describes repairing aging mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls, emphasizing targeted repairs that preserve sound infrastructure and extend service life. His main example is a 603-foot-long, 51-foot-high vegetated wall in Gastonia, North Carolina, built on weak soils. After about 12 years, its facing baskets had corroded, and the wall was bulging, settling, and showing pavement cracks. A stability analysis found a factor of safety near 1.1. Rather than remove and replace the wall, the team installed 687 hollow-bar soil nails totaling about 28,000 feet, with longer nails concentrated in the lower wall. Wetlands, utilities, and difficult access required careful planning, including a temporary haul road and cribbing. Construction took three months and the revised design reduced the required nail length by roughly 5,000 feet. Bailey also stresses inspecting and monitoring walls, since design assumptions, construction errors, groundwater, and aging can contribute to failure.

Keywords

mechanically stabilized earth walls

soil nails

wall rehabilitation

stability analysis

corroded facing baskets

service life extension