High seismic performance of preloaded and prestressed geotextile-reinforced soil structures

Only a limited number of geotextile-reinforced soil (GRS) structures have been constructed as important permanent structures supporting heavy load, such as bridge abutments and piers, due to their relatively low vertical stiffness. To alleviate this problem, the preloaded and prestressed (PLPS) reinforced soil method has been proposed. To evaluate the seismic stability of PLPS GRS structures, a series of shaking table tests of small models were performed. It is shown that the seismic stability of PLPS GRS structures becomes very high by proper preloading and prestressing. Resonance of the structure to seismic load can be avoided by maintaining a high natural frequency of the structure with a high prestress. A measures to maintain a sufficiently high prestress during strong shaking is presented.