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Proceedings of the 18
th
International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013
• Very slim constructions with uphill and downhill slope
angles of 70° and 60° were also investigated. These
exhibited a noticeably more elastic behaviour than pure soil
embankments (Figure 8)
• However, they require a markedly greater freeboard than
embankments with stacked-rock facing. For geogrid-
reinforced structures, a freeboard of 1.5 times the sphere
diameter can be considered as being on the safe side.
Figure 7. Hydraulic filling and placing of mega-sandcontainers with a
split-bottom hopper dredger at Narrowneck Reef ,Queensland, Australia
(Heerten, 2010).
Figure 8. Possible slim and cost effective construction of rockfall
embankments reinforced with geosynthetics. (Hofmann,R., Vollmert, L.
and Mölk, M. 2013).
Corresponding structures can also been used for torrent-control
and avalanche-protection structures.
6 CONCLUSIONS
Considering geosynthetics for design and construction of
dykes/levees, embankments in earthquake endangered areas,
tsunamia protection structures and rockfall protection
embankments can considerably improve the function of the
structures. An importend improvement of stability under
seismic loading can also be achieved by geogrid reinforcement
of masonry walls.
It is the task of the (geo)engineering community to inform
the public about these improvments and the possible higher
level of safety for material goods and people in case of natural
disasters. Let´s hope that the last natural disaster experiences of
earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and landslides and the need and
intention to spend money for improving our safety does not fade
away.
7 REFERENCES
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dams and dykes. Proceedings of ICE-Ground Improvement,
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Gesellschaft für Geotechnik e. V. (DGGT) (ed), Technische
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Heerten, G., Horlacher, H.-B. 2002. Konsequenzen aus den
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kostengünstige
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18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical
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