State of the Practice: Past, Current, and Future Perspectives of Reinforced Soil Retaining Structures in Turkey - Reinforced Soil Engineering: Advances in Research and Practice - page 157

3. Provisions were needed for the utility lines. Four utilities had to pass
from underneath the road, namely water, telephone, natural gas, and high voltage
electrical power. Because these lines could not be placed side by side, it was not
possible to locate the utilities at the center of the road. When the utilities were
distributed over the road surface, the reinforcement at the top layers had to be
kept short. This problem was solved by considering the top portion as a separate
short wall itself, and its effect on the lower layers was considered as a surcharge
load.
4. Ladders are needed to provide access to the houses, and they were
constructed as part of the reinforced soil wall as illustrated in Fig. 7.
5. At one point the road jumps up onto the tunnel portal. At this point the
height of the wall suddenly reduces from 9 m to 1 m, as shown in Fig. 8, and the
foundation becomes a rigid structure. To prevent future problems, a joint was
provided at this point.
The cost of the whole wall was $172,000, where the reinforced concrete
alternative would have cost $263,000. So a savings of 35% was achieved.
7 SUMMARY
In Turkey, enough confidence was gained with the concept of reinforced soil
technology. Many walls have been successfully constructed without any reported
failures. Savings in construction time and cost have been demonstrated when
Figure 7 The ladder provided for pedestrians' access.