Practice and Research of Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil Walls in Australia - Reinforced Soil Engineering: Advances in Research and Practice - page 246

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Practice and Research of
Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil Walls
in Australia
Sik-Cheung Robert Lo
University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
ABSTRACT
The practice and research of GRS walls in Australia are presented here. The
discussion on GRS wall practice is restricted to projects under the jurisdiction of
state road authorities (SRAs). GRS walls for SRA projects have a relatively short
history. However, innovative forms of GRS walls have been used in a number of
milestone projects. This attests to the cost-effectiveness, versatility, and strength
of GRS walls.
1 INTRODUCTION
The construction of major geosynthetic reinforced soil (GRS) walls in Australia
dates back probably to the mid-1980s. For example, GRS walls with a height up
to 6.6m were constructed as traverse walls at the Mulwala Ammunition Factory
located in the state of New South Wales. The impact of partial damage (and
sabotage) to GRS walls was also studied (Greet, 1986). However, the
construction of GRS walls for the state road authorities (SRAs) and state rail
authorities has a relatively short history; it only began in 1991. The acceptance of
GRS walls by the SRAs has special significance, as the SRAs standards and