Performance and Analysis of Arifiye Overpass Reinforced Earth Walls During the 1999 Kocaeli (Turkey) Earthquake - Reinforced Soil Engineering: Advances in Research and Practice - page 437

Figure 4 Subsoil profile from SCPT soundings.

displacements within a few meters of the RE walls were large, as the surficial
fault rupture passed between the northern abutment and the center pier (see
Fig. 2 ). Maximum horizontal and vertical ground displacements near the
northern abutment were estimated at 350 cm and 45 cm, respectively. These
movements were inferred from the measured displacement of a buried pipe
that was ruptured by the fault about 50 m from the wall. Four spans of the
bridge collapsed in a “sawtooth” manner due to lateral displacements of the
piers and abutments, along with inadequate beam seat widths.
In addition to fault-related lateral movement, up to 25 cm of vertical
movement occurred in the section of the wall overlying the culvert. The culvert
appears to have settled during the earthquake, probably due to the presence of soft
and/or liquefiable creek bed sediments that were noted above. The resulting
differential wall settlement caused the facing panels to become separated and
misaligned, which allowed spillage of some backfill material. The maximum out-
of-plane panel displacement was about 10 cm. The differential wall movement
may have also been related to the fact that the culvert created a discontinuity in
foundation conditions beneath the wall.