Earth reinforcement using soilbags

This paper describes the method of earth reinforcement using soilbags and illustrates its application for case studies involving a pond and the expansive soil slope protection for a highway. The strength properties of soilbags were investigated using unconfined compression tests and bearing capacity tests on real soilbags containing either medium grained sands or gravels. The test results show that soilbags have high strength when subjected to an external load. This is primarily attributed to the mobilization of tensile forces in the bags. It is concluded that earth reinforcement using soilbags could substantially improve the bearing capacity of soft ground as well as minimizing deformation under working loads. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.