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16:15: Three paper presentations at ECSMGE24 in Lisbon, Portugal:
- 3D small-scale tests on steel-reinforced piled embankments (paper 80); Suzanne J.M. van Eekelen, M. Schneider, B. Wittekoek, M. Hell, P. Pandrea, P. Schauber, M. Topolnicki, K. Makowska, K. Zdanowicz, R. Sieńko, H. Zachert
- Large-scale test on basal steel-reinforced piled embankments (paper 406); Marc Schneider, M. Hell, P. Pandrea, B. Wittekoek, S.J.M. van Eekelen, M. Topolnicki, K. Makowska, R. Sieńko, H. Zachert
- Groundwater in geosynthetics-reinforced pile-supported embankments, 3D Experiments (Paper 81); Suzanne J.M. van Eekelen, B. Wittekoek, R.A. Zwaan, A. Bezuijen, A. Nancey
9:00-10:00: State-of-the-Art Lecture by Suzanne van Eekelen at ECSMGE24: Basal-reinforced pile-supported embankments, dealing with risks and safety (paper 1074)
Invited lecture to be announced later, in-person and online
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For the doctorate, the Deltares laboratory conducted a series of experiments, reported in Van Eekelen et al., 2012a. Based on this, Van Eekelen developed the new Concentric Arches design model for the basal reinforcement of the piled embankment (Van Eekelen et al., 2012b, Van Eekelen et al., 2013). This model was validated with measurements from seven full-scale projects and four series of scaled model experiments (Van Eekelen et al., 2015). The calculated results closely match the measured results. Suzanne van Eekelen received several awards for her work on basal-reinforced piled embankments.
The Concentric Arches model. The loads are transported along the hemispheres and the 2D arches, towards the piles, the geosynthetic reinforcement and the subsoil. This model is available in excel: excel file with Concentric Arches model.
The results of the doctorate study were adopted in the 2016 update of the CUR226 Dutch Design Guideline for Basal Reinforced Piled Embankments.
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A piled embankment consists of a foundation on piles, with on top of that an embankment. The bottom section of the embankment is composed of a granular material and reinforced with one or more geosynthetic layers. The embankment can be raised with sand or granular material. The piled embankment is finished with a road or a railroad construction.
Within the granular layer, a kind of arch occurs. The load is transferred along these archesthe load is transferred towards the stiffer, less-moving elements. As a result, the load follows paths that are more or less arch-shaped. This phenomenon is called soil arching.
Why are piled embankments applied?
A basal-reinforced
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pile-supported embankment can be used for the construction of a road
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, railway or an industrial area when a traditional construction method would require too much construction time, affect vulnerable objects nearby or give too much residual settlement, making frequent maintenance necessary.
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