27-07-2016

Soil Nailing

Amit Prashant
Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar

Historical Origin of Soil Nailing

• Soil nailing technique is derived from a
technique called New Austrian Tunneling
Method developed to support rock-
excavation(Rabcewicz 1964a, 1964b and 1965)
• A 60 ft high cut-slope in sand was stabilized by
soil nails for a railroad widening project near
Versailles, France (1972). Since then soil
nailing became common in France and other
European countries

1
 27-07-2016

Basic Concept
• To reinforce and strengthen the existing
ground by installing closely-spaced steel bars
called nails , into a slope as construction
proceeds from top to bottom. (FHWA-SA-96-069R)
• Reinforcing action developed through nail-
ground interactions as the ground deforms
during and following construction (FHWA-SA-96-
069R).

Elements of Soil Nailed wall/Slope

2
 27-07-2016

Soil Nails
• Soil Nails: Tendons +Centralizer+ Grout

PVC Centralizer
Tendon

….

Grout

3
 27-07-2016

Facing: Shotcrete

Facing Reinforcement
• Welded Wire-Mesh (WWM): over the entire
wall hight
• Horizontal bars( Waler bars): placed around
nail heads to add bending resistance in
horizontal direction
• Vertical bearing bars: placed at nail heads to
add bending resistance in vertical direction

4
 27-07-2016

Connection components

Drainage System
• Installed behind the facing to
collect perched ground water or infiltrated surface
water
 direct ground water away from the wall
• Commonly comprises of:
 composite , geosynthetic drainage strips( i.e.
geocomposite strip drains)
• Covers only 10-20% of the wall area depending
on selected strip drain spacing and commercial
widths that are available

10

5
 27-07-2016

…..

Strip drain
prior to
initial
Shotcrete
placement

11

Construction Sequence

12

6
 27-07-2016

……

13

Applications: Railway/Roadway cuts

14

7
 27-07-2016

Road widening under existing bridge

abutments

15

Applications: Hybrid soil nail wall

16

8
 27-07-2016

Shored mechanically stabilized earth

walls

17

Design Aspects: Load transfer in soil

nail walls

18

9
 27-07-2016

External Stability

Sliding Overturning

Deep
Bearing Seated
Capacity Stability

19 19

Sliding Stability
• The preliminary sizing should be checked w.r.t sliding at the
base layer
 horizontal resisting forces  P R
 1.5
 horizontal driving forces  P d
FSsliding  

• Resisting force is the

lesser of the shear
resistance along the base
• Sliding force is the
horizontal component
of the thrust on the
vertical face at the back
of the wall
20 20

10
 27-07-2016

Slope Stability
K.H1*

Zone of maximum shear stress

or potential failure surface
• Overall stability is
determined using b
rotational or wedge
analyses which can be
performed by using a H1/2 La Le
classical slope stability
analysis method
H1 H
Active Resistant
• For complex structures, Zone Zone
compound failures
must be considered Soil Nails
H1/2

• If FOS < 1.35, increase

reinforcement length
or improve foundation L
soil
21

Soil-nail interaction and tensile force

distribution

22

11
 27-07-2016

Maximum tensile force distribution

23

Tensile forces at the wall facing

• Tensile force at the wall face, To (also called as nail
head force), is smaller than the forces along the soil

• T  0.5K γ HS S to T  0.6K γ HS S
nail.
o a s v H o a s v H

This variation of To is consistent with experimental

findings (Gassler and Gudehus 1981; FHWA 1993a; Holman
and Touzzolo 2009)

24

12
 27-07-2016

Design nail load (force)

25

Limitations to tensile
forces in nails

Pull out
resistance
controls
FOS = 2

FOS = 1.8
Tensile
resistance
controls
26

13
 27-07-2016

Shear resistance from Nail (in bending)

Maximum allowable
Axial force in Nail at the
moment of Nail
point of maximum moment

Plastic moment Plastic axial resistance of Nail

resistance of Nail

Maximum shear resistance

of Nail

Conservative value of coefficient, C = 2

Dia. Of Nail
Conservative value of shear width ls = 15.d
27

Facing failure modes

• Flexure failure
• Punching shear failure
• Headed-stud tensile failure

28

14
 27-07-2016

Flexure failure

FOS = 1.5 29

Punching shear failure

FOS = 1.5
30

15
 27-07-2016

Headed stud-tensile failure

31

Stability analysis of nailed slope

32

16
 27-07-2016

Thank You

33

17