COMPARISON NOTE

Ref: INT / CN-DT-009 - Rev. 00, April 2020

GREEN TERRAMESH vs. CONCRETE PANEL SYSTEM WALLS

Comparison GREEN TERRAMESH / PARAMESH CONCRETE PANEL SYSTEM

Parameter GTM RETAINING WALL (CPSW)
Green Terramesh is an environmentally
friendly modular system used for soil
reinforcement. GTM units are fabricated
from Galmac (Zn-Al5% alloy) and PoliMac CPSW is also a type of MSEW with
coated steel wire, having EC marking in discrete concrete panels as facia and with
compliance with ETA-16/0767. synthetic geo-strips as soil reinforcement
GTM are pre-assembled units fabricated which connected externally to the concrete
System with double twisted wire mesh 8x10, an panel. CPSW are generally preferred for
description erosion control blanket, a welded mesh urban structures as retaining structures to
panel, 2 pre-formed steel brackets and 4 approaches and abutments of bridge
steel loose tie rods to be connected at the ramps following the general architectural
job site to support the unit at the required concrete finish of the entire bridge
slope angle during backfilling operations. structure.
The external face, reinforcing panel and
top return are a continuous woven mesh
unit.
The facia are discrete concrete panels that
has to casted to M35 grade under strict
quality control norms, either locally at job
The topsoil from the excavation works at site or at a pre-casting yard and
Facia material site itself can be used as the facia, thus transported to the job site. For a mountain
allowing for its fast and effective greening. road project with difficult terrains, neither
casting at job site nor transporting from a
pre-casting unit are highly in-convenient
and time consuming.
The GTM system consists of high strength
geogrids type ParaLink as primary soil
Soil reinforcement at relatively larger vertical
Reinforcement spacing and DT mesh short tail at The maximum vertical spacing between
& Backfill secondary reinforcement al lower vertical the soil reinforcement is limited to 0.8m
material spacing. thereby not allowing the use of excavated
The higher vertical spacing between material as such. This increases the overall
primary soil reinforcements for the major time and cost of the retaining wall solution.
backfill volume allows use of excavation
fill material (rock soil) with larger particle
size as the backfill material.

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 Installation for CPSW option is time
Installation of GTM is easy and quick consuming & laborious since (1) it involves
compared CPSW since (1) the GTM units lifting and alignment (vertical & horizontal)
arrive in modular form from the factory of panels using machineries and skilled
that is easy to assemble and install at site labors and (2) the soil reinforcement has to
Installation without the need of any lifting be carefully connected to the concrete
machineries, (2) geogrid primary soil panel and anchored at rear side carefully.
reinforcement comes in rolls that can be The applicable codes and guidelines
easily unrolled at site and cut to required require very stringent requirements on
length; for these reasons, speed of facia panel displacements and movement
construction is high. tolerances (vertically & horizontally) which
further makes the installation tedious.
GTM has the best seismic resistance
owing to its flexible facia, which is
Seismic demonstrated from previous experiences.
Seismic resistance of concrete panels is
Resistance In case of significant seismic events, the
much less compared to GTM: in case of
additional stresses due to movements are
seismic events, the panels may crack
absorbed by the flexible facia, undergoing
resulting in eventual facia failure.
minor readjustment of shape without
experiencing cracking and sudden failure
of facia.
Less shock absorbance during sudden
Impact Good shock absorbent during sudden
impacts, being a rigid facia structure,
Resistance impact.
resulting in cracks.
Being totally flexible in nature, it can be
founded on relatively soft foundations; Being a rigid system, it cannot be directly
hence chances of failure due to placed on relatively soft foundations that
settlement are minimum. would cause settlements and eventually
Foundations
The foundation depth requirement from cracks and possible failure. Also, the
external stability analysis point of view is foundation depth requirement is higher
less being a larger width structure (soil from external stability design point of view
block also included in width) compared compared with GTM.
with CPSW.
Installation is challenging, for which highly
Installation is easy and quick as the facia
skilled labors and mechanical lifting
is a modular unit and main reinforcement
equipment, formwork etc. are required. The
comes in rolls that can be unrolled at site.
Construction speed of construction will be less due to
Unskilled local labors can be used. For
activities like erection of formwork, bar
these reasons, speed of construction is
bending operations, curing, removal of
high.
formwork etc.
The cost of GTM system is lesser than Cost of CPSW is much higher than GTM
CPSW for the above reasons, especially
when (1) the height of the wall is
Cost significant (2) the in-situ strata is
competent that allows a trapezoidal wall
and (3) when the loading & seismic
conditions are critical.
Naturally promotes afforestation which
Doesn’t promote afforestation and thus
matches with the surrounding flora &
affects the surrounding flora & fauna.
fauna.
Environmental Doesn’t have noise absorbing property;
GTM has good noise absorbent behavior
Friendliness instead, echo is created that results in
due to the vegetated facia
noise pollution.
High amount of CO2 considering
Carbon Footprint Emission are less due to
production, construction and transportation
the use of local soils
of cement and steel.

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www.maccaferri.com