Superstructure Loads

What Precast Pipe and Box Designers Need to Know About Mechanically Stabilized
Earth (MSE) Walls

American Concrete Pipe Association Short Course

Orlando Florida
Tuesday March 3rd, 2015

WAYNE HODGE, PE
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Presentation Topics:
• Basic Understanding of MSE Walls
• Culvert / MSE Interaction
• Understanding and Addressing the
Complexities of Designing Each
System

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BASIC
UNDERSTANDING OF
MSE WALLS

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 What Are MSE Walls?

• MSE walls are earth

retaining structures
that are constructed
by placing alternating
layers of
reinforcement and
compacted soil behind
a facing element to
form a composite
material which acts
integrally to restrain
lateral forces.
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 MSE Wall Components

• Facing Panels
• Reinforced Fill
• Reinforcement
• Leveling Pad

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What year was the modern method of soil
reinforcement developed?

• 1895
• 1921
• 1957
• 1982
 Historical Overview of MSE Walls

• 1957 - Henri Vidal

develops
reinforced soil
concept.
 Historical Overview of MSE Walls

• 1957 - Henri Vidal

develops
reinforced soil
concept.
• 1963 – Vidal first
publishes his
research and files
the patent for
Reinforced Earth®
 Historical Overview of MSE Walls

• 1971 – Vidal brought his technology to

the US
• 1972 – First MSE wall constructed in US
(California SH 32 near Los Angeles)
• 1974 – First Reinforced Earth structure in
US to be used as bridge abutment (I-80
near Lovelock, NV)
 Historical Overview of MSE Walls

• 1970’s – Introduction of competitive wall

systems using welded wire grids.
• 1980’s – Introduction of geosynthetic
reinforced walls.
• 1990’s – dramatic increase in the use of
geosynthetic reinforced walls with the
introduction of segmental retaining walls.
 Historical Overview of MSE Walls

• Currently over 60,000 MSE walls higher

than 35 ft are in service along the US
highway system.
• Approximately 9 million ft2 are added
annually, accounting for more than half of
all types of retaining wall usage.
 Sea-Tac Third Runway

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MSE Wall Applications
 Advantages of Using MSE Walls

• Low Cost
• Ease of Construction
• Structural Tolerance to Foundation
Settlement
• Performance under seismic loading events
• Wide range of possible facing types,
colors, and textures.
 Systems / Manufacturers
• KeySystem I by Keystone Retaining Wall Systems, Inc.
• Mesa HP System by Tensar Earth Technologies, Inc.
• Reinforced Earth Classic Panel by The Reinforced Earth
Company
• EarthTrac HA by Earth Tec International, LLC
• Sanders MSE Wall by Sanders Pre-Cast Concrete
Systems Company
• Strengthened Soil by Shaw Technologies
• Sine Wall by Sine Wall, LLC
• MSE Plus by SSL Construction Products
• Vist-A-Wall by Vist-A-Wall Systems, LLC
• Tricon Retained Soil by Tricon Precast
 Facing Systems

• Segmental Precast Concrete Panels

• Dry Cast Modular Block Wall (MBW)
Units
• Welded Wire Mesh (WWM)
• Gabion Facing
• Geosynthetic Facing
• Post-Construction Facing
 Reinforcement Types

• Materials
 Metallic
 Geosynthetics
• Configurations
 Strips
 Straps
 Grids
 Mesh
 Failure Modes of MSE Walls

• External Stability
• Internal Stability
• Compound Stability
 External Stability

• Sliding
• Bearing Capacity
• Eccentricity
• Overall Stability
 Internal Stability

• Reinforcement Rupture
• Reinforcement Interaction with Reinforced
Fill
• Connection Strength
 Compound Stability

• Modes initiated outside the reinforced

zone and exit through the reinforcement
and facing.
 Construction Sequence of MSE Walls with
Precast Panel Facings
• Preparation of subgrade.
• Placement of a leveling pad for
the erection of the facing
elements.
• Erection of the first row of facing
panels on the prepared leveling
pad.
• Placement and compaction of
reinforced wall fill on the
subgrade to the level of the first
layer of reinforcement and its
compaction.
• Placement of the first layer of
reinforcing elements on the wall
fill.
• Placement of the wall fill over the
reinforcing elements to the level
of the next reinforcement layer
and compaction of the wall fill.
• Construction of traffic barriers
and copings.
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CULVERT / MSE WALL

INTERACTION

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 Questions

• Loads – Factored or Unfactored

• Load Type – Dead Load or Live Load
(Traffic Surcharge)
• Influence Zone of Load
• Load Distribution Through Soil
• Back-to-Back Walls
• Culvert Placement and Orientation
 Comparison of MSE Wall Project Data
MSE WALL DATA
Soil Load w/o MSE Wall
MSE H L L/H BP BP ult FS ge Fe we h * EV w eu BP / w e BP ult / w eu Max BP/w e
Project Wall Mfgr Wall (ft) (ft) (psf) (psf) (pcf) (psf) (psf)
A 1 A1-1 34.1 26.0 0.76 6,210 120 1.15 4,712 1.37 6,432 1.32 1.32
B 2 B2-1 8.0 8.0 1.00 1,560 2,280 1.46 120 1.15 1,110 1.37 1,514 1.41 1.51 1.51
B 2 B2-2 33.8 24.0 0.71 5,690 8,140 1.43 120 1.15 4,660 1.37 6,361 1.22 1.28 1.28
B 2 B2-3 32.3 23.0 0.71 5,500 7,870 1.43 120 1.15 4,451 1.37 6,075 1.24 1.30 1.30
C 3 C3-1 42.0 29.4 0.70 7,148 120 1.15 5,796 1.37 7,912 1.23 1.23
C 3 C3-2 36.0 25.2 0.70 6,213 120 1.15 4,968 1.37 6,781 1.25 1.25
C 3 C3-3 46.5 32.6 0.70 9,220 120 1.15 6,417 1.37 8,759 1.44 1.44
C 3 C3-4 43.3 30.3 0.70 8,633 120 1.15 5,975 1.37 8,156 1.44 1.44
C 3 C3-5 17.7 12.4 0.70 3,380 120 1.15 2,443 1.37 3,334 1.38 1.38
C 3 C3-6 12.4 8.7 0.70 2,578 120 1.15 1,711 1.37 2,336 1.51 1.51
C 3 C3-7 33.0 23.1 0.70 5,523 120 1.15 4,554 1.37 6,216 1.21 1.21
C 3 C3-8 20.1 14.1 0.70 3,749 120 1.15 2,774 1.37 3,786 1.35 1.35
C 3 C3-9 22.0 15.4 0.70 3,868 120 1.15 3,036 1.37 4,144 1.27 1.27
D 4 D4-1 20.0 14.0 0.70 4,052 5,470 1.35 120 1.15 2,760 1.37 3,767 1.47 1.45 1.47
D 4 D4-2 20.0 14.0 0.70 5,267 7,114 1.35 120 1.15 2,760 1.37 3,767 1.91 1.89 1.91
E 4 E4-1 10.5 7.4 0.70 3,160 4,260 1.35 120 1.15 1,449 1.37 1,978 2.18 2.15 2.18
E 4 E4-2 18.5 13.0 0.70 3,530 4,760 1.35 120 1.15 2,553 1.37 3,485 1.38 1.37 1.38
E 4 E4-3 14.0 9.8 0.70 2,580 4,264 1.65 120 1.15 1,932 1.37 2,637 1.34 1.62 1.62

General "Rule of Thumb" has been to assume this value is 1.35.

General "Rule of Thumb" has been to
It appears that this assumption is often unconservative. Actual
assume this value is 0.7. This appears
values appear to vary a fair amount (1.21 to 2.18). This amount of
to be a fairly safe assumption.
variance can have a significant effect on the RCB or RCP design.
Notes:
* All green shaded cells are input cells and the information listed was obtained from the MSE wall manufacturer.
H - Height of MSE wall
L - Length of soil reinforcement ties.
BP - Unfactored applied bearing pressure measured at the base of the wall.
BP ult - Factored applied bearing pressure measured at the base of the wall.
FS - Factor of safety for applied bearing pressure (BP ult / BP)
ge - Assumed unit weight of backfill soil used in standard RCB designs.
F e - Soil-structure interaction factor used in standard RCB designs.
w e - Unfactored vertical earth pressure acting on top of RCB when top of top slab is located at a depth, H , below finished grade.
h - Load modifier for non-redundant structures under earth fill (equal to 1.05 per AASHTO LRFD and ASTM C1577)
EV - Vertical earth pressure load factor used in RCB designs (equal to 1.3 in AASHTO LRFD and ASTM C1577)
w eu - Factored vertical earth pressure acting on top of RCB when top of top slab is located at a depth, H , below finished grade.
 26

UNDERSTANDING AND
ADDRESSING THE
COMPLEXITIES WHEN
DESIGNING EACH
SYSTEM
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 Involvement of Multiple Entities

• Owner / Agency
• Project Civil / Structural Design
Engineer
• Geotechnical Engineer
• MSE Wall Design Engineer
• MSE Wall Supplier
• MSE Wall Installer
• QA Testing Firm
• Precast Pipe/Box Supplier
 Division of Responsibility
• External Stability – Owner / Geotech
Consultant
 Global stability of structure
 Bearing capacity analysis
 Settlement analysis
• Internal Stability – MSE Wall System
Supplier / Designer
 Pullout and rupture of reinforcements
 Design of all wall system components
 Check sliding and overturning
 Determine eccentricity of structure and applied
bearing pressure at base of structure
 Design Methods

• Coherent Gravity Method

• Tieback Wedge Design Method
• AASHTO Simplified Method
• FHWA Structure Stiffness Method
• K-Stiffness Method
• Ehrlich and Mitchell Model
 MSE Wall Specifications
• ASD / LRFD
• US / Metric Units
• FHWA Standard Specifications for
Reinforced Earth (MSE Walls)
• AASHTO Standard Specification for
Highway Bridge
• AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design
Specification
• State DOT Specifications
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QUESTIONS AND
COMMENTS

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