5.10 APPLICATION OF ENERGY-SAVING MATERIALS TO ENSURE THE STABILITY OF EMBANKMENT SLOPES IN SANDY SOILS

Abstract

This article examines ways to ensure the stability of railway embankments constructed from sandy soils using energy-saving (geosynthetic) materials.

Keywords: sandy soil, stability, method, earthwork, structures, reinforcement, stability, geosynthetic materials, embankment.

Increasing the requirements for more economical land use necessitates the application of new methods for strengthening the slopes of embankments and excavations. Depending on the physical properties of the soils and the steepness of the slopes, for this purpose, grass sowing, planing, slope paving, as well as various structures, such as gravitational retaining walls, filling walls, and armor-soil structures, are used. Often, various combinations of the listed methods are used to strengthen slopes and improve water drainage. Some of them are based on the application of volumetric geogrids. Separating or filtering geosynthetics can replace multilayer deposits made of fractional material. Stabilizing geosynthetics, in turn, strengthen the underlying soil layers, providing a sufficiently strong foundation for retaining walls [1,3,5,6,9,10].

Some types of slope reinforcement are designed to ensure their temporary stabilization for a period sufficient for the development of the planted plant's root system. So-called "soft" systems, after a predetermined period, decompose under the influence of microorganisms or solar radiation [2,4,7,8].

Along with roll nonwoven and mesh structures, volumetric geogrids designed to protect slopes from erosion are promising.

The applied volumetric geogrids consist of thermally fastened or sewn (preferably) strips of nonwoven roll materials. The width of the strips depends on the required thickness of the slope covering and lies within the range of 15-40 cm. The cells of volumetric georets have, as a rule, a six-sided or four-sided shape, which are obtained after laying and stretching volumetric georets on the slope. The fastening of strips between themselves is carried out in factory conditions. Packages of volumetric geogrids are being delivered to the construction site. The area covered by one packaging is an average of 100m2, while the packaging weight is 20 kg.

Filling the cells of volumetric georings is performed after stretching and securing the packaging of volumetric georings with anchors. Sand-gravel mixtures and vegetable soil are more commonly used as the filling material. Additionally, crushed stone or concrete can be used as filling. The technological feature of filling cells is the uniform filling of the aggregate with compaction. The loading speed is not high, as it often requires manual labor. The optimal technological equipment is an excavator-planner with a telescopic sliding handle [7,8].