Flexible and rigid faced MSE walls subject to blasting

Abstract

A geosynthetic reinforced soil (RS) wall and a Reinforced Earth (RE) wall with precast concrete facings were constructed and subjected to multiple blasts and their extent of damage was recorded and studied. After a series of blasts, the concrete facings in front of the RE wall collapsed and the soil mass slid down to the front. There were obvious pullout failures of the metal reinforcement strips as well as tension failure at the joints of the panel pacings and reinforcements. However, the geosynthetics facing of the RS wall only suffered superficial damage due to high temperature and direct impact of fragments.