Project Summary/Scope:

The project location is approximately 1 hour east of Dubai, in the Ras Al Khaimah region of the UAE. Highway realignment necessitated a new, elevated roadway structure capable of removing slow, twisting turns from a current highway system. The height of the walls was required to be up to 43 meters, causing concern for settlement and bearing capacity failure of the underlying highly fractured, weathered gabbro.

To combat potential settlement issues, project engineers chose pre-cast facing elements placed as individuals units with open joints to allow for a more flexible facing. Additionally, walls were terraced to maintain control over stresses on the wall facing. Other quality control measures included the use of on-site bedrock processed in two large crushing plants to generate adequate backfill material. With this project-specific aggregate manufacturing process, project partners were able to produce a well-graded backfill material with a friction angle no less than 46 degrees, and with no more than 5% passing a #230 sieve (0.063 mm).

The geosynthetics chosen for this project were 50 kN strips made up of high-tenacity, multifilament yarns coated in tension with a low linear density polyethylene. The strips were tensioned during construction to reduce isolated movement within the reinforced mass.

Alternate Technologies: Elevated viaducts were considered, but MSE walls were determined to be the better option.

Case History Author/Submitter:  Paul Frankenberger

Project Technical Paper:  Frankenberger, P., Krznaric, G.Lichty, N, Gale, S. (2020) Construction of 43 M High Geosynthetic Strip MSE Wall, Geosynthetics 2020 – Case Histories, 8-10 March 2020, Charleston, SC.

Date Case History Prepared: 23 December 2021.

Case History Prepared By: Melissa S. Beauregard.