Design and Case Studies of Polymeric Strip Reinforced Soil True Abutment

Reinforced soil (RS) walls with vertical faced segmental concrete panels as facia element and polymeric strips ParaWeb as soil reinforcement is extensively used globally over the last four decades as an alternative to the conventional concrete retaining walls due to its economy, speed of construction, stability, flexibility, and long-term performance. The first geosynthetic-reinforced soil walls were built in France in 1970 and 1971.The first ever Reinforced Soil (RS) Wall with Paraweb as soil reinforcement in India was constructed in 1988 in Sherpur (Ludhiana) and Phagwara section on National Highway (NH)-1. Also, in Nepal Reinforced Soil (RS) Wall technology with Paraweb™ and concrete panels was first adopted for soil retention works on Bhaktapur road, Katmandu in 2010. Reinforced Soil (RS) Wall technology as bridge abutment (true abutment) supporting the superstructure of the bridges have been used on several bridge projects over the past few decades in foreign countries, but still it is not used extensively in India and Nepal. The usage of Reinforced Soil wall technology for bridge abutment results in saving time and money and help in progress of the developing nations like Nepal. It is also an ecofriendly system as it reduces the carbon footprint. The current paper discusses the concept, components, design methodology along with advantages and case references of true abutments globally which can be adopted for Nepal and India also.