THE PERFORMANCE OF SOIL NAILED SYSTEMS

In the last two decades soil nailing has developed from an emerging technology to a regularly used form of ground improvement for the stabilisation and steepening of slopes. The approach to design of soil nailed systems has varied widely from the totally empirical to the highly analytical involving the application of advanced soil mechanics. This range of approaches is, not least, because the technique has been applied to schemes ranging from temporary works in low risk situations to the construction of very large permanent retaining structures. This paper describes fundamental studies conducted to investigate the performance of complete soil nailed systems and the effect of elements of these systems on the whole structure performance. These studies include large scale element tests and centrifuge model testing. The results of these studies may be used to assess current and inform future design methods for soil nailed systems.