Research and Graduate Studies in Civil Engineering

Geotechnical Engineering

Principal Faculty

• Dr R. Bathurst
• Dr. Greg Siemens
• Maj Nicholas Vlachopoulos

Active Geotechnical Research

Earthquake Resistance of Geeosynthetic Reinforced Soil Structures

The use of geosynthetic reinforced soil walls that are built of dry-stacked concrete masonry blocks has increased dramatically in recent years due to their ease of construction and reliable performance under static loads. However, the stability of these types of soil retaining structures under seismic loads such as earthquakes and blasts has not been well understood. Currently, research is underway at RMC to investigate the seismic performance of segmental retaining walls. Model walls with a scale of 1:6 have been built and tested on a shake table which is used to simulate earthquake ground shaking. It is hoped that the research results will provide a better understanding of the behaviour of these types of soil retaining walls under seismic loads and contribute to the improvement of existing design methods.

Contact Dr R.J. Bathhurst or Dr Z. Cai

Shake table test