Reinforcement of Soft Soil Subgrade for High-Speed Railroad Using Geocell

연약지반상 고속철도 노반 축조시 지오셀 시스템의 효과

This paper presents the results of plate load test and dynamic load test performed to evaluate the performance of geocell where it is used to reinforce soft subgrade for high-speed railroad. Efficacy of geocell was observed in increase in bearing capacity of subgrade and reduction of thickness of reinforced sub-ballast. Plate load tests were carried out at four different places with varying foundation soil strength as a function of number of geocell layer, type of filler material, thickness of cover soil, and the presence of non-woven geotextile. Dynamic load tests were performed in a laboratory. The test soil chamber consists of, from the bottom, 50 cm thick clayey soil, one layer of geocell filled with crushed stone, 10 cm thick crushed stone cover, reinforced sub-ballast of varying thickness, 35 cm thick ballast. This configuration was determined based on the results of numerical analysis and plate load tests. For each set of the dynamic load tests, loads were applied more than 80,000 times. One layer of geocell underlying a 10 cm thick cover soil led to an increase in bearing capacity three to four times compared to a crushed stone layer of the same thickness substituted for the geocell and cover soil layer. Given the test conditions, the thickness of reinforced sub-ballast can be reduced by approximately 35 cm with the presence of geocell.