COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF DESIGN SOLUTIONS OF A REINFORCED RAILROAD EMBANKMENT USING VARIOUS CALCULATION METHODS

Abstract

This paper presented a comparative analysis of design solutions of a reinforced railroad embankment using various calculation methods. To conduct a detailed comparative analysis, a remote part of the projected railway line in South Kazakhstan was selected. The embankment has five sections, four sections reinforced by geogrid, one of them without a reinforced layer. The studies of geotechnical conditions concentrate on the topmost silt or silty clay due to upper soil being underlain by a stiff to very stiff clay till which is heavily overconsolidated. As the main load case, railway loads were considered in accordance with the current regulatory documents SP RK EN 1991. For the preliminary design of unreinforced embankment as many available calculation methods as possible were considered in order to obtain the most unfavorable values of safety factors. A detailed analysis using the finite element method was performed to check the results of standard calculation methods to ensure the safety of the embankment.