ABSTRACT
Mechanical stabilization of soil to improve its properties and performance typically involves adding plastic or metal materials to the soil. Mechanical reinforcement adds tensile strength to soils. The inclusion of these materials allows the engineer to meet client needs faster and more cost-effectively. Geosynthetic reinforcement costs are a small percentage of project costs, making geosynthetic use very attractive. The versatility of the geosynthetics in solving geotechnical problems has led to their rapid adoption by the civil engineering design and construction industry. The idea of using non-soil materials to reinforce soils is over 2,000 years old, for example, a portion of the Great Wall of China uses mechanically stabilized earth. Geocells are a plastic honeycombed structure. The cells are formed from plastic strips, set on edge, and welded together at various staggered spacings. Geocells are shipped in the collapsed form, expanded onsite, and filled with soil, producing a composite that is very strong in compression.
