ABSTRACT
An embankment underlain by permafrost foundation was reinforced with woven geotextiles at its side slopes to reduce slope displacements when the compacted frozen fill used to construct the embankment thaws. The fully-instrumented embankment along the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway in the Northwest Territories, Canada has thermistor strings to monitor soil temperatures as well as ShapeAccelArrays installed at the midslope of the embankment to measure displacements. Four years of monitored data shows reduction in slope movements compared to an unreinforced embankment. A numerical model was developed in a commercially-available finite element software to simulate the thermal and mechanical behaviour of this embankment and further understand the benefit of using geotextiles in cold regions environment. Multi-layer woven geotextiles with varying reinforcement length and vertical spacing were also investigated. The monitored performance and the model results presented will help optimize embankment design in cold regions environment using geotextiles.
