Design of Ultimate Resistance of Geogrid-Reinforced Working Platforms for Tracked Plant Over Cohesive Subgrade

Accidents on construction sites have revealed that mainly two mechanisms govern the stability of geosynthetic-reinforced working platforms exposed to high concentrated loads by piling rigs or cranes: (i) punching shear failure; (ii) rotational failure. For the punching shear failure, Meyerhof’s method was modified to account for a punching failure through a geosynthetic-reinforced granular platform overlying soft cohesive subgrade. For the rotational failure, the Kinematic Element Method (KEM) has been applied to examine the equilibrium state, thus enabling a full interaction of soil wedges with the intersecting geosynthetic reinforcement. The set-up models are applied to perform a systematic parametric study by variation of the most influencing parameters affecting the ultimate limit state. Finally, a new simplified model (so-called Hybrid model) has been developed to predict the ultimate bearing capacity of working platforms corresponding to both punching and rotational failure modes.