The State of the Art of Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil Structures

Since ancient times natural geotextiles such as timber, bamboo, twigs, reeds. jute, hemp, and palm fibre have been used for the reinforcement of the earth together with the enrichment of it with additional bending and tensile strength in the construction of embankments, stabilisation of weak foundations, and flood control. In some cases these materials are employed to achieve structural effectiveness by means of laying them in the earth in one or multiple layers or by integrating the earth and gravels within mats, cells, and gabions ( Yamanouchi 1992 ). These techniques were handed down from generation to generation and they are, at present, replaced by methods using steel and synthetic materials. However, in some countries the natural geotextiles are still used as effective reinforcing materials ( Datye 1987 ). The use of soil walls for housing construction that gives the earth tensile strength by composing it with straw is known, at present, as the art of Texsol (Le flaive 1982): it integrates the earth by means of long filaments.