Başiskele / Kocaeli
Site Conditions
- The local ground profile consisted of very soft, highly compressible elastic silt, high-plasticity clay and sand layers.
- Construction of mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) bridge approach embankments over conventional ground improvement systems would have increased the overall project cost.
- The new embankments required for lane widening along the existing D-130 highway would have been disadvantageous in terms of constructability and construction duration if conventional placement and compaction methods were used under live traffic conditions.
- Differential settlements at the bridge approach embankments had to be limited to acceptable levels in accordance with external stability and ride comfort criteria.
Designed Solution
- Construction of the bridge approach embankments using geofoam block technology.
Advantages of the Applied Geotechnology
- The project could be completed within a substantially shorter construction period compared with conventional construction methods.
- Compared with the conventional alternative of ground improvement followed by MSE embankment construction, the geofoam solution provided a more economical alternative in terms of overall project cost.
- Compared with conventional alternatives, the selected solution enabled substantially faster construction while also providing a more economical solution in terms of overall project cost.
Performance Under Service Loads
- A comprehensive instrumentation program using settlement plates was implemented.
