Stabilizing loose soil on a mountainous hillside: A solution to soil stability problems near roads

Abstract: Soil mass stability problems upon a mountainous hillside are usually discovered
when a road is under construction. Therefore a retaining wall need to be
projected. Since this is usually discovered when the production is ongoing, this
can lead to higher costs. An investigation has been preformed to control
if it is possible to create a standard proposal for retaining walls upon a
mountainous hillside. Standard proposal can optimize the production of roads
by preventing production stops. Retaining walls near roads which are installed
on a mountainous hillside will generate a protection that prevents lose soil
masses from reaching the road. There are four retaining walls that will be
described in this thesis, those are: timber walls, concrete retaining walls, pre-
made concrete blocks and stacked rock walls. This commission have been in
cooperation with Norwegian Public Roads Administration NPRA, region north.
The software program Plaxis 2D has been utilized to generate a genuine model
that will represent a real case scenario. Hand calculations have been completed
to verify that the model is applicable. If a standard proposal is achievable it
may lower the production costs and secure the unstable slope quicker. Hence,
the main reason to manage a standard proposal of retaining walls are to
minimize stops within road constructions and faster secure soil masses upon a
mountainous hillside. With a standard proposal a safer environment and faster
production can be achieved.