Performance of MSE walls with sustainable backfills subjected to differential settlements

ABSTRACT The scarcity and fast depletion of granular materials necessitated to find alternative backfill materials in MSE walls. In the present study, application of construction and demolition waste (CDW) as a backfill for MSE walls was investigated. The physical, chemical, hydraulic and mechanical properties of CDW were found to meet the requirements of ideal backfills mandated by various design standards of MSE walls. At the end of construction, maximum facing deformation was at lower one-third height of the wall for MSE wall resting on a firm foundation. Influence of yielding foundation on the performance of MSE wall was also studied by varying the distortion levels to 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6. At the onset of differential settlements, the location of maximum facing deformation changed to the bottom of the wall. The maximum facing deformation and axial strain increased by 15 times and 2.5% respectively, when the wall underwent a distortion of 0.6.