Materials

Design and Construction of a Precast Ultra-High Performance Concrete Cantilever Retaining Wall

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Abstract

The design and construction of a precast ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) cantilever retaining wall (hereafter referred to as the UHPC wall) is reported in this study. Structural design of the UHPC wall is carried out on the basis of taking benefits from revolutionary properties of UHPC, which enable the authors to design thin concrete sections. The dimensions of the UHPC wall are determined based on the stability and bearing pressure requirements in accordance with Eurocode 7-Geotechnical Design. The UHPC wall is 2 m (6.56 ft.) long, 2 m (6.56 ft.) wide, and 2.5 m (8.2 ft.) high. It consists of two integrated thin UHPC slabs, which act as the wall base and the vertical wall stem. The 40 mm (1.57 in) thick wall base is strengthened with two 80 mm (3.15 in.) thick and 100 mm (3.94 in.) wide steel reinforced stiffeners. The 30 mm (1.18 in.) thick vertical wall stem is also strengthened with two steel reinforced stiffeners, spaced across the wall stem at a distance of 1.25 m (4.1 ft.). The UHPC wall is structurally designed based on the first principles in conjunction with the Japanese Society of Civil Engineers recommendations for design and construction of UHPC structures. The essence of analysis and design procedures are highlighted. The environmental performance evaluation verifies that the precast UHPC wall with superior performance is a promising sustainable alternative to the “conventional” precast reinforced concrete (RC) cantilever retaining walls offering 86% less material consumption, 60% less CO2 emissions, 57% less energy consumption, and 61% less global warming potential. Advantages of the UHPC wall compared to the “conventional” RC wall are also presented.

Keywords: precast cantilever retaining wall, CO2 emissions, embodied energy, global warming potential, Eurocode 7, Eurocode 2, structural performance, environmental performance, material sustainability

How to Cite:

Nematollahi, B., Voo, Y. & Sanjayan, J., (2016) “Design and Construction of a Precast Ultra-High Performance Concrete Cantilever Retaining Wall”, International Interactive Symposium on Ultra-High Performance Concrete 1(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.21838/uhpc.2016.48