Full-Day Short Course on:

The Design and Construction of Mechanically-Stabilized Earth Retaining Walls and Slopes Using Geosynthetic Reinforcement

By: R. J. Valentine, P.E.

Outline of Instruction

1. Applications of Mechanically-Stabilized Earth (MSE) Retaining Walls and Slopes, Terminology and Construction Materials
2. External Stability Analyses of MSE Walls
3. Internal Stability Analyses of MSE Walls
4. Stability Analyses of MSE Slopes
5. Use of Slope Stability Methods to Analyze Internal Stability of MSE Walls
6. Construction Drawings, Details and Specifications for MSE Structures
7. Forensic Investigations of Failed MSE Structures

Materials Provided

The following materials will be provided to each attendee.

1. PDF version of all slides using the Note Page view in Microsoft PowerPoint
2. PDF version of United States Federal Highway Administration’s Mechanically Stabilized Earth Walls and Reinforced Soil Slopes – Design & Construction Guidelines, Publication No. FHWA-NHI-00-043
3. Design manual developed specifically for this course by the instructor that contains:
   
   
   1. Written discussions for each of the topics of instruction.
   2. Detail hand calculations for the design of a MSE wall using the method in FHWA-NHI-00-043.
   3. Computer program MSEW example for the design of a MSE wall.
   4. Computer program ReSSA+ example for the design of a MSE wall.
   5. The use of Atterberg limits to assess the strength of in situ and fill fine-grain soil.
   6. Comprehensive references for related technical publications and software.

Short Bio

R. J. Valentine

Mr. Valentine has studied geosynthetics and their use in mechanically-stabilized earth (MSE) structures since he performed his graduate school research at Virginia Tech. Since that time he has worked for geotechnical engineering consultants, a geosynthetic manufacturer, a block manufacturer, and as chief engineer for a MSE wall design/build contractor. During the last 21 years he has specialized in the design, research and forensic investigation of earth retention structures as an independent consulting geotechnical engineer. During this period he has performed the following:

• Instructor for National Highway Institute training courses Inspection of Mechanically Stabilized Earth Walls and Reinforced Soils Slopes and Design and Construction of Mechanically-Stabilized Earth Walls and Reinforced Soil Slopes.
• Lead consultant for the design of the protocol for the US Federal Highway Administration’s IDEA Program for the evaluation of MSE retention systems.
• Corporate consultant to Lowe’s Companies, Inc. for retaining wall designs, reviews, and investigations since 2000.
• Investigator of more than 50 failed walls and slopes.
• Design Engineer of Record of more than 1 million m² of earth retention structures.
• Peer reviewer of more than 300 proposed earth retention designs.
• Co-author of the chapter on slope stability in new version of NAVFAC Design Manual 7.01 that is scheduled for publication in 2019.