Abstract
In practical designs, reinforced soil retaining wall is equipped with some types of ground water drainage facilities to maintain stability against rainfall. However, the decrease in the stability of soil retaining wall may be caused by deterioration of drainage efficiency during heavy raining. In this study a series of centrifuge model tests were carried out to clarify the failure mechanism of the soil wall during rainfall reinforced with anchors, and to investigate the importance of drainage for the soil retaining wall. The results of the tests showed that the factor of safety which was calculated from the total pull-out resistance and the earth pressure on the facing of the soil retaining wall can indicate the stability of the soil retaining wall that failed along a sliding surface. It was found that the drainage facility employed can keep the ground water low and suppress the earth pressure on the facing wall. Smaller displacement of facing wall and smaller settlement of top surface of soil retaining wall were observed, when larger drainage area was employed. Finally, the reasonable arrangement of drainage facilities and their connection with wall facing are necessary for soil retaining walls to maintain the stability of the soil retaining wall during heavy raining.
