Geogrid-reinforced soil walls (MSE)

What the tool calculates

• External stability in the Brazilian profile: factor of safety of 1.5 against sliding and 2.0 against overturning
• Tensile and pullout checks by layer, using common reinforcement strength and reduction factors
• Vesić bearing capacity calculation using effective base width
• Limitations concerning global stability, reinforcement-to-facing connections, foundation soil and drainage

What you enter

• Wall geometry, reinforcement length and spacing
• Geogrid strength and reinforcement reduction factors
• Backfill strength parameters and unit weight

What you receive

• Factors of safety against sliding, overturning and bearing capacity failure
• Tensile and pullout checks for each reinforcement layer
• Effective base width (Vesić)

References and limits of applicability

• ABNT NBR 16920-1:2021 — Reinforced soil walls and slopes, Part 1: reinforced fills. The stated factors of safety come from an academic source that attributes them to the standard; they have not been checked directly against the official document.

Checks and considerations

• Global stability and reinforcement-to-facing connections are not checked; they require separate analyses
• Backfill without adequate drainage, or foundation soil that differs from the backfill, requires a separate assessment

How it works

The model checks the external stability of the reinforced soil mass and evaluates tensile and pullout resistance in each layer. Bearing capacity uses the backfill parameters, without a separate foundation soil. Geogrid-to-facing connections and global stability are not checked; they require system-specific data and separate analyses, alongside drainage design.

Example of use

To study a wall with block facing, enter the cross-section, geogrid properties and reduction factors. Compare reinforcement lengths and spacings, review the checks for each layer, and assess connections, foundation soil and global stability separately.

Generated documents

These documents are assembled within your project using data from the corresponding tools.

• Geotechnical calculation report — Combine calculation reports for soil stress bulbs, retaining walls, reinforced soil walls, slope stability and soil-nailed slopes in one PDF. The document consolidates saved calculations without repeating or cross-checking the individual tools' verifications.