Most railways in Korea have been constructed and operated before 1900's, as which, the existing railways and related structures need repair, reinforcement, and extension in capacity and deterioration problem. Such traditional methods as replacement o...
Most railways in Korea have been constructed and operated before 1900's, as which, the existing railways and related structures need repair, reinforcement, and extension in capacity and deterioration problem. Such traditional methods as replacement or improvement of soft soils have been utilized for the repair, reinforcement, and extension of the railway roadbed; however, the methods involve many problems in construction, economy, and environmental adaptation.
Since 1970's in Japan, Germany, and U.S.A., the studies on increasing the bearing capacity of railway roadbed using geosynthetics system have been conducted for the repair, reinforcement, and extension of railways constructed on soft soils. And the unique and appropriate design method and specification for ech nation, regarding the railway roadbed system, have been determained and being used.
Lately, in Korea, several methods for reinforcing railway roadbed using geosynthetics system have been studied as a part of the development of the high-speed train technology. These studies, however, is yet in early stage and focus on the development of the method for the railway roadbed reinforcement for high-speed train rather than the application for maintenance, repair, and extension of the existing railways. Moreover, in the studies, the tnickness of the railway roadbed is estimated using the subgrade reaction modulus K_30 and the deformation modulus Ev obtained from plate load test. but the estimation of the railway roadbed thickness using the subgrade reaction modulus K_30 is not generally reasonable for the combined ground system such as the railway roadbed reinforced with geosynthetics.
In this study, the railway roadbed system reinforced with geosynthetics, widely used for the repair, reinforcement, and extension of existing railways in Korea, has been analyzed and investigated using finite element method and the results of the previous studies conducted in Korea and other nations. and the method for estimating the railway roadbed thickness was developed based on the equivalent method using the multi-layer theory and the deformation modulus Ev.
The char, developed in this study, for estimating the railway roadbed thickness reinforced with geosyntheties involves the defect not reflecting the test data measured in field; therefore, the long-term measurement o the test section constructed in field and further studies are needed for developing more accurate method and chart.