Reinforced soil wall with gabion facing – a case study of water front structure

Abstract

The increasing demand for utilities infrastructure and development projects has become a key factor in providing feasible and economical solutions in recent decades. There is a need of the day, to utilize locally available resources while designing such projects. The Reinforced Soil Wall (RSW) with Gabion Facing provides a flexible modular environment-friendly structure that is proven to be suitable for waterfront structures, and feasible with available boulders in the vicinity. This paper showcases a case study of RS wall with Gabion Facing for the diversion of Ulwe River - a part of Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) Project. A roughly 3.2km long river diversion has been widened, moreover, an approximately 90 mt high hill was flattened to pave the way for NMIA, adjacent to Panvel Creek. The proposed channel dimensions of the diversion river were increased after studying the data for the last 100 years of rainfall, so that the heavy rainwater can be discharged without flooding. The composite solution of the RS wall with metal gabions as a facia has facilitated the diversion of the Ulwe River to divert water flow up to Panvel Creek. The geogrids were installed with the stone–filled metal gabions, along with connector rods to form a positive connection. To prevent the scouring of the non-rocky river bed at RS wall base, the Gabion mattresses were provided.