Vol. 2, Issue 5, Part P (2016)

Abstract
A series of laboratory plate load tests was conducted on geogrid-reinforced fine sand, medium sand and coarse sand. Circular geogrid sheets of diameter 120 mm were used as reinforcement layers in the sand beds. All the sand beds were compacted to an arbitrary relative density of 50%. The test plate used as the surface foundation had a diameter of 60 mm. The effect of number of geogrids and the spacing between them on load-settlement characteristics was investigated. The test data were used to interpret the improvement in load-settlement behaviour. The results showed that the horizontal geogrid reinforcement improved the load-settlement behaviour of sand beds. Load-settlement behaviour was found to improve further with increasing number of geogrid layers and with decreasing spacing between them.