DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.12627309

Small-scale experiments on basal steel-mesh reinforced piled embankments (PEBSTER, a transnational access project of GEOLAB)

Welcome to the GEOLAB-PEBSTER-Deltares project on Zenodo! This repository contains the measurement data from four small-scale experiments on Piled Embankments with Basal Steel Reinforcement (PEBSTER). Pile-supported (PS) embankments with basal geosynthetic reinforcement (GR) are commonly built in soft soil areas (van Eekelen and Han, 2020). Steel mesh reinforcement (SR) is particularly appealing for high embankments (Topolnicki et al., 2019). Its high axial stiffness, compared to geosynthetics, reduces horizontal deformation at the embankment base, minimizes bending moments in the piles, and ultimately enhances embankment stability.

PEBSTER

This dataset includes measurements from four small-scale tests on steel-reinforced piled embankments, conducted in the Deltares laboratory (van Eekelen et al., 2024a,b). These tests are part of a broader research initiative called Piled Embankments with Basal Steel Reinforcement (PEBSTER), which also includes a large-scale test (Schneider et al., 2024a,b). The small-scale tests were conducted at Deltares, Delft, Netherlands, while the large-scale test was conducted in Darmstadt, Germany, at the Institute of Geotechnics, Technical University of Darmstadt.

GEOLAB

GEOLAB is a project of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant Agreement No. 101006512, addressing Europe's Critical Infrastructure (CI) challenges in the water, energy, urban, and transport sectors.

The GEOLAB Research Infrastructure (RI) consists of 11 unique installations across Europe to study subsurface behavior and its interaction with structural CI elements and the environment. During the GEOLAB Transnational Access (TA), users outside the consortium gained access to the GEOLAB installations to perform research and innovation.

Dataset of four small-scale experiments

Here, we share the measurement data from the small-scale experiments that were part of one of the GEOLAB TA projects: PEBSTER. Four piles (diameter 0.1 m, centre to centre 0.55m) passed through a steel plate, that supported a foam cushion, that was sealed and soaked. A tap allowed for drainage of the foam cushion, simulating the consolidation of the subsoil between the piles. The 0.55 m high embankment consisted of medium coarse sand, and was reinforced at its base with a steel mesh reinforcement. A surcharge load up to 100 kPa was applied with a water cushion.

The load distribution is measured by pressure cells and load transducers. Soil strains and displacements were monitored at five elevations within the fill, utilizing distributed fibre optic sensing (DFOS) technology from the Nerve-Sensors family, as depicted in Figure 2. Additionally, the steel mesh reinforcement was extensively instrumented with optic fibres.

PEBSTER Research group

The project was conducted by a research group that includes Deltares, Netherlands, the Institute of Geotechnics of the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany, Keller (Germany, France, Poland), SHM System, Poland, and FOLAB, Germany.