Post-construction data from an instrumented geosynthetic reinforced column supported embankment (GRCSE) on drilled displacement columns in Melbourne, Australia, show the time-dependent development of arching over the 2 year monitoring period and a strong relationship between the development of arching stresses and subsoil settlement. A ground reaction curve is adopted to describe the development of arching stresses and good agreement is found for the period observed thus far. Predictions of arching stresses and load-transfer platform behaviour are presented for the remaining design life. Four phases of arching stress development (initial, maximum, load-recovery, and creep strain phases) are shown to describe the time-dependent, and subsoil-dependent, development of arching stresses that can be expected to occur in many field embankments. Of the four phases, the load-recovery phase is the most important with respect to load-transfer platform design, as it predicts the breakdown of arching stresses in the long term due to increasing subsoil settlement. This has important implications in assessing the appropriate design stress for the geosynthetic reinforcement layers, but also the deformation of the load-transfer platform in the long term.

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For geosynthetic reinforced column supported embankments (GRCSE) supporting a high embankment, lateral forces associated with lateral sliding and embankment stability often govern the acceptability of a given design under serviceability conditions. Frequently, the complex soil–structure–geosynthetic interaction, the size, and the three-dimensional nature of a GRCSE necessitate the use of numerical analysis to assess embankment performance relative to serviceability criteria. However, traditional finite element method techniques used to model serviceability behaviour are limited in their ability to model the geotechnical mechanisms associated with column installation, equilibration, and group installation effects. These installation effects are examined herein based on a GRCSE field case study located in Melbourne, Australia, that has been extensively instrumented. The role that these installation effects have on the performance of the GRCSE is highlighted and the behaviour of the columns supporting the embankment is emphasized. It is shown that cracking of the unreinforced columns supporting the embankment is likely inevitable and that the reduction of lateral resistance provided by the columns should be accounted for in design. The suitability of various numerical approaches currently used in design to model the columns supporting the GRCSE, and the embankment itself, are discussed and recommendations are made.

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