Hydraulic and earth engineering – Earth treatment or control
Patent
1998-03-31
2000-11-14
Lillis, Eileen D.
Hydraulic and earth engineering
Earth treatment or control
405284, 404 29, 404 31, 238 11, E01C 300, E02D 500, E02D 1700, E02D 1718
Patent
active
061460540
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a lightweight embankment and more particularly to the technique of constructing an embankment of this kind.
Conventional road embankments are constructed from excavated materials with a density around 2,000 kg/m.sup.3.
In some cases, to deal with specific problems (compressible soils, unstable slopes, etc) it is beneficial to use lighter materials.
This is why many embankments have been constructed in recent years with construction blocks made from extremely light materials having a density that is typically between about 20 kg/m.sup.3 and about 60 kg/m.sup.3, for example expanded polystyrene or some other ultra-lightweight cellular structure high-grade plastics material. The technique currently employed typically consists in stacking contiguously blocks of EC or EM grade polystyrene in accordance with a French standard imposing a density between 19 kg/m.sup.3 and 20 kg/m.sup.3.
However, these blocks made from high-grade materials produced by the chemicals industry are very costly and the current technique requires a considerable quantity of construction blocks.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This is why the object of the invention is to provide more economical lightweight embankments requiring less construction materials whilst retaining satisfactory stability properties.
To this end, the invention consists in a lightweight embankment comprising blocks stacked in successive layers characterized in that in at least one layer at least two blocks of said layer are separated from each other by a gap.
The device in accordance with the invention can have one or more of the following features: least two different layers have different heights; polystyrene; kg/m.sup.3, in particular greater than 23 kg/m.sup.3, and having a compressive strength at 10% crushing greater than 110 kPa, in particular greater than 130 kPa; block of at least one adjacent layer by connecting means; glue; vertical steel rod, projecting from the block and adapted to engage in a block of an adjacent layer; gaps of the upper layers; gaps are closed by plugs; gap; of the other gaps of the same layer and the height of the blocks of this layer is less than the height of at least one other layer of the embankment; member, the anchor member being in particular common to a plurality of locating members of the same layer; forming stay-in-place shuttering, the ends of this gap and the openings of the latter that communicate with a gap of a lower layer being blocked by barrier members; slope and the embankment; widened part in which the locating member forms a retaining member for the blocks of the embankment; another.
Other features and advantages of the invention will emerge from the following description given by way of non-limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a lightweight embankment in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a construction block of the lightweight embankment shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a variant of the lightweight embankment designed to be constructed against a slope; and
FIG. 4 is a view of the lightweight embankment shown in FIG. 3 in horizontal section taken along the line 4--4.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The embankment 1 shown in FIG. 1 is designed to support a roadway. Its width decreases progressively from its base towards its apex.
The embankment 1 is constructed from construction blocks 3 of elongate parallelepiped shape stacked up in successive layers, the blocks 3 of the same layer being disposed in parallel rows.
The first layer of the embankment, the base layer 5, rests on a sub-base 6 of unwashed sand or crushed materials approximately 0.1 m thick on average. The blocks 3 of the upper layers are laid transversely to the blocks 3 of the next layer down.
The blocks 3 of each layer are separated from each other by gaps 7. The width of the gaps 7 is constant and less than 1 m and preferably between 0.2 m
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Lillis Eileen D.
Mayo Tara L.
Screg
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