APPLICATION OF GEOSYSTEMS AS RETAINING STRUCTURES IN HARSH MARINE ENVIRONMENTS
A retaining structure in harsher marine environment is subjected to severe hydrodynamic forces due to waves, tides and currents. The random loading and variable subgrade conditions further add to the already existing complexity. Normal soil reinforced walls may not be effective under such conditions as saturated soil conditions may considerably reduce the pullout resistance of reinforced soil. In such conditions, geosystems may be more effective as retaining structures. Geotubes and geocontainers may be used to construct marine structure as standalone or as a core of other geosystems. The increase in hydrodynamic forces may be considered for unforeseen catastrophic situations like risk of tsunamis, hurricanes, typhoons etc. A model based on structural stability criterion has been developed for reliability based risk assessment of retaining wall subject to hazardous risk. Dynamic stability of geotubes against hydrodynamic loads has been investigated. The reliability risk assessment model was applied in order to evaluate the structural safety of the retaining structure by modeling random design and structural variables i.e. wave height, tidal ranges storm surge, wave setup and the structural system parameters with probability distributions.