Abstract:
A system and method of constructing a mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) structure. A wire facing is composed of horizontal and vertical elements. A soil reinforcing element has a plurality of transverse wires coupled to at least two longitudinal wires having lead ends that upwardly-extend. A bearing plate includes one or more longitudinal protrusions configured to receive and seat the upwardly extending lead ends and couple the soil reinforcing element to the wire facing, and in particular to the vertical element. Multiple systems can be characterized as lifts and erected one atop the other to a desired MSE structure height.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application is a continuation-in-part of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/684,479, entitled “Wave Anchor Soil Reinforcing Connector and Method,” which was filed on Jan. 8, 2010, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     Retaining wall structures that use horizontally positioned soil inclusions to reinforce an earth mass in combination with a facing element are referred to as Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) structures. MSE structures can be used for various applications including retaining walls, bridge abutments, dams, seawalls, and dikes. Basic MSE technology involves a repetitive process by which layers of backfill and several horizontally placed soil reinforcing elements are sequentially positioned one atop the other until a desired height of the earthen structure is achieved. 
     Illustrated in  FIG. 1  is a typical soil reinforcing element  100  that can be used in the construction of an MSE structure. The soil reinforcing element  100  generally includes a welded wire grid having a pair of longitudinal wires  102  that are disposed substantially parallel to each other. The longitudinal wires  102  are joined to a plurality of transverse wires  104  in a generally perpendicular fashion by welds or other attachment means at their intersections, thus forming the welded wire grid. In some applications, there may be more that two longitudinal wires  102 . The longitudinal wires  102  may have lead ends  106  that generally converge toward one another, as illustrated, and terminate at a wall end  108 . In other applications, however, the lead ends  106  do not converge, but instead terminate substantially parallel to one another. Backfill material and a plurality of soil reinforcing elements  100  are then combined and compacted sequentially to form a solid earthen structure taking the form of a standing earthen wall. 
     The wall end  108  of each soil reinforcing element  100  may include several different connective means adapted to connect the soil reinforcing element  100  to a substantially vertical facing  110 , such as a wire facing, or concrete or steel facings constructed a short distance from the standing earthen wall. Once appropriately secured to the vertical facing  110  and compacted within the backfill, the soil reinforcing element  100  provides tensile strength to the vertical facing  110  that significantly reduces any outward movement and shifting thereof. 
     The longitudinal wires  102  of the soil reinforcing element  100  may extend several feet into the backfill before terminating at corresponding reinforcing ends  112 . Where added amounts of tensile resistance are required, longer soil reinforcing elements  100  are required, thereby disposing the reinforcing ends  112  even deeper into the backfill. Single soil reinforcing elements  100 , however, often cannot be manufactured to the lengths required to adequately reinforce the vertical facing  110 , nor could such soil reinforcing elements  100  of extended lengths be safely or feasibly transported to job sites. 
     What is needed, therefore, is a system and method of splicing a soil reinforcing element to extend its length. 
     SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     Embodiments of the disclosure may provide a splice for a soil reinforcing element. The splice may include a first wave plate defining one or more first transverse protrusions configured to receive and seat a corresponding number of transverse wires of the soil reinforcing element, and a second wave plate defining one or more second transverse protrusions configured to receive and seat a corresponding number of transverse wires of a grid-strip. The splice may further include a first perforation defined in the first wave plate and a second perforation defined in the second wave plate, and a connective device extensible through the first perforation and the second perforation to couple the first wave plate to the second wave plate, wherein a portion of longitudinal wires of the soil reinforcing element and a portion of longitudinal wires of the grid strip are interposed between the first and second wave plates and are thereby prevented from removal. 
     Other embodiments of the disclosure may provide a composite soil reinforcing element. The composite soil reinforcing element may include a soil reinforcing element having a first plurality of transverse wires coupled to at least two longitudinal wires, the soil reinforcing element having a wall end and a reinforcing end, a grid-strip having a second plurality of transverse wires coupled to at least two longitudinal wires, the grid-strip having a splicing end, and a splice configured to couple the reinforcing end of the soil reinforcing element to the splicing end of the grid-strip. The splice may include a first wave plate defining one or more first transverse protrusions configured to receive and seat a corresponding number of the first plurality of transverse wires of the soil reinforcing element, and a second wave plate defining one or more second transverse protrusions configured to receive and seat a corresponding number of the second plurality of transverse wires of the grid-strip. The splice for the composite soil reinforcing element may further include a first perforation defined on the first wave plate and a second perforation defined on the second wave plate, and a first connective device extensible through the first perforation and the second perforation to couple the first wave plate to the second wave plate and clamp down on the at least two longitudinal wires of the soil reinforcing element and the at least two longitudinal wires of the grid-strip. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present disclosure is best understood from the following detailed description when read with the accompanying Figures. It is emphasized that, in accordance with the standard practice in the industry, various features are not drawn to scale. In fact, the dimensions of the various features may be arbitrarily increased or reduced for clarity of discussion. 
         FIG. 1  is a plan view of a prior art soil reinforcing element. 
         FIG. 2A  is an isometric view of an exemplary splice, according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2B  is an exploded view of the exemplary splice shown in  FIG. 2A . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     It is to be understood that the following disclosure describes several exemplary embodiments for implementing different features, structures, or functions of the invention. Exemplary embodiments of components, arrangements, and configurations are described below to simplify the present disclosure; however, these exemplary embodiments are provided merely as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Additionally, the present disclosure may repeat reference numerals and/or letters in the various exemplary embodiments and across the Figures provided herein. This repetition is for the purpose of simplicity and clarity and does not in itself dictate a relationship between the various exemplary embodiments and/or configurations discussed in the various Figures. Moreover, the formation of a first feature over or on a second feature in the description that follows may include embodiments in which the first and second features are formed in direct contact, and may also include embodiments in which additional features may be formed interposing the first and second features, such that the first and second features may not be in direct contact. Finally, the exemplary embodiments presented below may be combined in any combination of ways, i.e., any element from one exemplary embodiment may be used in any other exemplary embodiment, without departing from the scope of the disclosure. 
     Additionally, certain terms are used throughout the following description and claims to refer to particular components. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, various entities may refer to the same component by different names, and as such, the naming convention for the elements described herein is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, unless otherwise specifically defined herein. Further, the naming convention used herein is not intended to distinguish between components that differ in name but not function. Additionally, in the following discussion and in the claims, the terms “including” and “comprising” are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be interpreted to mean “including, but not limited to.” All numerical values in this disclosure may be exact or approximate values unless otherwise specifically stated. Accordingly, various embodiments of the disclosure may deviate from the numbers, values, and ranges disclosed herein without departing from the intended scope. Furthermore, as it is used in the claims or specification, the term “or” is intended to encompass both exclusive and inclusive cases, i.e., “A or B” is intended to be synonymous with “at least one of A and B,” unless otherwise expressly specified herein. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2A and 2B , depicted is an exemplary joint or splice  200 , according to one or more embodiments of the disclosure. The splice  200  may be employed to lengthen the extent of a soil reinforcing element  100 , such as the soil reinforcing element  100  generally described above with reference to  FIG. 1 . Extending the length of the soil reinforcing element  100  may prove advantageous where the soil reinforcing element  100  is not long enough to adequately reinforce a vertical facing  110  ( FIG. 1 ) into adjacent backfill (not shown). 
     As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, several designs of soil reinforcing elements  100  having numerous connective devices for attaching the soil reinforcing element  100  to a vertical facing  110  can be used without departing from the scope of the disclosure. For example, the soil reinforcing elements and their various connective devices described in co-owned U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,517,293 and 7,722,296 may be used, the contents of these patents are hereby incorporated by reference to the extent not inconsistent with the present disclosure. Other examples of soil reinforcing elements and their exemplary connective devices that may be appropriately used with the splice  200  disclosed herein include co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 12/479,448, 12/756,898, 12/818,011, 12/837,347, and 12/861,632 filed on Jun. 5, 2009, Apr. 8, 2010, Jun. 17, 2010, Jul. 15, 2010, and Aug. 23, 2010, respectively, the contents of each application are also hereby incorporated by reference to the extent not inconsistent with the present disclosure. 
     To effectively extend the length of a soil reinforcing element  100  into adjacent backfill (not shown), the splice  200  may couple one or more grid-strips  202  to the soil reinforcing element  100 . The grid-strip  202  generally extends the length of the soil reinforcing element  100  to the length required for the particular MSE application. Similar to the soil reinforcing element  100 , the grid-strip  202  may include at least two longitudinal wires  204  welded or otherwise attached to a plurality of transverse wires  206 . Although only two longitudinal wires  204  are illustrated, it will be appreciated that the grid-strip  202  may include any number of longitudinal wires  204  without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Once coupled together, the combination of the soil reinforcing element  100 , splice  200 , and grid-strip  202  may be characterized or otherwise typified as a single composite soil reinforcing element, for purposes of reinforcing a vertical facing  110  ( FIG. 1 ). 
     In one or more embodiments, the transverse wires  206  may be equally-spaced or substantially equally-spaced along the length of the longitudinal wires  204  of the grid-strip  202 . The spacing between each transverse wire  104  of the soil reinforcing element  100  may be the same or substantially the same as the spacing between each transverse wire  206  of the grid-strip  202 . In other embodiments, however, the spacing of the transverse wires  104 ,  206  may only need to be equally-spaced at or near the reinforcing end  112  of the soil reinforcing element  100  or a splicing end  214  of the grid-strip. In yet other embodiments, the spacing of the transverse wires  104 ,  206  is irregular along the length of the longitudinal wires  102 ,  204 , respectively. 
     The splice  200  may include one or more wave plates, such as a first plate  208   a  and a second plate  208   b . In at least one embodiment, the first and second wave plates  208   a,b  are mirror images of one another. Each wave plate  208   a,b  may include one or more transverse protrusions  210  longitudinally-offset from each other. Each wave plate  208   a,b  may further define one or more plate perforations, such as plate perforations  212   a ,  212   b , and  212   c , as shown in  FIG. 2B . Each transverse protrusion  210  may be configured to receive and/or seat either a transverse wire  104  from the soil reinforcing element  100  or a transverse wire  206  from the grid-strip  202 . Accordingly, in embodiments having two or more transverse protrusions  210 , each protrusion  210  may be spaced a predetermined distance from an adjacent protrusion  210  so as to correspond to the equally-spaced transverse wires  104 ,  206  of either the soil reinforcing element  100  or the grid-strip  202 . 
     In one or more embodiments, one or more transverse wires  104  proximal the reinforcing end  112  of the soil reinforcing element  100  may be coupled to or otherwise seated within the first wave plate  208   a . Likewise, one or more transverse wires  206  proximal a splicing end  214  of the grid-strip  202  may be coupled to or otherwise seated within the second wave plate  208   b . As illustrated, the transverse wires  104  of the soil reinforcing element  100  may be disposed above their respective longitudinal wires  102 , and the transverse wires  206  of the grid-strip  202  may be disposed below their respective longitudinal wires  204 . In other embodiments, however, the relative disposition of the transverse wires  104 ,  206  may be reversed without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Furthermore, the longitudinal wires  102  of the soil reinforcing element  100  may be laterally-offset from the longitudinal wires  204  of the grid-strip  202 . 
     As the plates  208   a,b  are brought together, and the corresponding perforations  212   a,b,c  of each plate  208   a,b  are axially aligned, the transverse wire(s)  104  of the soil reinforcing element  100  may be seated or otherwise received into the transverse protrusions  210  of the first wave plate  208   a , and the transverse wire(s)  206  of the grid-strip  202  may be seated or otherwise received into the transverse protrusions  210  of the opposing second wave plate  208   b . With the corresponding perforations  212   a,b,c  generally aligned, the transverse wires  104  of the soil reinforcing element  100  disposed within corresponding transverse protrusions  210  of the first wave plate  208   a  may be vertically-offset from the transverse wires  206  of the grid-strip  202  disposed within corresponding transverse protrusions  210  of the second wave plate  208   b.    
     The splice  200  may be secured by coupling the first wave plate  208   a  to the second wave plate  208   b . This can be done in several ways. In at least one embodiment, a connective device  216 , such as a threaded bolt or similar mechanism, may be extended through one or more of the perforations  212   a,b,c  defined on each plate  208 . While only two connective devices  216  are shown in  FIGS. 2A and 2B , it will be appreciated that any number connective devices  216  may be employed as corresponding to an equal number of perforations  212  defined in the plates  208   a,b . In one embodiment, a single connective device  216  may be employed to couple the first wave plate  208   a  to the second wave plate  208   b.    
     Each connective device  216  may be secured against removal from the splice  200  by threading a nut  218  or similar device onto its end. Furthermore, one or more washers  220  may also be used to provide a biasing engagement with each plate  208   a,b . As can be appreciated, the nut  218  and connective device  216  configuration may be substituted with any attachment methods known in the art. For instance, rebar or any other rigid rod may be used and bent over on each end to prevent its removal from the perforations  212   a,b,c , and thereby provide an adequate coupling mechanism. 
     Once the splice  200  is made secure, the transverse wires  104 ,  206  may be prevented from longitudinally escaping the splice  200  since they are seated in respective transverse protrusions  210 . Tightening the nut(s)  218  onto the bolt(s)  216 , or similar connection device, may clamp down on the longitudinal wires  102 ,  204  of the soil reinforcing element  100  and grid-strip  202 , respectively, thereby preventing the soil reinforcing element  100  and/or grid-strip  202  from translating laterally and thereby escaping the splice  200 . 
     As will be appreciated, any number of splices  200  and grid-strips  202  may be used to extend the length of a single soil reinforcing element  100  and create a composite soil reinforcing element that achieves a desired reinforcing distance from the vertical facing  110  ( FIG. 1 ). For instance, if splicing a first grid-strip  202  to the reinforcing end  112  of the soil reinforcing element  100  does not extend a sufficient distance into the backfill (not shown), a second grid-strip  202  may be spliced to the end of the first grid-strip  202 , and so on until the desired distance is achieved. Accordingly, multiple splices  200  and multiple grid-strips  202  may be used to extend the length of a single soil reinforcing element  100 . 
     The foregoing has outlined features of several embodiments so that those skilled in the art may better understand the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they may readily use the present disclosure as a basis for designing or modifying other processes and structures for carrying out the same purposes and/or achieving the same advantages of the embodiments introduced herein. Those skilled in the art should also realize that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, and that they may make various changes, substitutions and alterations herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.