Reinforced Earth Embankment, Miaoli, Taiwan

Since the development and creation of the Hsinchu Science Park it has steadily grown and is now becoming congested. Therefore, the government plans to expand the area of its Zhunan Base to alleviate the shortage of surrounding industrial land space. The total planned area is about 154.13 hectares.

Due to the needs of regional development, the slope area at the west side of the Zhunan Base requires a lot of earth filling to construct the base of a connecting road and factory land.

The extension area was built as a green earthquake-resistant embankment using geosynthetic reinforced soil structure with geogrid wrap-around facing, which can be vegetated to integrate into the natural scenery of the existing slope area. The 3-tiered reinforced earth embankment with approximate inclined ratio of 0.2:1(H: V) to form the base of a two-lane road.

By using lightweight, durable, and non-rigid high-tenacity ACEGrid® geogrid as the reinforcement material, the long-term stability and anti-seismic ability of the earth embankment is secured. In comparison to rigid reinforced concrete structures, the reinforced earth structure has benefits of energy-saving and carbon reduction. Additionally, it provides a stable planting bed for plants to grow, which can be native species or horticultural flowers and shrubs, with a compensation habitat for wild animals to contribute to ecological and environmental sustainability.