Short-Term Lateral Response of a Buried Modular Polymer Stormwater Collection Structure to Compaction and Overburden Pressure

Abstract

Results from full-scale physical experiments are reported to identify and quantify short-term lateral response around the perimeter of a modular polymer stormwater collection structure during backfilling and under applied vertical pressures equivalent to the maximum and maximum-factored burial depths. The physical simulation was such that lateral stresses developed in the side fill for stiff native trench conditions and the particular soil, compaction, and resulting lateral displacements of the side panels (i.e., soil-structure-compaction interaction). Two types of coarse-grained soil, two types of compaction, and two structure heights were examined. Tensile strains in edge PVC columns were induced by lateral bending from soil placement and lateral earth pressures. Of the conditions examined, rammer-compacted 19-mm poorly graded gravel resulted in the largest short-term edge column tensions (0.4%); however, even these values were 4.5 times smaller than the measured short-term PVC rupture strains.