Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) walls are widely used in transportation projects due to their cost-saving, time-efficient, and resilient nature. Recently, American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and Federal Highway Administration have outlined new design changes to improve the service life of the walls in the FHWA Geotechnical Engineering Circular (GEC) 011. TRB will host a webinar on Wednesday, December 11, 2024 from 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM Eastern that will provide background and an overview of four design approaches for MSE walls: the coherent gravity method, the simplified method, the stiffness method, and the limit equilibrium method. Presenters will discuss how to select the appropriate parameters for the design of MSE walls based on geometry, facing, reinforcement, and backfill utilized.
This webinar is sponsored by TRB’s Standing Technical Committee on Transportation Earthworks.
Registration is free for employees of TRB sponsors as well as Titanium and Cobalt Global Affiliates. The registration rate for all other attendees is $100. Sign into MyTRB.org to view registration information. Contact Patrice Davenport to inquire about becoming a TRB sponsor or global affiliate organization.
A recording will be sent to all registrants after the webinar.
 
Webinar agenda and presenters

• Introduction and background – Daniel Alzamora, FHWA
• Stiffness and limit equilibrium methods – Jim Collin, The Collin Group
• Coherent gravity and simplified methods – Thomas Taylor, Ground Improvement Systems, LLC
• Question and answer session moderated by Jie Han, University of Kansas

The first 60 minutes of the webinar will be for presentations and the final 30 minutes will be reserved for audience questions.
 
Learning Objectives
At the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Review contractor design submittals which incorporate the new MSE wall design methods
• Utilize GEC 011 to learn about the details and background related to the new MSE wall design methods
• Select appropriate parameters based on selected geometry, facing, reinforcement, and backfill utilized for the design of MSE walls

 
Professional Development Hours
Professional engineers (PEs) who register and attend the entire webinar as an individual will be awarded 1.5 Professional Development Hours (PDHs). TRB’s webinar program awards PDH credits only to the registered individual, and not to other members of a group that view the webinar together. To be eligible for the credits, individuals must remain signed in for the entire webinar, including for any question and answer session following the presentations.
This webinar will be delivered as a scheduled – e-learning live event and is categorized within RCEP as Technical, Health and Safety.
Please check with your licensing board to ensure that TRB webinar PDHs are approved by your board.
TRB will report credits earned to the Registered Continuing Education Program (RCEP). Complaints about registered providers may be sent to RCEP, 1015 15th Street, NW, 8th Floor, Washington, D.C., 20005.
 
Pre-registration is required. Once the webinar starts, you will be unable to register. Individuals that are registered for a webinar but do not receive their confirmation emails due to their organization’s internal firewalls should contact TRB Helpdesk for assistance in signing in.
View our FAQ page for more information.
Registration questions? Contact TRB webinar program.