The applications of geosynthetics and steel wire products in major Albanian roads

Abstract This paper presents an overview of projects carried out in Albania for the construction of new highways, where the use of steel products and geosynthetic materials has been successfully applied. It gives full details on the design criteria adopted for the use of reinforcements with different mechanical properties for the construction of two important road infrastructures: the Albania Motorway Project, from Rreshen to Kalimash across difficult mountainous terrain, where 30 walls were constructed by combining double twist steel wire mesh gabion facia with its tail extended as secondary reinforcement and high strength polyester geogrids as primary soil reinforcement, with a Hmax=37 m, and the Tirana‐Elbasan Highway, which provides Albania with access to Pan European Corridor VIII – in this project the combination of steel wire mesh and geogrid reinforcements is used for the construction of several walls with a maximum height of 28 m. In both projects, rockfall protection measures were incorporated on the slopes either to protect the new motorway or other existing infrastructures.