Temperature monitoring of a geosynthetic-reinforced embankment in a seismic area

Field data on reinforced embankments are of upmost importance for improving knowledge on their long behaviour. In Valdina, Sicily, Italy, following a landslide that involved a slope in clay soils, a reinforced embankment has been constructed. Valdina is a small village in the Eastern Sicily that displays a high frequency of landslides since clay soils outcrop extensively. In 2006, the reinforced embankment constructed on a clay slope was instrumented and the results of the following 2 years of reinforced embankment monitoring are presented together with an analysis of the collected data of temperatures. The equipment installed allows the measurement of the weather parameters (rainfall, wind, air humidity and air temperature), of the loads and deformations of the reinforced embankment, and of the ground vibrations caused by earthquakes. To estimate the trend of deformations, temperature, humidity and loads along the geogrids used to reinforce the structure, measurement instruments were installed within the structure at different depths.