Instrumentation of CMC rigid inclusions in nuclear power plant context
Instrumentation of CMC rigid inclusions in nuclear power plant context
The nuclear power plant of Blayais is located close to the Gironde estuary. After the Fukushima event in Japan, the flooding scenarios have been revaluated. It is planned to reinforce the peripheral flood barrier of the Blayais NPP which protect the Core Unit equipment. The old embankment is raised up and the new geometry is significantly larger. Concerning the soil profile, very soft clay with interbedded peaty lenses were observed during the geotechnical campaigns. The poor characteristics of the soil could generate global stability issues of the embankment and significant settlements. A solution of soil reinforcement by rigid inclusions type CMC were installed under the embankment to meet the design criteria. Thanks to that rigid elements and the load transfer platform, the additional load due to the weight of the embankment is shared between the columns and the soil. At the design stage, different cross sections were modelled using finite element software. The consolidation phenomenon and a soil behaviour as hardening soil model were considered. An instrumentation was performed during the works and after the embankment installation, more than 1 year of measurements have been collected. Settlement and stress recordings are now compared to the modelling.
Pierre Burtin; Jerome Racinais; Laurent Briancon; Nicolas AYMARD; Pierre TACHKER
21st International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (Vienna)
TC211
https://doi.org/10.53243/ICSMGE2026-553
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