A Terramesh Wall on Great Ocean Road

This paper presents a new system in design and construction of earth retaining structures as adopted in one section of the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. A retaining wall called Terramesh wall was recently completed in one of the problem areas along the Great Ocean Road. The particular site is at Km. 159.8 located at about 3 km south of the Wye River. The problem was on the downside of the road where there had been progressive slides, mainly caused by seepage and erosion. There are other sites along the road where the same problem exists. However, it is in this particular site where immediate remedial measures had to be undertaken to prevent the impending failure within the road travelled way.

The Road Construction Authority (RCA), Geelong Office in July, 1987, requested Geolab Systems to study the problem and present a solution. Geolab Systems is the sole Australian agent for Maccaferri Gabions.

On the basis of the data supplied by the Road Construction Authority, Maccaferri South Pacific prepared for Geolab, a solution based on the Terramesh System. Figure 1 shows the typical section of the structure.

This type of retaining wall is a product of several years of research and exhaustive tests, following the early structures built in Sabah, Malaysia in 1979, using the same design principle.