Assessing the Three-Dimensional Behaviour of Dry Stone Retaining Walls by Full-Scale Experiments

Dry stone masonry is a widespread building technique, which has been used in Europe and all around the world in both monumental and vernacular architecture. Amongst them, dry stone structures retaining slopes have received growing attention over the past two decades, but only a few studies concentrate on the influence of localised loading upon the backfill. This paper describes an experimental campaign, comprising two tests on full-scale structures, which has been undertaken in France in order to investigate the behaviour of dry stone road retaining walls. The results of these tests are compared with those of a previous experimental campaign, and of a theoretical approach