Abstract: Horizontal reinforcement solutions are generally used in pavement engineering to prevent or delay the sudden damage of adjacent roads caused by collapse of cavities induced by vehicle loads and ground water, and to provide an early warning. This kind of approach is extensively adopted in many countries, but load transfer mechanisms and characteristics of the interfaces between the geosynthetics and soils are not yet fully understood. This study presents an review of the state of the art for the geosynthetic-reinforced embankment overlying voids. The mechanical mechanisms (e.g. sliding surfaces of the embankment fills, arching theory, membrane effect, soil expansion over the geosynthetics, friction in anchorage areas and reduction of tensions in the transition areas) are mainly introduced. The comparisons and shortcomings of the design methods are also discussed. To improve the design methods, the several mechanical behaviors of prior literatures need to be further investigated: load transfer mechanisms, delayed deformation and collapse due to the geosythetics, settlement calculation, ultimate bearing capacity and stability of the embankment subjected to localized voids. The load distributions have not been revealed, the exiting design methods are overly conservative. A set of recommendations and insights is presented for further researches.

Key words: void collapses, horizontal reinforcement solutions, geosynthetics, reinforced embankment