Abstract: It is very important to measure the stress in the reinforced geotixtile in the embankment, which can help us better understand the effect of the reinforcement. However, it has been proved not only to be a urgent task, but also a difficult one. The paper describes the arrangements and installation of instruments for the field measurement of stress in the geotextile reinforced bedding course for a breakwater in a port in north China as well as the results of the field measurements. Analyses are made of the magnitude and behavior of the tensile stress of the geotextile in the bedding course of the breakwater and the relationship between the tensile stress of the geotextile and the settlement of the foundation of the breakwater. The measured tensile stress is far lower than the designed tensile force. Hence, a new question is raised how to consider the magnitude of tensile stress in the stability analysis of geotextile reinforced bedding course.

Key words: breakwater, geotextile, reinforcement, tensile force measurement