Facing element for reinforced soil structure

A reinforced soil structure comprising:

• a fill,
• a facing made of facing elements having a first face with at least a connecting member configured to connect to said facing element at least one reinforcement member intended to reinforce the reinforced soil and a second face opposed to the first face, wherein said facing element is placed along a front face of the structure defined by the second face of the facing element;
• and
• each facing element being connected to at least one reinforcement member extending through a reinforced zone of the fill;
• wherein the facing comprises at least two facing elements sharing a protective membrane,
• wherein, for each facing element, the second face has an essentially planar surface and comprises at least a fixing portion,
• the fixing portion comprising:
• a contact surface projecting from the planar surface of the second face,
• a fastening element anchored in the facing element, and
• a tightening element engageable with the fastening element so as to fix the protective membrane between said tightening element and said contact surface, and
• wherein the front face of the structure is at least partly covered by said membrane fixed by the fixing portions to the at least two facing elements.

A method for building a reinforced soil structure, comprising the steps of:

• a) providing a facing element having a first face comprising at least a connecting member to connect to said facing element at least one reinforcement member intended to reinforce the reinforced soil structure and a second face opposed to the first face,
• b) positioning the facing element so as to have the second face of the facing element along the front face of the structure delimiting a volume to be filled;
• c) connecting at least one reinforcement member to a connecting member of the facing element so as to have the reinforcement member extending through a reinforced zone situated behind said front face,
• d) introducing fill material into said volume over, at least, the reinforced zone in which the reinforcement member extends, and compacting the fill material,
• repeating steps a) to d), wherein at least two facing elements of the structure comprises:
• a first face comprising at least a connecting member to connect to said facing element at least one reinforcement member intended to reinforce the reinforced soil, and
• a second face on which at least a protective membrane is applied, said second face opposed to the first face, wherein said second face has an essentially planar surface and comprises at least a fixing portion,
• the fixing portion comprising:
• a contact surface projecting from the planar surface of the second face,
• a fastening element anchored in the facing element, and
• a tightening element engageable with the fastening element so as to fix the protective membrane between said tightening element and said contact surface, and
• fixing a protective membrane to the front face of the structure using the fixing portions of the facing elements.