Abstract: The finite element method w used to analyze the deformation development in the process of a reinforced earth embankment over soft soils. The results show that the embankment reinforcement can effectively control the lateral deformation of soft soil, improve the ability of “contracting” of horizontal displacement in consolidation stage, uniformize the embankment settlement. In the embankment filling stage, the excess pore pressure in the underlying soft soil in the reinforced earth embankment is obviously higher than that of underlying the unreinforced embankment. However, with the consolidation of soft soil gradually tends to be consistent between the reinforced and the unreinforced embankments. The safety factor of embankment is obviously improved after the soil reinforcement. The failure modes are different between the reinforced and unreinforced embankments due to the characteristics among the soil reinforcement, soil-geogrid interface and embankment soils. The embankment filling rate has a significant effect on the unreinforced embankment. If the reinforced earth is placed in the embankment, construction rate can be improved.

Key words: embankment over soft soils, reinforced earth, stability analysis