Performance of HESCO Bastion Units Under Combined Normal and Cyclic Lateral Loading

To help reduce the costs and logistical requirements for establishing forward operating bases (FOBs), the U.S. Army investigates construction methods that use indigenous materials in place of commercial materials manufactured far away. An established construction system called the HESCO bastion, currently used in theater for force protection, derives its mass and load resistance from indigenous soils placed in manufactured steel and geotextile containment modules. Using this system for other FOB structures, such as soldier housing, could greatly reduce costs and logistical burdens for Class 4 construction materials. Before developing such applications, however, the load-resisting characteristics of HESCO units must be tested for incorporation into new engineering guidance. In this study a HESCO unit was filled with dry, coarse sand and subjected to combination of normal and lateral loads at four separate intensities. The interaction of normal and lateral loads was investigated, as well as the cyclic loading hysteresis. A lateral load capacity for HESCO bastions was determined based on the applied normal load. The results validated the suit-ability of HESCO units as load-bearing structural members for temporary soldier housing in FOBs located in remote areas of operation.