Sand Castle Holds Up A Car! - Mechanically Stabilized Earth

Dirt is probably the cheapest and simplest construction material out there, but it's not very strong compared to other choices. Luckily geotechnical engineers have developed a way to strengthen earthen materials with almost no additional effort - Mechanically Stabilized Earth (aka MSE or Reinforced Soil). If you look closely, you'll see MSE walls are everywhere. Thanks for watching, and let me know what you think!

[PracticalEngineeringChannel]

In the narration, I'm using the terms "soil" and "dirt" to mean any earthen granular material (including sands). A lot of non-US viewers have been confused by my mixing those terms. Sorry about that!

[HydraulicPressChannel]

I might know one guy that has a hydraulic press...

[sbwhddv]

"I dropped a 25 pound weight from six feet up, to simulate what would happen if you dropped a 25 pound weight from six feet up." That's a perfect example of "engineer humor." Made me LOL, Thanks!

[jasoonpittard]

This reinforced dirt reminds me a lot of what plant roots do to keep the earth together.

[DanHassan]

Is this why they put the extra piece of bread in a big mac?

[Tomartyr]

That kid who smashes my sandcastles is in for a surprise.

[Mcofell]

*"I dropped this 25 pound barbell from about 6 feet up to simulate what would happen if you dropped a 25 pound weight on the cube from 6 feet up."* This is why I love this channel.

[johnlawlor]

"I dropped a 20 lb weight from 6 ft up to simulate dropping a 20 lb weight from 6 ft up."

[karennakye]

IfI had watched your channel in my Final Year of High school, I would be a civil engineer instead of an electrical engineer.

[windykar]

7:14
"Dirt was probably your first construction material"

*Flashbacks to my first minecraft house*

[WilliamDye-willdye]

"I dropped this 25-pound barbell from about six feet up to simulate what would happen if you drop a 25-pound weight on the cube from six feet up." :-)

[WhatAreYouBuyen]

When I was a kid I used to use sea weed and layers of dirt to build my sand kingdoms. But I didn't know why it was always better... Now I know. Thanks

[nolanstrife]

It's been literal years since I first watched this video, and yet composite dirt experiment still remains one of the most memorable experiment I've ever seen

It's not something flashy or bombastic like the stuff people like NileRed perform. It's just putting a weight of a car on a pile of sand. So simplistic yet it blows away all and all expectations

[yokatta-f]

I see now that when Anakin said that sand was coarse and rough, he actually was praising its mechanical engineering properties

[IRAMightyPirate]

As a structural engineer who works with MSE walls I honestly have never seen a more practical demonstration for MSE walls. This is fantastic, subscribed!

[Paul-sjdb]

Next time I'm at the beach, assuming we'll ever be allowed there again, I'm building a sand castle with reinforced sand.

[louisswanepoel]

No one laughed at the comment "This is an engineering channel, NOT A SCIENCE CHANNEL". This is the most beautiful line I have ever heard on YouTube.

[JohnPoteet]

Not widely known is The Great Wall of China is exactly this sort of reinforced earth with facing construction project. Most of the wall by volume is local dirt with layers of willow branches to add shear strength.

[tommclean]

your channel is insanely good, I'm loving how your channel is technical and yet understandable

[pedroisaacs]

Thanks Brady, really informative. I now understand how the romans built the seige ramp at the siege of Massada. They intelaced tree branches between the soil layers which allowed them to build the ramp at a very steep angle.