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In December 1998, the Freyssinet
Group acquired TAI. This purchase is part of Freyssinet's development
strategy in the field of the specialised engineering work and
structures, such as retaining walls and foundations, which are
TAI's core activities.
The Freyssinet and TAI networks complement each other perfectly,
as do their respective products, services, processes and expertise.
This new Group
has companies in more than 40 countries on every continent. These
organizations have considerable autonomy in their management and
decision making and are able to adapt to local conditions as well
as gaining the required insight into the techical and geotechnical
conditions that are specific to each country.
The reserch work
carried out by TAI not only made it possible to prove the many
advantages of its Reinforced Earth technology but also enabled
TAI to accumulate a wealth of data concerning the behaviour of
this unique material since its invention by Henri Vidal. Reinforced
Earth structures can, therefore, be considered one of the greatest
innovations in the geotechnical engineering field, from which
has evolved the Mechanically Stabilised Earth (MSE) industry.
MSE system are
now recognised and recommended in most major civil engineering
works. Codes and standards have been developed for MSE structures
in the leading industrial countries, in which TAI has been a major
contributor.
TAI has developed
a number of application MSE Reinforced Earth structures materials,
generally based on the use of "High Adherence" steel
strip earth reinforcement, including :
TerraClass, the
classical precast concrete panel facing system
TerraMet, the simple metallic facing system
TerraTrel, the wire mesh facing system
TerraVert, the 'green' concrete facing system
TerraMid, the modular block faced system
Freyssinet have
developed the Freyssisol MSE system (formerly Websol), which combines
precast concrete panels with 'GeoStrap®', high tenacity, polyester
based strip reinforcement. It has particular application in aggressive
earth conditions. This system has been applied to a wide range
of applications over a period of 20 years.
TAI has also developed
related technologies, include a prefabricated arch system, TechSpan,
which is a three pinned concrete arch, optimized in shape for
each project to minimize cost and designed using Finite Element
Methods to maximize the soil-structure interaction behavior of
the system.
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