Exploratory works in cuttings of Prizren – Suhareke section (Section 3) of Morine–Merdare Motorway showed that the properties of material do not fulfill the required criteria without additional treatment, and that deep excavations in such materials will cause slope instabilities. For this reason the adopted vertical route alignment resulted in grade line elevation with the highest embankment height 19 m.
Faced with short construction deadlines a stone material embankment was designed with the intention to complete settling during construction works. A part of the consolidation settlement of the foundation soil was solved by replacement of material, while the consequences of the remaining settlement which will take place over a longer time period, will be treated within the motorway maintenance.
The problem arose when the contractor faced a shortage of stone material during construction and with already completed structures on the subject motorway part.
A solution for the embankment construction had to enable the embankment trunk or embankment body to settle during construction, at the same time keeping the already designed embankment geometry and the slopes resistant to the 100–year floods.
The embankment was designed and constructed with a combination of materials selected from cuts on the route (materials categories B and C) which were placed in layers with load bearing polycarbonate grids placed in between. Finishing parts of every layer on the slope are made of stone material.

motorway, embankment, construction, consolidation, settlement