As a bearing structure

the reinforced soil abutment has attracted much attention for its bearing capacity and its influencing factors. Taking the Bowman bridge as the engineering prototype

this paper studies the bearing capacity of the reinforced soil flexible abutment by the scale model test. In the experimental study

three groups of load tests of the reinforced soil flexible abutment were set up

which uses the geotextile as the reinforcement material. This paper mainly studies the influence of bridge base position on the bearing capacity of the abutment. Test results show that the setback is an important factor affecting the bearing capacity of the reinforced abutment

and that the bearing capacity increases with the setback

but the amount of increase is rapidly diminishing. The horizontal and vertical settlements at the top of the abutment decrease with the increase of the setback

and the decreasing trend shows convergence. With the increase of setback

the maximum strain of reinforcement decreases

and the overall stability of abutment is enhanced

showing better complex characteristics. In addition

the results of this experimental study also prove that the calculation method of bearing capacity of reinforced abutments in the current US regulations may be limited to specific packing and reinforcement arrangement. Therefore

it should be combined with actual conditions in engineering practice.