Acknowledgement

Its indeed my immense pleasure to wish my deep sense of gratitude to our teaching
faculty who relentlessly tried to get the best out of me. It is because of their valuable
guidance and continuous encouragement without which this milestone would not have been a
success.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Prof. S.S. Patil H.O.D. of Civil Engineering
For his excellent guidance and cooperation throughout.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Prof. Ashok Kumar Rajanavar,
Prof.M.G. Kalyanshetti for excellent guidance and encouragement throughout the project.
Finally, I would like to express my heart-felt gratitude to my parents, friends and
Faculty of the department who have helped us either directly or indirectly for Successful
completion of this project.

Contents
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Paper on Applications of Geosynthetics in Road Construction

1.

INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................................4

2.

GEOSYNTHETICS............................................................................................................5
2.1 Functions of geosynthetics...............................................................................................5
2.1.1 Separation:.................................................................................................................5
2.1.2 Filtration:...................................................................................................................6
2.1.3Reinforcement.............................................................................................................6
2.1.4Drainage:.....................................................................................................................6
2.1.5 Erosion control:..........................................................................................................6
2.1.6 Barrier (Sealing) Function:........................................................................................6
2.2 Economic importance of geosynthetics............................................................................7
2.3 Environmental importance of geotextile..........................................................................7
2.4 Standards of geosynthetics...............................................................................................7
2.5 BIS/IRC/RDSO STANDARDS ON GEOSYNTHETICS...............................................7
2.6ADVANTAGES OF GEOSYNTHETICS.........................................................................8

3.

Types of Geosynthetics and their applications....................................................................9

3.1 Geotextile.........................................................................................................................9
3.1.1 Types of geotextile.....................................................................................................9
3.1.2 Applications of geotextile..........................................................................................9
3.2 Geogrids...........................................................................................................................9
3.2.1 Types of Geogrids....................................................................................................10
3.2.2 Applications of Geogrids in Roads & highways......................................................10
3.3 Geonet.............................................................................................................................10
3.3.1 Uses and Applications of geonet.............................................................................10
3.4 Geocells..........................................................................................................................10
3.4.1 Application...............................................................................................................11
3.5 Geocomposite.................................................................................................................11
3.6. Geomembrane................................................................................................................11
3.6.1 Applications of geomembrane.................................................................................11
3.7 Geosynthetic Clay Liner.................................................................................................11
3.7.1 Applications of geosynthetic clay liner....................................................................11
3.8 Geofoam.........................................................................................................................12
3.8.1 Applications of Geofoams.......................................................................................12

4.DISADVANTAGES OF GEOSYNTHETICS......................................................................12
5. CONCLUSION....................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES.........................................................................................................................12
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Paper on Applications of Geosynthetics in Road Construction

1. INTRODUCTION
A typical flexible pavement system includes four distinct layers: asphalt concrete,
base course, sub base, and sub grade (Fig. 1). The surface layer is typically asphalt concrete,
which is a bituminous hot-mix Aggregate obtained from distillation of crude petroleum. The
asphalt concrete is underlain by a layer of base course,
typically consisting of 0.2 m to 0.3 m of unbound coarse
aggregate. An optional subbase layer, which generally
involves lower quality crushed aggregate, can be placed
under the base course in order to reduce costs or to minimize
capillary action under the pavement.Pavement distress may
occur due to either traffic or environmental loads. Traffic
loads result from the repetition of wheel loads, which can
cause either structural or functional failure. Environmental loads are induced by climatic
conditions, such as variations in temperature or moisture in the subgrade, which can cause
surface irregularities and structural distress. Cycles of wetting and drying (or freezing and
thawing) may cause the breakdown of base course material. Construction practices also affect
pavement performance. For example, the use of aggregates with excessive fines may lead to
rapid pavement deterioration. Finally, pavement distress is also a function of maintenance or,
more correctly, lack of maintenance (Yoder and Witczak 1975). For example, sealing cracks
and joints at proper intervals and maintaining the shoulders improve pavement performance.
The various distress mechanisms induced by traffic and environmental loads can be enhanced
through the use of geosynthetics, as discussed next.
Necessity
A large variety of detrimental factors affect the service life of roads and pavements
including environmental factors, subgrade conditions, traffic loading, utility cuts, road
widening, and aging. These factors contribute to an equally wide variety of pavement
conditions and problems which must be addressed in the maintenance or rehabilitation of the
pavements, if not dealt with during initial construction. Pavement maintenance treatments are
often ineffective and short lived due to their inability to both treat the cause of the problems
and renew the existing pavement condition. The main cause of distress in pavements is that
they are quite permeable with 30 to 50% of precipitation surface water infiltrating through the
pavement, softening and weakening the pavement subgrade and base, accelerating pavement
degradation. Existing pavement distress such as surface cracks, rocking joints, and subgrade
failures cause the rapid reflection of cracking up through the maintenance treatment.
Therefore, the preferred strategy for long-term road and pavement performance is to
build in safeguards during initial construction. These performance safeguards include
stabilizing the subgrade against moisture intrusion and associated weakening; strengthening
road base aggregate without preventing efficient drainage of infiltrated water; and, as a last
resort, enhancing the stress absorption and moisture-proofing capabilities of selected
maintenance treatments. Geosynthetics are the most cost effective tools for roads
safeguarding and pavements in these ways.
The four main applications for geosynthetics in roads are subgrade separation and
stabilization, base reinforcement, overlay stress absorption, and overlay reinforcement.
Geosynthetics are also helpful in rehabilitating distressed road surfaces. The
application of a layer of asphalt concrete called an overlay is often the solution for damaged
pavement.

Paper on Applications of Geosynthetics in Road Construction

Geosynthetics can be used as interlayer by placing them below or within the overlay.
Some geosynthetics relieve stress and others are able to reinforce the overlay. The products
may also provide a moisture barrier.

2. GEOSYNTHETICS
Geo-synthetics are synthetic products, where at least one of the components is made
from a synthetic or natural polymer, in the form of a sheet, a strip or a three dimensional
structure, non-woven, knitted, or woven which is used in contact with soil/rock and/or other
materials in geotechnical and civil engineering applications.
Geosynthetics are an established family of geomaterials used in a wide variety of civil
Engineering applications. Many polymers (plastics) common to everyday life are found in
Geosynthetics. The most common are polyolefin and polyester; although rubber,
Fibreglass and natural materials are sometimes used. Geosynthetics may be used to function
as a separator, filter, planar drain, reinforcement, cushion/protection, and/or as a liquid and
gas barrier. The various types of geosynthetics available, along with their specific
applications, are discussed in subsequent sections.
2.1 Functions of geosynthetics
Geosynthetics include a variety of synthetic polymer materials that are specially fabricated to
be used in geotechnical, geo-environmental, hydraulic and transportation engineering
applications. It is convenient to identify the primary function of a geo-synthetic as being one
of
separation
filtration
drainage
reinforcement
fluid/gas containment
erosion control
In some cases the geo-synthetic may
serve dual functions.

2.1.1 Separation:
The geo-synthetic acts to
separate two layers of soil that have
different particle size distributions.
When stone aggregates are
placed over a subgrade consisting of
fine aggregates in
In flexible pavement, there
are two possible mechanisms that can
take place. One is that fine soil
attempts to enter into the voids of
stone aggregate, thereby ruining its
drainage capability; the other is that the stone aggregates attempts to intrude into the fine soil,
thereby deteriorating the stone aggregate strength. This would diminish the performance of
the aggregates as well as the subgrade layer. However, with the use of geotextile between
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Paper on Applications of Geosynthetics in Road Construction

these two layers will avoid these mechanisms, leading to satisfactory performance of both
the stone aggregates and subgrade layer.

2.1.2 Filtration:
It is defined as the equilibrium geotextile- to-soil system that allows for adequate
liquid flow with limited soil loss across the plane of the geotextile over a service lifetime
compatible with the application under consideration. The geosynthetics acts similar to a sand
filter by allowing water to move through the soil while retaining all upstream soil particles.
The geotextile must also have the strength and durability to survive construction and
long-term conditions for the design life of the drain. Additionally, construction methods
have a critical influence on geotextile drain performance. Figure explains the filtration
function of geotextile.

2.1.3Reinforcement
The geosynthetics acts as a
reinforcement element within a soil
mass or in combination with the soil to
produce a composite that has improved
strength and deformation properties
over the unreinforced soil.
Reinforcement enables embankments to
be constructed over very soft foundations and to build embankment side slopes at steeper
angles that would be impossible with unreinforced soil. Geosynthetics (usually georgics)
have also been used to bridge over voids that may develop below load bearing granular layers
(roads and railways) or below cover systems in landfill applications.
Low strength fine grained silt and clay are good in compression but poor in tension. In
Such case, geotextile materials which are good in tension can recover the deficiency of low
strength soil.

2.1.4Drainage:
The geosynthetics acts as a drain to carry fluid flows through less permeable soils. For
example, geotextile are used to dissipate pore water pressures at the base of roadway
embankments. For higher flows, geocomposite drains have been developed. These materials
Have been used as pavement edge drains, slope interceptor drains, and abutment and
retaining wall drains. Prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) have been used to accelerate
consolidation of soft cohesive foundation soils below embankments and preload fills.

2.1.5 Erosion control:

The geosynthetics acts to reduce soil erosion caused by rainfall impact and surface
water runoff. For example, temporary geosynthetics blankets and permanent lightweight
geosynthetics mats are placed over the otherwise exposed soil surface on slopes. Geotextile
silt fences are used to remove suspended particles from sediment-laden runoff water. Some
erosion control mats are manufactured using biodegradable wood fibres.

Paper on Applications of Geosynthetics in Road Construction

2.1.6 Barrier (Sealing) Function:

A geotextile performs this function when impregnated with asphalt or other polymeric
mixes rendering it relatively impermeable to both cross-plane and in- plane flow. In this
function geotextile is placed on the existing pavement surface following the application of an
asphalt tack coat. The geotextile absorbs asphalt to become a waterproofing membrane
minimizing vertical flow of water into the pavement structure.
For example, geomembranes, thin film geotextile composites, geosynthetics clay
liners (GCLs) and field-coated geotextile are used as fluid barriers to impede flow of liquid or
gas.
2.2 Economic importance of geosynthetics
These are commonly accepted as durable, long lasting and environmentally safe
Solutions to geotechnical engineering projects.
The cost of geo-synthetics applied usually between 3 to 5 per cent of the total cost of
projects.
For a number of projects, savings of 30 per cent in total project costs have been
reported.
Minimizes the regular repair and maintenance costs directly.
Prevent accidents, increase efficiency of structures, minimizes pollution and leads to
efficient use of natural resources.
2.3 Environmental importance of geotextile
The civil engineering structures need to have long term durability to prevent potential
ecological disasters (floods, draughts, earthquakes, global warming). Geosynthetics
provide such long lasting solutions with minimum cost.
Geo-techs are difficult or impossible to degrade. However, in view of their inert
nature they can be disposed off without the danger of contamination.
Geosynthetics assist the environment by acting as a containing barrier for toxic
materials.
The envisaged functional lifetime of geosynthetics is extremely long, in many cases
over 100 years.
Geosynthetics provide sealing and capping of pollution due to chemicals released
after road and rail accidents into groundwater areas.
2.4 Standards of geosynthetics
American Society for Testing and Materials Standards (ASTM)
International Organization for Standardization standards (ISO/TC221)
Bureau of Indian standards (BIS)
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials standards
(AASHTO)
Federal Highway Administration standards (FHWA)
Nordic guidelines
British Standards
International Geosynthetics Society
standards (IGS)

Paper on Applications of Geosynthetics in Road Construction

Geosynthetics Research Institute (GRI)

Geosynthetics Materials Association (GMA)
US Provincial standards
Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI)
Geo-synthetic
International Erosion Control Association (IECA)
European Center For Standardization (CEN)

2.5 BIS/IRC/RDSO STANDARDS ON GEOSYNTHETICS

BIS standards mainly on test methods, jute & coir geotextile, PVC / HDPE
geomembranes for waterproof lining (IS 14715:2000; IS 14986:2001; IS 15869:2008;
IS 15871:2009;IS 15909:2010; and IS 15910:2010 Geosynthetics for highways)
Standards activity in IRC/RDSO is not universally acceptable and needs drastic
changes to include all stakeholders.
2.6ADVANTAGES OF GEOSYNTHETICS
Geosynthetics, including geotextile, geomembranes, geonets, geocomposites and
geosynthetics clay liners, often used in combination with conventional materials, offer the
following advantages over traditional materials:
Space Savings
Material Quality Control
Construction Quality Control
Cost Savings
Technical Superiority
Construction Timing
Material Deployment
Material Availability
Environmental Sensitivity

Paper on Applications of Geosynthetics in Road Construction

3. Types of Geosynthetics and their applications

Geosynthetics are, used in a wide variety of applications for infrastructure projects like
Roads, River & Sea Bank Protection, Canal Lining, Landfills, Airport taxiways etc.
In broad terms there are around 9 categories of Geosynthetics as follows: Geotextile
Geogrids
Geonets
Geocells
Geomembranes
Geocomposites
Geofoam
Geosynthetic clay liners
3.1 Geotextile
As we know, the prefix of geotextile, geo, means earth and the textile means fabric.
Therefore, according to the definition of ASTM 4439, the geotextile is defined as follows:
"A permeable geosynthetics comprised solely of textiles. Geotextile are used with
foundation, soil, rock, earth, or any other geotechnical engineering-related material as an
integral part of human-made project, structure, or system."

3.1.1 Types of geotextile

In general, the vast majority of geotextile are made from polypropylene or polyester formed
into fabrics as follows:
Woven monofilament
Woven multifilament
Woven slit-film monofilament
Woven slit-film multifilament
Nonwoven continuous filament heat bonded
Nonwoven continuous filament needle-punched
Nonwoven staple needle-punched
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Paper on Applications of Geosynthetics in Road Construction

Nonwoven resin bonded

Other woven and nonwoven combinations
Knitted

3.1.2 Applications of geotextile

The basic principles of incorporating geotextile into a soil mass are the same as those
utilized in the design of reinforced concrete by incorporating steel bars. The fabrics are used
to provide tensile strength in the earth mass in locations where shear stress would
be generated. Moreover, to allow rapid dewatering of the roadbed, the geotextile need to
preserve its permeability without losing its separating functions. Its filtration characteristics
Must not be significally altered by mechanical loading.
Geotextile perform the filter mechanism for drainages in earth dams, in roads and
highways, in reservoirs, behind retaining walls, deep drainage trenches and agriculture.
3.2 Geogrids
A Geogrids is geosynthetics material used to reinforce soils and similar materials.
Geogrids are commonly used to reinforce retaining walls, as well as sub bases or sub soils
below roads or structures. Soils pull apart under tension. Compared to soil, georgics are
strong in tension. This fact allows them to transfer forces to a larger area of soil than would
otherwise be the case.

3.2.1 Types of Geogrids

Biaxial Geogrids - roads
Uniaxial Geogrids - wall/slope applications
TriAx Geogrids - advanced systems solution for lower cost, increased reliability and
longevity for paved and unpaved applications.

Fig.4.3 Geogrid

FIG.4.4 a mechanically stabilized layer (MSL)

3.2.2 Applications of Geogrids in Roads & highways

Geogrids are a proven solution for pavement
reinforcement on road and highway projects and
greatly extend the lifespan of the pavement. Geogrids
reduce pavement thickness by up to a third without
impacting performance, which lowers installation
and maintenance costs. The system can be deployed
quickly, making it ideal for building temporary
access roads over soft ground or for heavy vehicle
loads.
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Paper on Applications of Geosynthetics in Road Construction

3.3 Geonet
A geonet is a geosynthetics material consisting of integrally connected parallel sets of
ribs overlying similar sets at various angles for in-plane drainage of liquids or gases. Geonets
are often laminated with geotextile on one or both surfaces and are then referred to as
drainage geocomposites. They are competitive with other drainage geocomposites having
different core configurations.

3.3.1 Uses and Applications of geonet

They are frequently bonded with one or two layers of geofabric on each side (and are
therefore often referred to as drainage geocomposites) or can be used sandwiched between
two geomembranes. The geofabrics/membranes stop the soil clogging the grid-like openings
and reducing the drainage performance. Geonets can also be used as wall, slope or roof
drainage systems, under structures such as embankments and roads to drain away
groundwater and contribute to stability of the structure and resistance to frost.
3.4 Geocells
Cellular Confinement Systems are popularly known as Geocells. Geocells are
strong, lightweight, three dimensional systems fabricated from ultrasonicallywelded High
Density Polyethylene (HDPE) strips that are expandable onsite to form a honeycomblike
structure (Fig. 1).Geocells are filled with compact noncohesive soils which are confined
within the cellular walls. The composite forms a rigid to semirigid structure. The depth of
the geocells as well as the size of each cellular unit can vary as per design requirements

3.4.1 Application
. Geocells in filled with sand / metal as subgrade improves the strength of the
pavement, reducing settlements, formation of reflective crack and potholes. Besides, use of
geocells not only reduces the thickness of the pavement section but also significantly reduces
downtime due to maintenance.
3.5 Geocomposite
Several moisture barrier configurations have been investigated and used in
geotechnical and geo-environmental projects. For example, an unsaturated drainage layer
(UDL), such as sand, placed over a coarse-grained soil, such as gravel, is commonly used in
landfill applications, whereas a geo-composite section, composed of a geotextile placed over
a geonet, is commonly used in roadway applications.
3.6. Geomembrane
A geomembrane is very low permeability synthetic membrane liner or barrier used
with any geotechnical engineering related material so as to control fluid (or gas) migration in
a human-made project, structure, or system. Geomembranes are made from relatively thin
continuous polymeric sheets, but they can also be made from the impregnation of
geotextiles with asphalt, elastomer or polymer sprays, or as multilayered bitumen
geocomposites. Continuous polymer sheet geomembranes are, by far, the most common.

3.6.1 Applications of geomembrane

To control expansive soils

To prevent infiltration of water in sensitive areas
Beneath highways to prevent pollution from deicing salts
Beneath and adjacent to highways to capture hazardous liquid spills
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Paper on Applications of Geosynthetics in Road Construction

Beneath asphalt overlays as a waterproofing layer

3.7 Geosynthetic Clay Liner
A Geosynthetic Clay Liner (GCL) is a woven fabric-like material, primarily used for
the lining of landfills. It is a kind of geomembrane and geosynthetic, which incorporates
a bentonite or other clay, which has a very low hydraulic conductivity. The resulting lower
permeability slows the rate of seepage out of the landfill. Due to environmental laws, any
seepage from landfills must be collected and properly disposed off, otherwise contamination
of the surrounding ground water could cause major environmental and/or ecological
problems. The lower the hydraulic conductivity the more effective the GCL will be at
retaining seepage inside of the landfill. Bentonite composed predominantly (>70%)
of Montmorillonite or other expansive clays, are preferred and most commonly used in
GCLs. A general GCL construction would consist of two layers of geosynthetics stitched
together enclosing a layer of processed sodium bentonite. Typically, woven and/or nonwoven textile geosynthetics are used, however polyethylene or geomembrane layers or
geogrid geotextiles materials have also been incorporated into the design or in place of a
textile layer to increase strength.GCLs are produced by several large companies in North
America, Europe, and Asia. The United States Environmental Protection Agency currently
regulates landfill construction and design in the US through several legislations.

3.7.1 Applications of geosynthetic clay liner

The engineering function of a GCL is containment as a hydraulic barrier to
water, leachate or other liquids and sometimes gases. As such, they are used as replacements
for either compacted clay liners or geomembranes, or they are used in a composite manner to
augment the more traditional liner materials. The ultimate in liner security is probably a three
component composite geomembrane/geosynthetic clay liner/compacted clay liner which has
seen use as a landfill liner on many occasions.
3.8 Geofoam
Expanded polystyrene (EPS) is a very common product that is widely used for
packaging and in building construction. Manufacturing of EPS blocks begins with
expandable polystyrene resin beads that are generally less than 3 mm in diameter and contain
microscopic cells filled with a blowing agent. The usual blowing agents are pentanes or
butanes and constitute about 5 percent of the bead weight. When exposed to steam under
controlled pressure, the cell walls soften and the blowing agent expands. Individual resin
beads enlarge by up to 40 times in volume to form pre-puffs. After a holding period to allow
stabilization at at room temperature, the pre-puffs are poured to fill a recangular molding box.
All six sides of the mold are fixed and more steam is injected through small perforations
along the confining walls. The pre-puff in the molding box further expand and fuse to form a
block. Geofoam blocks should be manufactured using modified beads that contain fire
retardant additives. An EPS molder (manufacturer) can produce blocks of a standard size that
is characteristic for the molding equipment at the plant. The range of block dimensions that
can be manufactured in different plants are the following:.

3.8.1 Applications of Geofoams

1 Road construction over poor soils
2 Road widening
3 Airport runway/taxiway
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4.DISADVANTAGES OF GEOSYNTHETICS

The exposed lifetime of geosynthetics, being polymeric, is less than unexposed as

when they are soil backfilled.
Clogging of geotextiles, geonets, geopipe and/or geocomposites is a challenging
design for certain soil types or unusual situations. For example, loess soils, fine
cohesionless silts, highly turbid liquids, and microorganism laden liquids (farm
runoff) are troublesome and generally require specialized testing evaluations.
Handling, storage, and installation must be assured by careful quality control and
quality assurance about which much has been written.

5. CONCLUSION
Geosynthetics have great potential to be used as cost-effective solutions for several
engineering problems. This paper presents recent advances in geosynthetic products, on the
utilization of these materials in road construction.Therefore, the expectation is that
innovations in products, types and properties will continue to take place, adding to the
already vast range of applications of these materials.

REFERENCES
1.
2.
3.
4.

Earth Reinforcement and Soil Structures, Colin J F P Jones

en.wikipedia.org
www.civil.utah.edu
Jorge G. Zornberg(2011) Advances in the Use of Geosynthetics
in Pavement Design. Geosynthetics India11
5. Handbook of Geosynthetics(January 2002)

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