Geo Synthetics in Pavement Overlays

Geotextiles play a significant part in modern pavement design and maintenance techniques.
The growth in their use worldwide for transportation applications in particular, has been
nothing short of phenomenal. The ASTM (1994) defines Geotextiles as permeable textile
materials used in contact with soil, rock, earth or any other geotechnical related material as an
integral part of civil engineering project, structure, or system.
Types of geotextiles
Based on their structure and the manufacturing technique, Geotextiles may be broadly
classified into woven and nonwoven.
Woven Geotextiles are manufactured by the interlacement of warp and weft yarns, which
may be of spun, multifilament, fibrillated or of slit film.
Nonwoven Geotextiles are manufactured through a process of mechanical interlocking or
thermal bonding of fibers/filaments. Mechanical interlocking of the fibers/filaments is
achieved through a process called needle punching. Needle-punched nonwoven Geotextiles
are best suited for a wide variety of civil engineering applications and are the most widely
used type of geotextile in the world. Interlocking of the fibers/filaments could also be
achieved through thermal bonding. Heat-bonded Geotextiles should be used with caution,
as they are not suitable for filtration applications or road stabilization applications over soft
soils.
Geotextiles Functions:
The mode of operation of a geotextile in any application is defined by six discrete functions:
separation, filtration, drainage, reinforcement, sealing and protection. Depending on the
application the geotextile performs one or more of these functions simultaneously.
Separation:
Separation is defined as, The introduction of a flexible porous textile placed between
dissimilar materials so that the integrity and the functioning of both the materials can remain
intact or be improved. In transportation applications separation refers to the Geotextiles role
in preventing the intermixing of two adjacent soils. For example, by separating fine subgrade
soil from the aggregates of the base course, the geotextile preserves the drainage and the
strength characteristics of the aggregate material. The effect of separation is illustrated in
figure 1.

Figure 1 Concept of separation Function

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. To perform this function the geotextile needs to
satisfy two conflicting requirements: the filters pore size must be small enough to retain fine
soil particles while the geotextile should permit relatively unimpeded flow of water into the
drainage media. A common application illustrating the filtration function is the use of a
geotextile in a pavement edge drain, as shown in figure 2.

Figure 2 Filtration and Transmissivity Functions

Drainage (Transmissivity):
This refers to the ability of thick nonwoven geotextile whose three-dimensional structure
provides an avenue for flow of water through the plane of the geotextile. Figure 2 also
illustrates the Transmissivity function of geotextile. Here the geotextile promotes a lateral
flow thereby dissipating the kinetic energy of the capillary rise of ground water.

Reinforcement:
This is the synergistic improvement in the total system strength created by the introduction of
a geotextile into a soil and developed primarily through the following three mechanisms:
One, lateral restraint through interfacial friction between geotextile and soil/aggregate. Two,
forcing the potential bearing surface failure plane to develop at alternate higher shear strength
surface. And three, membrane type of support of the wheel loads.
Sealing Function:
A nonwoven geotextile performs this function when impregnated with asphalt or other
polymeric mixes rendering it relatively impermeable to both cross-plane and in-plane flow.
The classic application of a geotextile as a liquid barrier is paved road rehabilitation, as
shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3 Sealing Function

Here the nonwoven 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.
Flexible Paved Road Construction
Geotextiles extend the service life of roads, increase their load-carrying capacity, and reduce
rutting. The effectiveness of Geotextiles in stabilization and separation roles with flexible
pavements has been extensively researched at Virginia Tech. The researchers found that for
weak subgrade (CBR = 2%) the geotextile extends the service life of a flexible pavement
section by a factor of 2.5 to 3.0 compared to a non-stabilized section. Further the research
found that a geotextile effectively increased the pavement sections total AASHTO structural
number by approximately 19 %.
Research on the effect of geotextile in pavement sections with moderate strengths (CBR = 4.2
to 4.5 %) found that the geotextile increased the service life of the pavement section by a
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factor of 2.0 to 3.3 and the AASHTO structural number increased by 13 to 22%. These
significant improvements are obtained primarily through the separation function of the
geotextile placed at the interphase of the base course aggregate and subgrade soil. Without a
separator geotextile, the aggregate layer becomes contaminated with fines from the subgrade.
This contamination leads to the development of a new soil-aggregate layer at the interface
whose strength is less than that of the aggregate layer. The loss of strength occurs because
granular aggregates (gravel, sand, etc.,) obtain their shear strength primarily through the
point-to-point contact of adjacent particles. As the volume of fines increases, the shear
strength of the aggregate mixture increases because the fines help to distribute shear stress.
However as the fine soil content further increases the stress is distributed primarily through
the soil fines, which have considerable lower strength. With geotextile acting as a separation /
filtration layer at the interphase of the subgrade and the drainage aggregate, the aggregate
base course layer is completely insulated from the soil fines, therefore the designed base
course properties are maintained throughout the life of the project. The system performance is
also improved through the secondary functions of drainage (the geotextile allowing excess
pore pressures to dissipate through the Transmissivity function) and the reinforcement
function of the geotextile.
Pavement Section Design:
The design of pavement sections incorporating Geotextiles can be performed using many of
the current design methodologies. The AASHTO (1986) design method is modified to
account for the contribution of geotextile and can be found in the FHWA publication
Geosynthetic Design and Construction Guidelines.
Geotextiles also play a major role in construction of paved roads over areas having high
ground water table. Drainage of water from pavements has always been an important
consideration in road design; however current methods of pavement design have resulted in
base courses that do not drain well. The problem has been compounded with the rise in the
water table. Water rises up into the base course through pore water pressures and through
capillary function leading to saturation of the base courses. Saturation of the base course
changes the dynamics of vertical stress distribution, and may allow transfer of traffic loads
directly to subgrade soil, eliminating the benefits of the structural layers leading to rapid
pavement distress. A pavement layer, which is saturated 10% of its time, will have its service
life reduced by as much as 50%. Thus eliminating saturation of the base course is a prudent
design objective.
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AASHTO also recognizes the harmful effects of water in the pavement structure. In the
AASHTO design method, the effective structural number (SNeff) of pavement base and
subbase materials, which drain well, is increased, whereas if materials drain poorly, the
effective structural number is decreased (AASHTO, 1993). While drainage factor for
excellent drainage can be 1.20, Drainage factor for poor drainage can be as low as 0.60. This
means by providing proper drainage the design strength of pavement base and sub-base
materials can be doubled.
Geotextile Requirement:
Selecting a geotextile for paved road depends upon the geotextile survivability. If a roadway
system is designed correctly, then the stress at the top of the subgrade due to the weight of the
aggregate and the traffic load is less than the bearing capacity of the subgrade plus a safety
factor. However the stresses applied to the subgrade and the geotextile during the
construction is much greater than that applied during service. Therefore, selection of the
geotextile in roadway applications is usually governed by the anticipated construction
stresses. The geotextile must survive the construction operations if it is to perform the
intended function of separation and filtration.
Pavement Overlays
Asphalt concrete pavement overlays can benefit from the use of paving fabric interlayer. The
documented field experience indicates to a number of positive benefits including:

Waterproofing of the lower layers, thereby maintaining higher material strengths.

Retarding reflection cracking in the overlay by acting as a stress absorbing membrane

interlayer.

Increase in structural stability by providing for more stable subgrade moisture

contents.

Paving fabrics can also be used in new pavements to provide the same benefits. If
fabric is added and the overlay thickness is not reduced from that determined by
normal methods, than an increase in performance can be obtained.

Capabilities of Paving Fabrics:

The inclusion of a nonwoven paving fabric interlayer system significantly improves the
performance of asphalt concrete overlays. This performance improvement is a result of both
the waterproofing capabilities and the stress absorption capabilities of the paving fabric
system.

Synthetic fabrics and stress-absorbing interlayer (SAMI) have been effective in controlling
low to medium severity alligator cracking. They may be also useful for controlling reflection
of temperature cracks when used in combination with crack filling. They generally do little,
however, to retard reflection of cracks subject to significant horizontal or vertical
movement.
Both laboratory and field pavement cores indicate that the presence of a properly installed
paving fabric interlayer reduces the permeability of a pavement by one to three orders of
magnitude. By reducing the infiltration of moisture the paving fabric maintains the strength
of the subgrade, subbase and base course, limiting damage due to saturated condition pore
pressures.
Properties of Paving Fabric:
Paving fabrics are nonwoven fabrics from grades ranging from 135 gm/m2 to 200 gm/m2. The
lighter fabrics when impregnated with asphalt primarily function as moisture barrier. Use of
heavier, nonwoven geotextiles provides cushioning or stress-relieving membrane benefits in
addition to moisture-barrier functions
Installation procedure:
The surface on which the paving fabric is to be placed should be free from dirt, water,
vegetation or other debris. Cracks are filled or repaired and tack coat typically ranging from 1
to 1.35 l/m2 of residual asphalt is applied evenly on the surface. The paving fabric is then laid
on the fabric lay down.
Drainage:
The removal of water is important to the success of many civil engineering problems. In
transportation applications, if the base course does not drain rapidly enough, stress from the
traffic loadings is transferred to the subgrade with little or no reduction, resulting in
accelerated road failure. The removal of water must be performed in a controlled fashion.
Otherwise, severe erosion, piping, or settlement of soils may result in undermining adjacent
structures. To accomplish this task the drainage system should fulfill two criteria:

Have maintained permeability by providing relatively unimpeded flow of water.

Filtration of base soil by preventing the migration of soil fines into the drain.

These criteria can be met by using several layers of specially graded aggregates. This often
proves to be extremely expensive requirement to meet. The same result can be achieved at a
fraction of the cost by using selected Geotextiles, which act as filters around the aggregate
drainage system. The introduction of geotextile lined drainage systems has enhanced the
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technical benefits and economical application of blanket and trench drains under and adjacent
to pavement structures. The excellent filtration and separation characteristics associated with
Geotextiles permits the use of a single layer of open graded aggregate base or trench
aggregate enveloped in a geotextile.
Geotextile Filter Design:
Designing with Geotextiles for filtration is essentially the same as designing with graded
filters. Based on the analogy to soil filter design criteria, the following design criteria for
Geotextiles is stated:

The geotextile must retain the soil fines (retention criterion), while Allowing a
relatively unimpeded flow of water (permeability criterion), throughout the life of the
structure (clogging resistance criterion).

To perform effectively, the geotextile must survive the installation process

(survivability criterion).

The idea of waterproofing pavements and slowing reflective crack propagation in new and
rehabilitated pavement structures has been around for years and can be seen in use today with
bituminous overlays, chip seals, crack sealing and the use of modified bitumen binders.
Geo-Textile pavement interlayer systems significantly increase the waterproofing benefits of
conventional seals, and add additional reinforcing and/or stress-absorbing features to
traditional reflective crack retardants.
Key features of Geosynthetics interlayer systems:

Reduces reflective cracking

Reduces subgrade moisture infiltration

Increases subgrade stability

Increases asphalt strength

Improves pavement strength

Geosynthetics textile pavement interlayer system solutions cost significantly less throughout
the life cycle of pavement than conventional bituminous overlays and surface treatments.
Their ease of use with climate specific bituminous binders and variety of strengths, widths,
and bitumen retentions make them practical in all areas of the country in both large highway
and small residential applications. They have proven performance when used over existing
bitumen and concrete pavements and under bituminous overlays and chip seals.

How Interlayer Work?

Reflective Crack Reduction interlayer reduce the number and dimensions of reflective
cracks in an overlay by creating a stress-absorbing layer at the tip of an existing crack
or by adding reinforcement and tensile strength at low strains to an asphalt overlay.

Moisture Barrier interlayer prevent water from entering the subgrade through the
pavement surface and cracks. This reduces the moisture content of the subgrade
which increases the stability of the subgrade and reduces cracking and other pavement
damage caused by wet subgrade conditions.

Fatigue Reduction Reinforcement interlayer reduce a pavements susceptibility to

cracking by increasing the pavements flexural strength at low strains.

Interlayer products can be milled and recycled.

Cracked pavements allow surface water to infiltrate into subgrade soils, weakening the
subgrade. A weak subgrade causes premature pavement failure. Asphalt overlays are often
used as preventive maintenance before or as rehabilitation after the damage has occurred.
Key benefits of textile pavement interlayer systems:
Provides a waterproof barrier for subgrade foundation soil protection.
Creates a stress relieving membrane between the existing pavement and asphalt overlay.
Retards the propagation of existing cracks through a new overlay (reflective crack control).
Extends the useful life of the overlay.
Applications:

Severe Climate Considerations: Freeze-thaw cycles cause expansion and contraction of

water within a pavement. Laboratory and field studies have shown that a thicker
interlayer may delay cracking longer than a thinner one in harsh environments.

Key benefits of textile pavement interlayer systems under chip seals:

Increases chip seal life by 60-100%
Prevents surface water infiltration
Allows wet subgrade to dry out and strengthen
Eliminates reflective cracking in chip seal
Increases chip retention
Reduces the frequency of maintenance rehabilitation
Reduces the effects of thermal expansion and contraction