1) Mechanism and interaction with existing materials.

The basic function involved in addition of geo-synthetics into the pavement improves its
function and structure in many ways. Geo-synthetic materials can help the road in reinforcement
increase its capacity, can act as a sealant in road, helps in filtration process, drainage and in
separation of layers. Geo-synthetic materials can also benefit the pavement by stopping subgrade soil to get mix with aggregate of designed base or sub-base. So, in general geo-synthetics
can be very useful for pavement design, function and structure.
Reinforcement
For reinforcement geo-synthetic material layer is either introduced between base and sub-base or
between sub-base and sub-grade.

The following figure explains the loading condition of pavement is improved by the addition of
geo-synthetic reinforcement.
Addition of geo-synthetic material in road improves its strength by three different mechanism.

Lateral restrain
Increased bearing capacity
Tension membrane effect

Following mechanisms are explained as:

Lateral restrain:
Lateral restrain in the pavement is obtained due to friction between geosynthetic layer and the aggregate of the pavement. When pavement is under loading the
aggregate tends to move down because of loading but the due to introduction of geo-

synthetic material it saves the pavement from moving down laterally. Interaction between
aggregate and the geo-synthetic layer allows transferring the shear load on the base
aggregate due to loading to the tensile load in geo-synthetic. The friction and interlocking
function of geo-synthetic materials increases the strength of the pavement.
Increased bearing capacity:
Due to addition of geo-synthetic material alternative failure surface is
developed which tends to increases bearing capacity of the soil. The new failure plane is
developed is tend to increase the bearing capacity of the soil. By addition of geo-synthetic
layer in the pavement the punching failure changes into general failure.
Tension membrane effect:
Geo-synthetic material also act as tension member and support wheel load.
The membrane provides the vertical force/reaction to the applied wheel load. This vertical
support helps to reduce the load on the sub-grade because of loading.
Separation:
In many cases fines from under laying sub-grade can enter the base layer
and disturb the existing profile. Contamination of base layer can reduce the efficiency of
pavement in many ways. It may reduce the strength of the pavement or the stiffness of pavement
may suffer. Different studies have shown that up to 6% fines will not affect the road.
Containment due to fines can also cause frost heaving in the base layer. The addition of geosynthetic layer between base and sub-grade will save the base layer on the time of construction
also at the time of functioning of the road. A properly designed separator can help base coarse to
remain clean so that it will work properly in terms of strength and drainage.
Unlike reinforcement strength and modulus of geo-synthetic material is important
for survival of the material. The addition of separator seem to improve the strength of the base
and helps to continue as load carrying part but the separator will not contribute to the structural
support just like in reinforcement.
Filtration:
When geo-synthetic layer act as a filtration material it filter out fines fine which
are present in pore water. As water flows from sub-grade to base the filtration mechanism does
not allow fines to travel through and contaminate the base. When the traffic move, due to loading
pore water pressure is generated which and thus water due to pressure starts flowing upward
carrying the fines with it. So the basic function of geo-synthetic material to the filter the fines
without getting clogged. The best filter in geo-synthetic found by studies is heavy woven geotextile. The passage of fine and the functioning of filter mainly depend upon the size of opening
of the geo-textile.

 Drainage:
In proper drainage can decrease the life of the road. If same road is properly
designed for drainage then its life may extent up to two or three time which is much
significant. This shows the importance of well designed drainage in pavement
construction. By adding geo-synthetic for drainage it acts as a medium to transfers the
water to edges of the pavement. In addition to this, geo-synthetic especially geocomposites also help to mitigate frost heaving in soils which are prone to frosting.

2) Construction requirements:
According to MRT-S58 the construction requirements are as under:
The surface or the sub-grade on which the geo-synthetic layer is laid
should be clean and uniform so that it can function properly. Now the layer is laid and
should be uniform and clean and free from wrinkles. The geo-synthetic layer shall overlap
for 300mm minimum in the longitudinal direction. If the sub-grade layer is soft, greater
overlap is required. In some cases geo-synthetic material is joined with ties and cable so that
it may not lose its shape or orientation due to presence of softer under laying sub-grade.
Before place the layer the layer should be examined properly so that any fault or damage in
that it should be replaced because it will not allow the geo-synthetic layer to work properly.
The geo-synthetic section shall not overlap during construction. The track construction
equipment which is generally used shall not be used for geo-synthetic pavement
construction. Any deformation or rutting occurs during placing and fill shall be addressed
quickly. The recommended value for overlap of woven textile is 1000 mm in all direction
specified by MRTS 58.
Moreover the
synthetic material.

cost is also an important issue to address during use of geo-

3) Test:
Assessment of geo-synthetic materials is based on field test, laboratory test and
numerical simulations. Laboratory test are cheaper than field investigation and can be
done in controlled conditions but achieving the actual behavior of pavement by laboratory
testing is a difficult task. Finally numerical based calculation will be done to testify the
results by both test methods.
Field test:

Field tests are performed on actual roadways. Field test is very time consuming
process as we have to gather actual information. In flexible pavements two main failures of the
road are to be examined cracking and surface deflection. Cracking include longitudinal cracking,
transverse cracking as well as fatigue. Surface deflection is the most common criteria for
measuring the ability of the road.
Deflection measurement is usually done by non-destructive testing. The most
widely used device for surface deflection is Falling Weight Deflectometer. In this method series
of impulses are applied on the pavement using trailer mounted device. Loading plate is lowered
hydraulically to the pavement surface and then impulse is applied to the pavement by dropping
weight from the known height onto the loading plate. Then magnitude and the amount of
deflection is measured which gives the result of the deflection compared to known impulse.
Other equipment used for measuring surface cracking is rolling Dynamic
Deflectometer. It performs continuous deflecting measurements than discrete. Hence results
obtained by this are more accurate and actual.
Laboratory test:
There are number of laboratory tests to measure the performance of geo-synthetic
reinforcement in flexible pavements. Two main tests are performed to measure the performance
of pavement are:
Unconfined test
Confined test
Moreover field conditions are to be adopted for better results. In unconfined test
geo-synthetic properties are measured in air while in confined test properties are measured in
confinement of soil.

Unconfined test:
As mentioned earlier unconfined test performed on geo-synthetic material in
isolation. These tests are easy to run and require less period of time as compared to field
tests. For knowing the performance of reinforcement in pavement unconfined tests include
wide-width tensile test, biaxial loading test, junction efficiency test and torsional rigidity
test. Wide-width tensile test can be performed on any type of geo-material while other tests
are only specified for geo-grids. Tensile test is considered to be most important when geosynthetic material is used as reinforcement in pavement construction.
The geo-synthetic behavior observed in laboratory is from unconfined test is then
compared and correlated with field test which have different loading and boundary

condition. It is very difficult to replicate actual field conditions in laboratory testing so

unconfined test are only used for index parameters rather than actual design properties for
reinforcement.
Confined test:
Geo-synthetic reinforcement which is used under base and is subjected to traffic
loading comes under confinement. To study its behavior unconfined tests are not applicable.
Geo-synthetic soil confinement does not only depend upon physical structure and properties
of geo-synthetic material but also on the properties of soil as well as interaction between soil
and geo-synthetic material. There are number of test performed for measuring the strength
and behavior of geo-synthetic material out of which most common used laboratory tests are
cyclic plate load test, cyclic pullout test, bending stiffness test and modified pavement
analyzer test.
Overall confined test results and approaches is considered to be more appropriate
and better but they are very time consuming and expensive in comparison with unconfined
tests. However there are other draw backs like cost and time is that they need special
equipment and requirement for the performance.
Numerical studies:
Design of flexible pavement with geo-synthetic reinforcement involves many
aspects for its strength and performance. Most important of them is the interaction between
different materials used in construction of pavement. These materials are asphalt, base, subbase and sub-grade. The most important of which is addition of geo-synthetic material and
its interaction with others materials. Numerical studies do not gives the actual information
on the road profile it just gives us the empirical results due to limitations of parameters and
unavailability of tools to make a real time situation. The most commonly tests method are
FEM (finite element method) and DEM (discrete element method).
Several studies are done to examine the behavior of geo-synthetic reinforcement
using finite element method. The empirical data is collected through the method and then
compared laboratory and field tests. Results obtained by FEM are generally in the form of
surface deformation. The surface deformation of unreinforced and reinforced pavement is
compared which gives us the performance of geo-synthetic material used for reinforcement.
DEM is used to access the interlocking of geo-synthetic material with base course
material. By this mechanism the load transfer performance and interlocking characteristics
and deformation behavior is examined.

4) Design approach:
Following are the steps to be considered when using geo-synthetic material in
road pavement
Berg et al. (2002) proposed following steps to design the pavement using geo-synthetic
reinforcement

5)
6)
7)
8)

Step.1 : Initial assessment to check technology is applicable or not

Step. 2 : Design of un-reinforcement pavement
Step. 3 : To check the qualitative benefits of reinforcement
Step. 4 : To check the quantitative benefits of reinforcement
Step. 5 : Design of pavement using benefits defined in above steps
Step. 6 : Analysis of life cycle cost
Step. 7 : Development of project specifications
Step. 8 : Development of construction drawings and bid documents
Step. 9 : Construction of the roadway

Specifications of geo-materials.
Tests required to meet the specifications.
Considerations used for construction.
Design and selection type of geo-materials
9) Precautions during construction stage