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The use of natural geotextiles in reinforcing the Unpaved roads

Conference Paper · January 2015

DOI: 10.13140/2.1.1079.3287

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 The 6th International Geotechnical Symposium on Disaster Mitigation in Special Geoenvironmental Conditions
Chennai, India, January 21-23, 2015

THE USE OF NATURAL GEOTEXTILES IN REINFORCING THE

UNPAVED ROADS

Nithin S
K Rajagopal
A Veeraragavan
Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai – 600 036.
[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

ABSTRACT:The performance of unpaved and paved roads are improved with the inclusion of the geosynthetics. Many
design procedures are developed to quantify the improvement and cost effectiveness. High cost of geosynthetics and
unavailability of product makes the synthetic geotextile an overburden for the rural economy. The environmental impacts
and disposal difficulties of the geosynthetics enforces for an alternative nature product, which is readily available and cost
effective too. In this paper, the effect and advantages of natural geotextiles in reinforcing the subgrade of unpaved roads
for improved performance will be discussed.

1 INTRODUCTION effectiveness of usage of these natural geotextile

products in reinforcing the unpaved roads.
Substantial portion of Indian road network comprise of
rural roads. The state of these roads defines the rural 2 MECHANISM OF GEOSYNTHETICS IN
population’s life quality. As per the World Bank report, REINFORCING SUBGRADE
in the year of 2011, it is estimated that 46.2 percent of
total road network are unpaved roads. Unpaved roads The improvement in the performance of the unpaved
are structurally supported by layer of sand or base roads using geosynthetics are due to the functions like
aggregate placed over the subgrade without a separation, filtration, drainage and reinforcement action
bituminous wearing course. The major issues related to of the geosynthetics. The migration of fine particles
the rural roads are, most of them are constructed in from the subgrade into the base course causing the
weak subgrade. Even though the traffic flow is low, the deterioration of the quality of the base course resulting
proximity of these roads to the agricultural field, poor the performance of the road. Geotextiles can be used as
drainage system and infiltration of rain water through a separator as well as a filtrate to restrict the movement
comparatively porous surface finish, softens the of the soil particles from the subgrade to the adjacent
subgrade which causes large deformation/ rutting along base coarse. The function of geotextile as separator, it
the wheel paths. The loss of macadam into the soft must survive the construction procedure. The
subgrade through mud pumping will reduces the serviceability of the geotextile products during
necessary minimum thickness of sub base/ base course construction depends upon the subgrade condition,
layer accelerating the rutting phenomenon. quality of the base coarse material and the construction
equipment. The influence of geotextile as filtrate
The pavement performance of both paved and unpaved depends upon the parameter called permittivity and
roads can be improved with the inclusion of transmittivity. Permittivity evaluates the rate of water
geosynthetics. It is a quicker and easier solutions flow through the geotextile perpendicular to the plane
compared to traditional alternatives due to the ease of of geotextile while the later evaluated the rate of water
installation. Unavailability, high cost of geosynthetics, flow inplane to the geotextile. For retaining the fine
and stringent environmental protection requirement aggregate the Apparent Opening size of the geotextile
make it important to explore alternative natural
products to make the constructions cost efficient and
eco-friendly.
Geotextile
Many efforts are done to utilize the geotextile made
from natural fibers readily available in Indian sub-
continent for reinforcing the unpaved roads. India and
Srilanka shares the 90% of the world’s production of
coir and India is the largest jute producing country in Fig 1. The mechanism of geotextile as a separator to
the world. The usage of these materials can bring down reduce the mud pumping shown. (a) Unreinforced
the cost. This paper gives an overview of the and (b) reinforced (TencateMirafi, 2014)

1
should be comparable with the fine size. The
classification of geotextile for the usage in the field can
be obtained from AASHTO M288-10.
The reinforcement function of the geosynthetics has
been attributed to three mechanisms in helping to
accomplish the improvement in the performance of the
unpaved roads. They are (a) lateral restraint, (2)
increased bearing capacity and (3) tensioned membrane
effect. The geosynthetic reinforcement is often placed
between the base and sub-base layers or at the interface
between the sub-base and subgrade layers or within the
base course layer of the flexible pavement (Benjamim
et al. 2007, Bueno et al. 2005). The placement position
of reinforcement is the main factor affecting the
bearing capacity of reinforced granular soil and higher
bearing capacity is observed when the depth of
placement of reinforcement is decreased. Thus
geotextile helps reduces the vertical stress acting on the
subgrade than in unreinforced pavements(Giroud and
Noiray 1981).

Fig 2. Reinforcing mechnism of gesynthics (a) Lateral

Confinement (b) Improved bearing capacity and
Fig 3. Stress distribution over the subgrade layer (c) Tension membrane (Zornberg 2012)
(a) Unreinforced pavement and (b) reinforced
pavement (Zornberg 2012) capabilities can also provide the tensile resistance to
lateral aggregate movement.
The presence of the reinforcement layer increases
lateral restraint or passive resistance of the fill material, Reinforcement placed high up in the granular layer
increasing the rigidity of the system and reducing the hinders lateral movement of the aggregate due to
vertical and lateral pavement deformation (Perkins frictional interaction and interlocking between the fill
2000,Som and Sahu 1999,Cancelli and Montanelli material and the reinforcement which raises the
1999). apparent load-spreading ability of the aggregate and
reduces the necessary fill thickness (Perkins
2.1 Lateral Restraint or Confinement 2000,Zornberg 2012).
Improvement in the lateral shear resistance at the 2.2 Increase in Bearing Capacity
interface of base course and subgrade by improving the
interface friction between the geosynthetic and The presence of geosynthetic layer imposes the
aggregate. The shear load developed due to the passage development of an alternate failure surface thereby
of vehicles on the base of the aggregate layer will be increasing the bearing capacity. Reduction in the
transferred to the geosyntehtic layer as tensile load by transfer of shear stresses to the subgrade and by
the interaction between them. The modulus of the providing the vertical confinement outside the loaded
geosynthetic layer limits the shear strain in the base area helps in improving the bearing capacity. The mode
layer. The frictional and interlocking characteristics at of failure of the subgrade is expected to be general
the interface between the soil and the geosynthetic failure with reinforcement compared to the punching
contribute to this mechanism. The compatibility failure without reinforcement.
between the geogrid aperture and adjacent layer
particle size must be compatible for their concerned
function to be served. A geotextile with good frictional

2
2.3 Tension Membrane begins beyond the deformation of 10-12 mm (Dutta
and Rao 2008). The test conducted by Rajagopal and
The wheel loads are supported by the tension Ramakrishna (2009) shows that the bearing capacity of
membrane action of the geosynthetic layer. The the clay was improved by 25% and the influence of the
concave shape in the geosynthetic layer due to the sub base layer increases with decrease in thickness.
vertical deformations induces the tension membrane Tests conducted by (Babu 2007) reaffirms that the
effect. The tension developed in the geosynthetic will membrane effect of reinforcement diminishes with an
reduce the vertical stress on the subgrade. High increase in the thickness of the road aggregate layer
deformations (i.e. high rutting depth) are required to over a clay subgrade. The reinforced sand bed by coir
mobilize this mechanism. This mechanism will develop geotextile improves the bearing capacity over a range
on subgrades CBR value below 3 (Barksdale et al. of 80-160% depending upon the type of coir geotextile
1989). The aforementioned mechanisms require and the soil condition (Babu 2007) and corresponding
different magnitudes of deformation in the pavement reduction in the thickness of sub-base is possible up to
system to be mobilized. In the case of unpaved roads, 40%.Many studies of coir reinforcement in sand beds
significant rutting depths (in excess of 25 mm) may be also concludes that there is an improvement in the
tolerable. The increased bearing capacity and tensioned bearing capacity of sand (Ayyar andDipu 1997, Ayyar
membrane support mechanisms have been considered and Girish 2000) .
for paved roads. However, the deformation needed to
mobilize these mechanisms generally exceeds the Coir geotextile develops good interface friction with
serviceability requirements of flexible pavements. granular fill which can induce tensile stress in the
Thus, for the case of flexible pavements, lateral reinforcement when embedded within the fill material.
restraint is considered to contribute the most for their Hence, when used as reinforcement in unpaved roads,
improved performance. laying of coir geotextile must be carried out so as to
take full advantage of this biodegradable material
3 APPLICATION OF NATURAL during the early period of construction when much of
GEOTEXTILES IN UNPAVED ROADS the working of membrane action cannot be expected
The fibers extracted from the plants were spun into (Subaida et al. 2009). Studies done by Nithin (2012)
yarns which in turn woven to geotextiles to form shows that reinforcing the lateritic subgrade of CBR
natural products. Natural geotextiles made of coconut value less than 2 can be reinforced using coir
fiber, jute fiber; sisal, etc. have good mechanical geotextile. The type and condition of subgrade,
properties which can be used as an alternative to interface friction between the geotextile, modulus of
polymeric geosynthetic materials (Rao et al. the textile are the governing factors which influences
2009,Sanyal 2010,Ramaswami and Aziz 1989). the performance of the geotextile. Based on the
Natural geotextiles like coir and jute are gaining performance evaluation studies conducted on coir
importance due to their eco friendliness and low cost geotextiles laid reinforced roads, it is found that the
over the serious concerns of the environmental and type of coir textile which can mobilize tension force
disposal impact of the synthetic counterpart (Shankar et easily performs better (Shaheem and Cyriac 2013).
al. 2012). It is well known that the natural materials will
The application of this material on the unpaved roads decompose over time, which limits its use to short term
will improve the bearing capacity of the low strength applications only. Since an unpaved road on soft
soil. The beneficial effect of the use of geosynthetic subgrade gets stabilized by soil consolidation due to
reinforcement is effective in a weak subgrade with passage of vehicles, till the time, natural geotextiles
prominence for higher rut depths which can mobilize supports it. Usually, if the geotextiles survives the
the ‘tension membrane effect’ of the geotextile (Dey construction-induced stresses, it will also withstand the
and Meena 2013). The thickness of base course of in-service stresses. It is expected that consolidation of
flexible pavement might be reduced by 32% in case of the soft subgrade soil will make reinforcement
woven geojute, while 20% for non-woven. unnecessary in the long term (Fannin and Sigurdsson
Improvement of bearing capacity is as low as 7% and 1996). With regard to natural geotextiles, durability is
as high as 123%, in different bed condition and not a matter of concern where a short service life is
reinforcement layers(Kabir et al. 1989). Ramaswami required, as for drainage and consolidation of soft
and Aziz (1989) conducted dynamic tests in jute fabric compressible deposits (Datye and Gore 1994). Coir
reinforced clay and found that more than 50 percent in fiber is strong and degrades slowly compared to other
rut depth reduction. natural fibers due to high lignin content. The
degradation of coir is found to retain 80% of its tensile
Models reinforced with coir geotextiles improves the strength after 6 months of embedment in clay (Rao and
bearing capacity of kaolinite, and the improvement Balan 2000).

3
The studies shows that the inclusion of coir geotextile Dutta, R., and Rao, G. V. (2008). Potential of Coir Based
as reinforcement in soil improves the california Products as Soil Reinforcement. International Journal of
Bearing Ratio of lateritic soil in the range of 1.5-2.2 Earth Sciences and Engineering, pp 71–79.
Fannin, R., and Sigurdsson, O. (1996). Field observations on
factor (Kumar and Rajkumar 2012, Michael and Vinod
stabilization of unpaved roads with geosynthetics. Journal
2009). Tests conducted in varying diameter CBR of Geotechnical Engineering, American Society of Civil
mould concluded that by increasing the diameter of Engineers, Vol: 122, No. 7, pp 544–553.
mould decreases the lateral confinement resembling the Giroud, J.-P., and Noiray, L. (1981). Geotextile-reinforced
field conditions. Itis alsoobserved that the thickness of unpaved road design. Journal of the Geotechnical
pavement may be reduced by approximately 75% if Engineering Division, ASCE, Vol: 107, No. 9, pp 1233–
coir mat is placed above the subgrade (Baruah et al. 1254.
2010). Kabir, M. H., Zakaria, M., Abedin, M. Z., and Saha, G. P.
(1989). Jute fabric reinforced unpaved road design.
4 CONCLUSIONS Construction and Building Materials, Elsevier, Vol: 3, No.
3, pp 140–144.
The reinforcement of subgrade with natural geotextile Kumar, P. S., and Rajkumar, R. (2012). Effect of Geotextile
is a cost effective way of constructing the unpaved road on CBR Strength of Unpaved Road with Soft Subgrade.
in weak subgrades. The environmental impact is EJGE, Vol. 17, pp 1355-1363.
minimal without any disposal issues in the future. The Michael, M., and Vinod, P. (2009). California Bearing Ratio
application of coir and jute geotextile is recommended of Coir Geotextile Reinforced Subgrade.10th National
in the unpaved roads where there is a low traffic Conference on Technological Trends, pp 63–67.
Nithin, S., (2012). Experimental Investigation on Coir
volume flow. (e.g., rural roads)
geotextile reinforced subgrade, M.tech Thesis, College of
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