Subgrade Reinforcement

Subgrade Reinforcement

Woven geotextiles are commonly used in subgrade reinforcement applications to increase the soil’s bearing capacity in the construction of roads andhighways.

The addition of a woven geotextile in the design of a road, benefits the project because it is possible to reduce the thickness of the aggregate layers of the pavement design, thus saving costs, or else to increase the useful life of the project. In addition to this, the geotextile will add protection to the structure of the road, by preventing the migration of fine particles of the aggregate layers on a long term basis.

The woven geotextile performs two principal functions in this application:
1.    It provides a separation layer between the natural subsoil and the subsequent aggregate layers, so that these will not mix and loose their design properties, thus assuring an effective thickness of the aggregate material.
2.    It provides additional reinforcement to the soil due to the increase in tensional strength from the frictional interaction between the geotextile with a high tensional strength and the soil.

The type of geotextile to be selected will depend on the tensile strength required to provide reinforcement to the soil, as well as the geotextile’s ability to withstand construction damage.