Geocells For Pavement Reinforcement

Shahrokh Bagli
Shahrokh Bagli, Chief Technology Officer Strata Geosystems (India) Pvt. Ltd.
Roads are essential for the economic growth of the country, and unlike the railway network, various classes of roads-from expressways to rural road, assure last mile connectivity. India’s growing economy requires expansion of existing carriageways into multi-lane expressways, new road routes and development of rural roads for motorised vehicles instead of animal-drawn carts. However, difficult subsoil conditions, high economic and social cost of diversions, dearth of good construction material and environmental constraints pose major challenges for road development.

Scarcity of good material often requires flexible pavements to be constructed from marginal materials. Pavements supported on weak soils with low California Bearing Ratio (CBR) would require further engineering beyond the established standardised norms. There are instances where marginal material is required to be used even where the CBR is very low. Such conditions require a paradigm change in the design of the pavement section using geosynthetics.

Geocell to the rescue

At Strata Geosystems, we have used geosynthetics like geocells (StrataWeb®) and geogrid (StrataGrid™) for ground improvement, reinforced soil walls, embankment protection etc. We rehabilitated a damaged stretch of a National Highway NH-44 connecting the North-Eastern states with the rest of the country. It became operational in a record time of 15 days and was acknowledged by the Assam PW (Buildings and NH) Department in the following words: “The NH-44 at Churaibari once infamous for mud and slush is now transformed beautifully, and this has been made possible by the use of Geocell in its construction.”

Strata

NH-44 near the Assam-Tripura border traverses forested undulating terrain. The sub-grade is highly plastic, with weak, clayey soil of low permeability. This region experienced very heavy rainfall from March to September 2016 and completely damaged about 500m of the stretch, reducing it to a swamp (Fig.1). Conventional repairs were unsuccessful and traffic disruption created a crisis with commodities becoming scarce and expensive in Tripura.

Strata Geosystems designed the pavement using StrataWeb® geocells within the pavement section (Fig. 2). The CBR was as low as 0.5% and the traffic intensity considered was 20msa. A Modulus Improvement Factor (MIF) of 2 was conservatively considered. Granular material was available within reasonable lead and used as infill, ensuring drainage of ingressed water.

The pavement section was completed up to the granular base by August 15, 2016 in a record 15 days. Traffic was allowed to ply immediately over the granular base component because of the following reasons:
  • The social crisis did not merit any further delay of normal traffic flow
  • It was not prudent to lay the top bitumen components during the continuous rainfall
  • The work was done under trying conditions and behaviour of the road left unpaved was monitored for a short period.
Strata

The procedure proved successful. Fig. 3 illustrates heavy vehicular traffic plying the unpaved pavement without distress, notwithstanding the wet conditions. After being paved, the stretch has further withstood the heavy brunt of the 2017 monsoons (Fig. 4).

Geosynthetics are an important facet of geotechnical engineering. Geocells can be utilised for rapid construction of emergency roads as well as roads over difficult subgrades and terrain even where the CBR value of the subgrade may be as low as 1%. Where life cycle costs are concerned, earth structures and pavements with geosynthetic reinforcement score well over conventional designs.
NBM&CW September 2018
Performance of Thin White Topping (TWT) Overlay for NH-848

Performance of Thin White Topping (TWT) Overlay for NH-848

Vikas V. Thakar, MD, Pavetech Consultants India, presents the uses and advantages of TWT as a cost-effective treatment and a sustainable solution for rehabilitating and strengthening of flexible pavements, as seen in the NH-848 Nashik

Read more ...

REJUPAVE Technology for High RAP Recycling of Bituminous Pavement

REJUPAVE Technology for High RAP Recycling of Bituminous Pavement

Satish Pandey, Principal Scientist at CSIR-CRRI, New-Delhi, and Associate Professor, Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research, gives a brief overview of Hot Mix recycling process using bio-oil based rejuvenator REJUPAVE to facilitate

Read more ...

Safety Challenges On Indian Roads

Safety Challenges On Indian Roads

S.K. Nirmal, Secretary General, Indian Roads Congress, Director General (Road Development) & Special Secretary (Retd), MoRTH, gives an overview of India’s road network, causes of road accidents, and the safety measures and policies required

Read more ...

Dynapac Machines Deployed on Prestigious Palkhi Marg Project in Maharashtra

Dynapac Machines Deployed on Prestigious Palkhi Marg Project in Maharashtra

The Palkhi Marg holds deep significance as a pathway of faith for devotees of Lord Vitthal. Every year, thousands of ‘warkaris’ embark on a spiritual journey to the temple town of Pandharpur in Maharashtra. With the vision to create a Bhakti Marg and ensure

Read more ...

Delhi Vadodara Expressway Package-1 An overview

Delhi Vadodara Expressway Package-1 An overview

The Delhi-Vadodara Expressway is a part of the most anxiously awaited Delhi-Mumbai Expressway - the foundation stone for which was laid on March 8th 2019. Also referred to as the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, it is planned as part of the Bharatmala

Read more ...

Bonded Rigid Pavement - A New Edge Concrete Pavement

Bonded Rigid Pavement - A New Edge Concrete Pavement

The exponential growth of the highway infrastructure in the past two decades has increased demand for long-lasting, durable pavements. Rigid pavements are suitable for heavily trafficked areas and are found to be performing satisfactorily with minimum

Read more ...

BRO Builds ‘Zero Fatality Corridors’ in Arunachal Pradesh

BRO Builds ‘Zero Fatality Corridors’ in Arunachal Pradesh

Through its unwavering commitment to road safety, eco-conscious practices, and visionary solutions, the Border Roads Organisation is elevating the standard of road infrastructure development in India. In Arunachal Pradesh, its contributions

Read more ...

Engineering Measures for Pothole Prevention

Engineering Measures for Pothole Prevention

Roads, pavements, and other paved surfaces have depressions in them called potholes which are caused by a variety of conditions. They not only present a serious risk to traffic and pedestrians, but also necessitate expensive repairs by local governments and

Read more ...

Pavement Marking Essential For Road Safety

Pavement Marking Essential For Road Safety

Vivek Singh, Founder, BuildStreet delves into the significance of pavement marking, its objective, and importance, with a focus on Hot Applied Thermoplastic paint - the predominant choice for road markings in India, its technical aspects, application methodology

Read more ...

GAEPL Achieves Record Paving of 100 lane-km in 100 hours

GAEPL Achieves Record Paving of 100 lane-km in 100 hours

Ghaziabad Aligarh Expressway Private Limited (GAEPL), under the guidance of Cube Highways, has set an example of speedy, safe, and sustainable road construction through research, integration of advanced technology, following best international practices

Read more ...

Indian Companies Delivering Projects Overseas

Indian Companies Delivering Projects Overseas

External affairs minister S. Jaishankar during his visit interacted with the workers and the senior staff, and lauded the role of Indian infra companies, saying that he was “impressed by their enthusiasm”. “Strong economics will complement shared values in taking

Read more ...

NHAI awards 6,003 km of highway projects in FY23

NHAI awards 6,003 km of highway projects in FY23

According to Motilal Oswal Financial Services, the infra project awarding activity picked up and gathered pace in Q4 of FY23, with NHAI awarding total projects of 6,003 km in FY23, much below its FY23 target of 6,500 km. The total value of projects awarded

Read more ...

Is the Indian Road Sector Navigating a Smooth Journey?

Is the Indian Road Sector Navigating a Smooth Journey?

This report covers the current state of the Indian Road Sector, performance of road projects under Hybrid Annuity Model, financial performance of major road developers, and the outlook for FY24. CareEdge Ratings analysed 235 HAM projects awarded between

Read more ...

Balanced Mix Design for Bituminous Mixes

Balanced Mix Design for Bituminous Mixes

As more than 90% of the roads in India have bituminous surfacing, a proper bituminous mix design also assumes significance for better performance of the bituminous roads. India is currently witnessing huge investments by the Indian Government towards

Read more ...

Sustainable Road Construction in Hilly Region

Sustainable Road Construction in Hilly Region

Siksha Swaroopa Kar, Principal Scientist, Amit Kumar, Technical Officer, Krishan, Technician, Flexible Pavement Division, CSIR-CRRI, New Delhi, discuss mechanized laying of cold bituminous layer, the mixer and paver that have been fabricated, and the effectiveness

Read more ...

Implementation of Road Maintenance Management System - Benefits & Technologies

Implementation of Road Maintenance Management System - Benefits & Technologies

The maintenance of road pavements is essential to ensure the safety, reliability, and sustainability of road networks. A road maintenance management system (RMMS) involves effective management of resources to optimize the life cycle of roads, reduce maintenance

Read more ...

Replacement of Steel Reinforcement with  Synthetic Fibre for Concrete Pavement & Floor

Replacement of Steel Reinforcement with Synthetic Fibre for Concrete Pavement & Floor

Manoj Didwania, Adani Total Gas Ltd, Dharamsinh Desai University (DDU-Nadiad), Cept University, presents a paper on the use of Macro Synthetic Reinforcement Fibre (MSRF) as full or partial replacement of Steel Reinforcement for Concrete Pavement

Read more ...

GTI® Reinforced Soil Slope System

GTI® Reinforced Soil Slope System

GTI® is involved in developing environmentally friendly construction products and systems, which are critical for achieving infrastructure growth in a sustainable manner. The company’s GTI® Sloping Fascia Unit and the new system GTI® Reinforced Soil Slopes

Read more ...

CRISIL: Debt to rise for road developers amid strong revenue growth

CRISIL: Debt to rise for road developers amid strong revenue growth

Sizeable equity commitments in under-construction projects and rising working capital requirement will increase the debt burden of road developers, though revenue growth will also be high in the next two fiscals driven by strong awarding and execution

Read more ...

Indian Toll Roads to witness moderation in growth to high single digits in FY2024 after a stellar 17-20% growth in FY2023: ICRA

Indian Toll Roads to witness moderation in growth to high single digits in FY2024 after a stellar 17-20% growth in FY2023: ICRA

WPI for December 2022 is significantly lower at 5.0% against WPI of 14.27% in December 2021. ICRA Ratings expects the toll road projects growth to moderate to high single digit in FY2024 after a 17-20% growth witnessed in FY2023 with moderation in the

Read more ...

To get latest updates on whatsapp, Save +91 93545 87773 and send us a 'Saved' message
Click Here to Subscribe to Our eNewsletter.