Laboratory evaluation of geosynthetic-reinforced pavement sections

Preliminary experimental and analytical investigations were conducted to evaluate the performance of pavements with and without geotextile or geogrid reinforcement material. Four pavement section used in this study were constructed to model a typical secondary road, built over a weak granular subgrade material. Loading of the pavement sections was accomplished with the use of a computer-controlled pneumatic system. The displacement of the pavement surface was monitored by linear variable displacement transformers. The performance of each pavement section was evaluated. It was found out that geosynthesis can substantially improve the performance of a pavement section constructed on a subgrade 80.1. Additionally, the reinforcing mechanisms of geogrids and geotextiles were different.