PAVEMENT REINFORCED WITH GEOTEXTILES

Problems to solve with geotextiles:

The pavement structure presented pathologies associated with general fatigue and low bearing capacity of the subgrade soil, for which it was essential to find a solution to reinforce the pavement, geotextiles being ideal due to their characteristics.

The structure to intervene had the following characteristics:

• Crocodile skin: fatigue cracking of the structure or asphalt layer, for the case in question, it is evidenced associated with subsidence along almost the entire length of the track.
• surface wear: mainly caused by traffic action, aggressive or erosive agents.
• Cracks in construction joints: They are located in the longitudinal direction of the road, and in the axis of the roads.
• Sinking: they are located in the areas of vehicle traffic, they are characterized by being depressions with respect to the level of the grade produced by deficiencies in the compaction of the granular layers or settlements of the subgrade
• Rutting: depression of the area located on the trajectory of vehicle tires, which can lead to structural failure of the pavement and hydroplaning due to water storage.

Additionally, it had a CBR of 6% and a high level of traffic that was determined to be 16 million equivalent axles for a design period of 20 years.

High performance geotextiles, the solution for pavement reinforcement:

In order to reinforce the pavement structure, it was proposed to place a high modulus geotextile on the subgrade. FORTEX^® BX 1090 searching:

• Substantially increase the bearing capacity of the subgrade soil.
• Control the deformations that may occur due to volumetric changes in the subgrade.
• By placing the geotextile, an important reinforcement and separation effect is generated, and additionally drainage, improving the service conditions of the structure.
• Increase the stress distribution capacity so that the acting loads are mostly absorbed by the upper layers so that the subgrade soil presents low deformation conditions due to low acting stresses.
• Reinforcing the subgrade with geotextiles FORTEX BX It allows to achieve a better modular relationship from the first layer of the structure, which increases the performance and durability of the structure.
• The reinforcement of the subgrade with these geotextiles generates great speed in the construction process, since it eliminates the appearance of failures, reducing cost overruns in excavations and materials.

The mechanical contribution of the high modulus of deformation of the geotextile was quantified as an equivalent thickness of granular material, reducing the thickness of the improvement layer. The benefit received can be seen in the following figure: