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Sub-drainage systems in road projects – Alternatives
Road subdrainage is a system of vital importance to guarantee the durability of pavement structures. By intercepting subsurface water, it prevents it from causing irreversible damage to the project.
Additionally, good water management in this type of structure significantly reduces the costs generated by maintenance. For this, there are two alternatives, of which Civil Engineer Juan Pablo Vargas will tell you below. We remind you that you can also consult the transcript of the video.
Looking for a cost-efficient underdrain system solution? With our analysis of unitary prices we show you why the geodrain is an excellent option.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Main alternatives for subdrainage systems in road projects
The main objective of a sub-drainage system in a road project is to capture and convey subsurface water from the subgrade soil to the main drainage system. Depending on the direction of water flow, the subdrainage system can be classified as longitudinal or transverse.
Longitudinal underdrainage system
It is responsible for capturing the flows that converge horizontally and driving them in a direction parallel to the road. There are two alternatives for this classification: the French drain subdrainage system and the geodrain subdrainage system.
- The French drain is a system made up of a geotextile filter medium and a drainage medium made of granular gravel-type material, which leads the collected water to the drainage pipe.
- The geodrain, in turn, is a geocomposite made up of a geotextile filter material and a geonet as a drainage material that discharges into the drainage pipe.
Transverse underdrainage system
It consists of capturing ascending water flows and driving them towards the longitudinal sub-drainage system. Additionally, the transverse underdrainage system prevents the access of water to the layers of the pavement structure.
For this subdrainage classification, there are two main alternatives: geotextiles and geocomposites.
- Geotextiles are planar materials that conduct water horizontally thanks to their transmissivity property.
- The geodrains are geocomposites similar to those used in the longitudinal subdrainage system, highly resistant to compression and that lead the water towards this system.
Guarantee adequate management of subsurface waters
For this, three combinations of the longitudinal and transverse subdrainage systems mentioned above can be considered.
- The first is to use geodrain as a longitudinal subdrainage system and geotextile as a transverse subdrainage system.
- The second is to use a geodrain as a longitudinal subdrainage system and a horizontally placed geodrain as a transverse subdrainage system.
- The third consists of using a French drain as a longitudinal sub-drainage system and geotextile as a transverse sub-drainage system.
Taking into account that each project has particular characteristics, at Geomatrix we want to provide you with the best advice to find the ideal subdrainage system for yours.
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