Geofabrics Limited is a British manufacturing company established in 1992 that specializes in producing high-performance geotextiles and geocomposites. The company aims to exceed customer expectations through product development, manufacturing, and testing. Geofabrics produces needlepunched geotextiles and multi-layer geocomposites using various geosynthetic materials for applications in landfill engineering, railways, coastal engineering, and more. Key products include the HPS range of geotextiles and Protexia geocomposites. Geofabrics provides solutions for applications such as landfill engineering, railways, contaminated land remediation, and coastal/maritime works.
Geofabrics Limited is a British manufacturing company established in 1992 that specializes in producing high-performance geotextiles and geocomposites. The company aims to exceed customer expectations through product development, manufacturing, and testing. Geofabrics produces needlepunched geotextiles and multi-layer geocomposites using various geosynthetic materials for applications in landfill engineering, railways, coastal engineering, and more. Key products include the HPS range of geotextiles and Protexia geocomposites. Geofabrics provides solutions for applications such as landfill engineering, railways, contaminated land remediation, and coastal/maritime works.
Original Description:
useful for design of civil engineering structures.
Geofabrics Limited is a British manufacturing company established in 1992 that specializes in producing high-performance geotextiles and geocomposites. The company aims to exceed customer expectations through product development, manufacturing, and testing. Geofabrics produces needlepunched geotextiles and multi-layer geocomposites using various geosynthetic materials for applications in landfill engineering, railways, coastal engineering, and more. Key products include the HPS range of geotextiles and Protexia geocomposites. Geofabrics provides solutions for applications such as landfill engineering, railways, contaminated land remediation, and coastal/maritime works.
Geofabrics Limited is a British manufacturing company established in 1992 that specializes in producing high-performance geotextiles and geocomposites. The company aims to exceed customer expectations through product development, manufacturing, and testing. Geofabrics produces needlepunched geotextiles and multi-layer geocomposites using various geosynthetic materials for applications in landfill engineering, railways, coastal engineering, and more. Key products include the HPS range of geotextiles and Protexia geocomposites. Geofabrics provides solutions for applications such as landfill engineering, railways, contaminated land remediation, and coastal/maritime works.
Geofabrics Limited is a British manufacturing company established in 1992. From the outset the objective was to manufacture high-performance geotextiles to a high-quality standard. The Companys ethos is to exceed the expectations of customers with products and support services. Product development is achieved by analysing the customers application, determining the properties that are required, manufacturing the solution and testing it to conrm that it meets the requirements. Today, the company not only manufactures class-leading geotextiles for landll engineering, but also geocomposites for applications in railways, coastal engineering, browneld site remediation and infrastructure development.
HIGH-PERFORMANCE GEOSYNTHETICS
HIGH-PERFORMANCE GEOSYNTHETICS
Products GEOfabrics manufactures
The main characteristics that prompt
needlepunched geotextiles and
engineers to specify GEOfabrics
the Protexia range of multi-layer
products time and again are their
geocomposites, including geocuspate
robustness any damage to a geotextile
products, using virtually any type of
is more likely to be generated during
geosynthetic material.
installation, not in service and their
proven ability to provide sustained
GEOfabrics geotextiles were conceived
protection, separation and ltration in
with optimum performance in mind
the harshest conditions.
i.e. maximum performance for
minimum weight. Rather than offering
Whether its as a lter beneath rock
products with specic unit weights,
armour on the Atlantic coast or as a
individual grades are manufactured to
protector at the base of a deep landll
achieve performance-related values.
sitting in toxic leachate. GEOfabrics
When designing with a geotextile it is
products have a long track record of
the mechanical and hydraulic
unrivalled performance.
properties that are the most important,
not weight, to achieve value engineering the least material to perform the design function(s).
With a standard width of 6m,
GEOfabrics non-woven, needlepunched geotextiles are the widest made in the UK. This wide width means fewer overlaps are necessary so the products are not only quick to install but provide contractors with more efcient coverage for a given area.
HIGH-PERFORMANCE GEOSYNTHETICS
PRODUCTS
The HPS range
of geotextiles Using a unique manufacturing technique, GEOfabrics manufacture all their geotextiles with equal strength in both machine and transverse directions. The best indicator of mechanical performance for these textile types is CBR puncture resistance and the number in the HPS grade name is its CBR value e.g. HPS7 has a CBR puncture value of 7kN. Geotextiles with specic unit weights The HPS products are produced
are available if weight is preferred to
from high-performance (HP), staple,
performance-related criteria.
polypropylene bre. In addition to
the inherent chemical and biological resistance associated with polypropylene, the polymer contains 1% carbon black to protect the long-chain molecules from degradation by ultra-violet light.
Each HPS grade is made with a fibre density
to achieve a specific puncture resistance level e.g. HPS7 is formulated to provide 7kN CBR.
HIGH-PERFORMANCE GEOSYNTHETICS
PRODUCTS
Protexia geocomposites
Flame bonding is used to
create composites from two, three or more components.
Adhesives are used to
bond flame-sensitive components.
Geocomposites are multi-layered
combinations of geosynthetics. These combinations give benets over individual layers by enhancing functions, increasing interface friction angles and increasing the speed of installation. With careful design they can provide drainage, protection, reinforcement, ltration and barrier functions and replace expensive and scarce mineral
GEOfabrics operates a state-of-the-art
resources.
manufacturing capability that is able to
produce an innite number of composites, up to 6m wide, using geotextiles, geomembranes, geogrids and drainage cores such as nets, band drains and cuspated (egg-box-style) sheets.
Drainage composites using cuspated cores are used in gas protection systems, cut-off walls around contaminated land, at the rear of bridge abutments and retaining walls, and around buried structures.
These are bonded using heat or
adhesives to form composites with two, three or more components which are often project specic to solve installation and service-life objectives.
The functions associated with geosynthetics
SEPARATION Geotextiles prevent intermixing of imported and indigenous soils. But its also important that a separator is robust enough to resist tearing/puncture. Grades from the HPS and MPS ranges are renowned for their inherently high damage resistance. FILTRATION Wave action and turbulence place great pressure on a geotextile filter to retain soil particles yet still allow the free passage of water and thus avoid the build-up of hydrostatic pressure. Excellent and sustained permeability characteristics come as standard with GEOfabrics filters. REINFORCEMENT Generally provided by geogrids or high-strength textiles and used to reinforce both cohesive and granular fills.
PROTECTION High puncture resistance, extensibility and tensile strength are necessary for a geotextile used to protect more vulnerable materials, such as containment liners.
DRAINAGE The drainage function the capacity to collect and convey liquids and gases is rarely used in isolation as the working life of a drain is likely to be short lived without the presence of a filter to prevent the ingress of soil particles. Thick geotextiles possess a level of in-plane flow capacity and can therefore drain through, and along, their length. BARRIER Low-permeability membranes which are expected to resist the passage of water, leachates and gases. These need to be welded at overlaps to achieve continuity.
The six functions associated with geosynthetics. A Protexia geocomposite can provide all of these functions in a single product but three or four are typical.
Applications Railways Landll engineering Contaminated land and gas protection Maritime and river works Liner protection Drainage around structures
HIGH-PERFORMANCE GEOSYNTHETICS
HIGH-PERFORMANCE GEOSYNTHETICS
APPLICATIONS
Railways permanent way
and civil engineering Protexia geocomposites utilise the same geotextiles bonded to geonets and geogrids to further enhance
Geofabrics Limited Link-up Certificate No: 7927 Supply of materials geotextiles Supply of general civil engineering materials
track performance over poor soils.
These products can be deployed to prevent subgrade erosion and ballast contamination for a longer, maintenance-free period.
Lining for gabions and
rock fill to stabilise an embankment.
GEOfabrics geotextiles possess excellent
damage resistance due to their ability to extend under load and adapt to the ballast prole without puncture. To do this and still provide the separation and ltration functions makes them ideal to perform under dynamic loading conditions. Installing a Protexia composite beneath track ballast to extend the maintenance interval.
Geotextile used in conjunction with steel
mesh and soil nails to stabilise a cut slope.
HIGH-PERFORMANCE GEOSYNTHETICS
APPLICATIONS
Landll engineering Protection is also combined with the drainage and barrier functions by forming composites with geonets, geocuspates, band drains and geomembranes. The results are dual- and triple-function products that are faster and more convenient to install. The GPT range epitomises this concept.
GEOfabrics is the leading supplier of
geotextiles and geocomposites to the landll industry in the UK. The most signicant application is where HPS geotextiles are used above and beneath membranes to prevent their puncture by the drainage aggregate, the underlying subgrade or cover soils.
GPT products are often used to protect
capping liners and deal with surface water drainage - a single product, dual functionality.
HIGH-PERFORMANCE GEOSYNTHETICS
APPLICATIONS
Landll engineering A Protexia GPT composite drain comprises a geotextile protector, pre-selected by the landll contractor to work with a particular grade of stone. Longitudinal band drains are incorporated within the textile at regular centres across the roll width typically 1.0m or 0.5m. The result is a membrane protection layer that can also collect and convey leachate, surface water and methane. The GPT products are typically used to line cell side-slopes for leachate drainage and beneath caps for gas drainage. They are also used to reduce pore water pressure beneath liners placed on new slopes, where seepage is a
Basal cell liner protection and side-wall
drainage using Protexia GPT geocomposites.
known problem, and also collecting
run off on caps.
The Companys laboratory provides
cylinder-testing facilities so that contractors can confirm the cost effectiveness of a particular geotextile/ drainage stone combination in the context of the Environmental Agencys standard A methodology for cylinder testing of protectors for geomembranes on landfill sites. This means that a contractor can, on one hand, elect to use a relatively inexpensive crushed stone with a substantial geotextile protector, or a more expensive, rounded stone with a less substantial protector. There is, at the time of publishing, only one other UKAS accredited laboratory offering this service in the UK.
10
HIGH-PERFORMANCE GEOSYNTHETICS
APPLICATIONS
Contaminated land and
gas protection Protexia cuspates are used as part of gas protection systems to collect and convey gases from contaminated ground.
If containment is the chosen solution
Cuspate-based systems are frequently
then capping, cut-off walls and
used for the venting of methane, radon
collection of gases and liquids become
and other gases from beneath buildings.
as important with contaminated
The high air ow capacity of the
land as with engineered landlls.
Protexia 25mm cuspates makes them
Protexia geocomposites, incorporating
ideally suited for use as part of passive
membranes, drainage nets, cuspates
and active venting systems.
and band drains, can full many of
a projects requirements in one, easy-to-install product.
Protexia FnF composite drains are based on
two-and three-layer nets with a geotextile filter on either side. They are used extensively below track ballast, to extend the maintenance cycle, and to replace aggregate drainage layers in landfills and earthworks.
Potential contamination of the underlying
soil prompted the installation of a combined membrane protection and drainage composite over a liner at this track-side wash down facility.
In many instances, the use of a single composite
enhances the stability of new slopes by removing the potential slip plane(s) that could otherwise exist between loose-laid geosynthetics.
GEOfabrics protection geotextiles can be
manufactured in colours to suit project-specific requirements. A vivid colour means that the textiles can not only provide separation and filtration but also act as a warning layer if the area is excavated at a later date.
11
HIGH-PERFORMANCE GEOSYNTHETICS
APPLICATIONS
Maritime and river works
Groyne construction on the North Sea coast
Needlepunched geotextiles possess
the properties required for coastal engineering. Good abrasion resistance, high permeability, ne ltration and durability allow them to resist installation stresses associated with placing of rock armour and then to give the required
Bridge abutments and piers.
performance encountered under wave
The GEOfabrics design guide is based
and tidal attack.
upon the results of eld trials, conducted
during the construction of the Cardiff
The high puncture resistance of the HPS
Bay Barrage Scheme, which involved
range allows heavy rock armour to be
dropping rocks of various sizes onto
place directly on them without the need for
different grades of geotextile to ascertain
intermediate bedding layers of graded rock.
the safe working performance of each
grade. The design guide can be found in Supporting Literature at www.geofabrics.com.
Ferry terminal jetty.
Typical detail for a river revetment with a geotextile beneath
rock armour, stone-filled mattresses or pre-cast blocks.
The geotextiles can be pre-fabricated into bags to contain
locally-won fills. These can be placed below water.
12
HIGH-PERFORMANCE GEOSYNTHETICS
APPLICATIONS
Liner protection Reed beds under construction with geotextile protection between soil-filled gabions and an impermeable liner.
Canals, lakes, lagoons,
reed beds and reservoirs The protection function is used extensively in water and sludge containment. It is high puncture resistance and robustness, not unit weight, which are important when specifying a protection layer that could be in contact with sharp inclusions within the subgrade. The same applies if the liner is to be covered by ornamental rock, as the point loads could be more intense.
Installing a waterproofing liner and
the associated protection at a new canal marina.
Installing a waterproofing liner and the associated
protection on an existing railway bridge.
13
HIGH-PERFORMANCE GEOSYNTHETICS
APPLICATIONS
Drainage around structures Protexia composites based on cuspated sheets are used extensively to relieve pore water pressure around buried structures and at the rear of walls and abutments. The main requirement is for a cuspated drainage core with a bonded lter to prevent clogging of the core. These composites can be placed vertically against walls or laid horizontally beneath oor slabs or on top of structures such as the roofs of reservoirs.
geosynthetics manufacturers with an active research and development (R&D) program. This investment is prompted by the pursuit of product quality and the value placed on customers needs. Many of the R&D projects, both past and present, have been initiated directly by customers or by GEOfabrics anticipating their requirements as a result of revised standards, new legislation or nancial targets.
The full-scale rail rig at GEOfabrics comprises a
4.5m x 1.8m x 0.4m subgrade, seven half-width sleepers and three PC-driven ram actuators which can be applied up to 12Hz and with a an axle loading up to 120kN.Test duration is 1M cycles (6 days) which equates to five real-time years.
15
HIGH-PERFORMANCE GEOSYNTHETICS
LABORATORY
Research and development The ISO 9001 Management System uses customer feedback, continuous assessment and independent auditing to drive both the improvement and the control required for a professional manufacturing environment. The UKAS accreditation involves independent auditing to conrm that test methodology is followed, operators Testing laboratory No 1773
are suitably trained and equipment is
correctly calibrated.
The leachate immersion test is thought to be the
only long-term test of its type. The properties of the geotextile samples are measured on a regular basis. The test commenced 1995.
The majority of GEOfabrics products
are CE marked. This demonstrates that the product meets the construction products directive.
The Inclined Plane test rig is used to evaluate
interface friction angles between different geosynthetics and soils.
In-plane gas-flow testing rig.
Further literature, in the form of
case studies, design guides, installation procedures, product specications and model specications can be downloaded from www.geofabrics.com GEOfabrics maintains a comprehensive web site with documentation in pdf format that is freely available to download no registration is required. Some items, such as model specications & application forms that users may wish to cut and paste into their own documents, are in Word and Excel format. Hard copies, if preferred, are available on request, as are samples of individual products.
Temporary Excavation Support System For A New Railway Bridge and Highway Underpass in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by Andrew G. Cushing and Christopher J. Lewis
Temporary Excavation Support System For A New Railway Bridge and Highway Underpass in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by Andrew G. Cushing and Christopher J. Lewis
