WRM Paper Nov 29 17 PDF

REHABILITATION OF NATIONAL HIGHWAY
DAMAGED BY RAIN USING GEOSYNTHETICS IN

HILLY TERRAIN – A CASE STUDY
S D Vedpathak1, [email protected]
G N Dalmia2, [email protected]
S P Bagli3, [email protected]
A C Bordoloi4, [email protected]
ABSTRACT
Geosynthetics are increasingly used in the design of flexible
paved pavement sections. One style of geosynthetics best
suited for pavement applications is the geocell. Geocells are
unique three-dimensional rhomboidal cellular confinement
systems whose characteristics provide additional rigidity to the
pavement structure. The walls of the geocells are perforated to
effectively facilitate drainage. Incorporating the infilled
geocell within any granular component of a flexible pavement
on a weak subgrade improves the resilient modulus of the
layer. This reduces the strains at critical point between the
base course and the bituminous layers and at the subgrade
level. Hence pavement thickness can be reduced and / or the
life of the pavement can be extended according to the
designer’s requirements. The authors present a case study
where geocells have been effectively used in reconstruction of
the National Highway NH-44 traversing over hilly and
forested terrain across the Assam – Tripura border, which was
destroyed during torrential rain since March 2016 and to-and-
fro traffic was badly affected. The affected section was
between Malidoor (Assam-Meghalaya border) and Churaibari
(Assam-Tripura border). NH-44 is the only road connecting
Tripura to the rest of country. The CBR of the subgrade along
the damaged section was reported as low as 0.50% with traffic
as high as 20msa. Rehabilitation was designed and executed
with the judicious use of geocells, woven and Non-woven
geotextiles. The work was executed jointly by PW (Buildings
and NH) Division of Assam and Strata Geosystems (India)
Pvt. Ltd. This Paper records the design, construction and
performance of the highway reconstructed with geocells and
geotextiles.
BACKGROUND
The National Highway NH-44 is a major artery for the North
East India. The stretch between Malidoor at the Assam–
Meghalaya State border and Churaibari at the Assam–Tripura
State border is crucial for Tripura. Because of Tripura’s
peculiar geography, NH-44 is its crucial life-line for supplies
and victuals, the only land connect with the rest of the country.
Satellite imagery of the location is shown in Fig. 1.
FIGURE 1 Satellite imagery of the location
PROBLEM
The highway was damaged near Churaibari on the Assam side
of the border. The subgrade of the highway is highly plastic
but weak clayey soil. The area traverses forested and
undulating terrain and drainage was an issue which was
compounded by subgrade of low permeability. There were
heavy downpours in the month of March 2016, which
completely damaged the stretch of about 1500m and made it
was difficult for vehicles to ply. Figure 2 shows the extent of
the damaged highway. Conventional repairs proved
unsuccessful. With the bottleneck of stranded vehicles the
situation turned chaotic and untenable with blockage of all
goods to Tripura and virtual isolation from the rest of the
country.
FIGURE 2(a) Damaged stretch through the dense forest
FIGURE 2(b) Actual site condition
OBJECTIVE
In view of Strata Geosystems (India) Pvt. Ltd.’s known
expertise in geosynthetics and pavements, the Assam PW
(Buildings & NH) Department called upon Strata and
appraised it of the problem in June 2016. By then the issue
was a matter of serious concern with the Central Government,
with the prices of essential commodities including fuel and
food items skyrocketing even beyond imagination. There were
two essential issues to be addressed.
a) Drainage of the pavement section and its subgrade;
b) Strengthening the pavement section.
Both these concerns were deliberated upon by Strata while
recommending StrataWeb® geocells within the pavement
section. The perforated geocells when infilled with granular
material provide an excellent drainage medium and prevent
build-up of pore water pressures.
Owing to logistics problems created by the rains, the
geosynthetic materials including StrataWeb® geocells could
reach the affected site only by the end of July 2016. However
the rehabilitation work commenced immediately, to be
completed within fifteen days, adequately enough for free
flow of traffic.
DESIGN ANALYSIS
On the basis of the soil test carried out at the site by the Assam
PW (Buildings & NH) Division officials, the following
parameters highlighted in Table 1 were considered in design
analysis.
TABLE 1 Parameters considered in analysis

Sr. No. Parameters Units Values
1 Subgrade CBR % 0.50
2 Traffic MSA 20
3 Internal friction of the geocell ° ≥32
infill material passing through
40mm down IS sieve
The flexible pavement was modeled as an elastic multilayer

structure. Accordingly stresses and strains are computed at
critical locations mentioned in Fig. 3.
FIGURE 3 Critical locations for computing strain values
Generally thicknesses of the pavement and its various

components are conventionally determined using IRC: 37-
2012 “Guidelines for the Design of Flexible Pavements” [1].
The objective was to strengthen the pavement section. This
objective could be achieved with the appropriate application
of geocells. Several researchers have confirmed the efficacy of
geocells in pavement construction [2-3]. However, there is
paucity of case studies for evaluating the performance of
geocells [4].
With the proposed geocells, the possibility of rutting would be
greatly reduced with the added advantage of providing an
economic section. In case of flexible pavements, excess
horizontal tensile strains cause reflective cracking over the
bitumen surface and vertical strains causes rutting. Hence it is
significant to evaluate the horizontal strain at the bottom of
bituminous layer and vertical strain at the granular sub-base /
sub-grade junction only.
To compute limiting strain for a given traffic is calculated
based on following equations for fatigue life and rutting life
for 80 % and 90% of reliability.
1 3.89 1 0.854
Nf = 2.21 × 10−4 × ( ) ×( ) (1)
εt MR
1 4.5337
Nr = 4.1656 × 10−08 × ( ) (2)
εv
1 3.89 1 0.854
Nf = 0.711 × 10−4 × ( ) ×( ) (3)
εt MR
1 4.5337
Nr = 1.41 × 10−08 × ( ) (4)
εv
where,
Nf and Nr are the design fatigue life and rutting life in msa
respectively.
εt and εv are horizontal tensile strain and vertical subgrade
strain respectively.
MR is the resilient modulus of the bituminous layer.
Based on the equations 1-4 charts were prepared for
corresponding limiting strains values v/s different design
traffic in msa (traffic ranging from 1msa to 150msa). These
charts are shown in Fig. 4.
FIGURE 4(a) Permissible horizontal tensile strain values v/s
traffic in msa
Horizontal tensile strain values are dependent on the modulus
of bituminous layer. The viscosity gradient and the
temperature variation affect the strain value. In Fig. 4(a) a
small bend at 30msa is a result of the variation of viscosity
gradient and temperature of the bituminous mix.
FIGURE 4(b) Permissible vertical subgrade strain values v/s

traffic in msa
Based on Fig. 4(a) and 4(b) typical values for permissible
strain limit are shown in Table 2.
TABLE 2 Limiting strains for conventional section

Description Value
i. Horizontal tensile strain at the 297.97 x 10-6
junction of the bituminous layer and micro-strain units
granular base
ii. Vertical subgrade strain at the 577.73 x 10-6
junction of the granular sub-base and micro-strain units
subgrade
It was proposed by Strata Geosystems to design road section

with a two layers of StrataWeb® Geocell SW356-150 infilled
with granular sub-base (GSB) material above the subgrade.
Geocells were proposed within Granular Sub-base layer.
Modulus of the portion of the layer within which geocells
were placed was increased by a Modulus Improvement Factor
(MIF). Computations are repeated with IRC recommended
IITPAVE software with the appropriate moduli values.
Varying the thicknesses by trial and error, the section of
geocell reinforced pavement was arrived at as shown in Figure
5.
FIGURE 5 Geocell reinforced section (CBR – 0.5%, 20msa)
The geotextile layer below prevents inter-mingling of the in-

filled GSB within the geocells and the clay of the subgrade.
Material properties for analysis of a geocell reinforced section
are shown in Table 3.
TABLE 3 Material properties for StrataWeb® geocell section
Layer Description Elastic Poisson’s Layer
Modulus Ratio Thickness
(MPa) (μ) (mm)
i. Bituminous Concrete (BC) 1700 0.4 25
ii. Dense Bituminous 1700 0.4 50
Macadam (DBM)
iii. Granular Base (G. Base) 183.84 0.35 350
iv. Granular Sub-base (G.S.B) 65.85 0.35 350
SW356-150
v. Subgrade 5 0.35 -
Computed strain values for the geocell reinforced section are

shown in Table 4. The geotextile for separation, shown in
Figure 4 below the GSB is not considered for computing
strains.
TABLE 4 Computed strains for StrataWeb® section

Description Value
i. Horizontal tensile strain at the 179.8 x 10-6 micro-
junction of the bituminous layer and strain units
granular base
ii. Vertical subgrade strain at the 569.4 x 10-6 micro-
junction of the granular sub-base strain units
and subgrade
DISCUSSION
The computed strain values for the geocell reinforced section
are less than the limiting strain values for conventional section
as shown in Table 5.
TABLE 5 Comparison of strain values for Conventional and

StrataWeb® section
Description Conventional Geocell
section section
i. Horizontal Tensile Strain 297.97 x 10-6 179.8 x 10-6
ii. Vertical subgrade strain 577.73 x 10-6 569.4 x 10-6
CONSTRUCTION
Owing to logistics problems owing to rains, the geosynthetic
materials including the StrataWeb® geocells could reach the
affected site only by the end of July 2016. However
thereafter, rehabilitation work commenced immediately.
Remnants of the existing road were scrapped off. The
subgrade was dressed, levelled and compacted. A nonwoven
was placed above the compacted surface to prevent
intermingling of the engineered section with the weak plastic
subgrade. Work was executed over half the width of the
carriageway while allowing whatever traffic that can painfully
move, to pass along the other side. Construction up to the GSB
above the geocell took about two weeks for the completion.
The construction sequence is shown in the Fig. 6.
FIGURE 6(a) Laying of FIGURE 6(b) StrataWeb®

Nonwoven geotextile on geocells being infilled with
dressed subgrade graded aggregate
FIGURE 6(c) Granular base FIGURE 6(d) Pavement

being compacted without bituminous topping
The geocell solution by Strata allowed immediate movement
of vehicular traffic. Amidst the heavy downpour in mid-
August, the Authorities decided to assess the performance of
the system under regular traffic and put-off asphalting the
surface. The highway was opened to traffic for all class of
vehicles directly over the granular base was laid. Figure 7
shows uninterrupted heavy traffic movement during heavy
downpour. Subsequent to the mid-August downpour and
opening up to regular traffic, no undulation or settlements
were observed on the unpaved section.
FIGURE 7 Continuous traffic movements over geocells during

monsoons
Thereafter, the surface was asphalted and work was deemed

completed. The finished asphalted surface is shown in Fig. 8.
Post construction visual observations were carried out. After
one year, with conditions including the 2017 heavy monsoons,
the condition of the same stretch (Figure 9) has proven the
effectiveness of the geocell reinforced system.
FIGURE 8 Finished asphalted surface
FIGURE 9 Finished surface after one year
No distress in the pavement was observed indicating overall

good performance of the road.
Assam PW (Buildings and NH) Department has candidly
acknowledged the performance of road in one of its
publications, stating “The NH-44 at Churaibari once became
infamous for mud and slash is now transforming into heaven
of natural beauty. All this has been made possible by the use
of geocell in road construction.”
CONCLUSIONS
1. Pavements with high traffic intensity and low CBR
subgrade can be effectively designed with geocells.
2. Geocells enhance the life of pavement thereby reducing
the maintenance cost. Riding quality of the highway also
improves to a great extent.
3. While this case study addressed rehabilitation, geocells do
reduce initial costs where the traffic intensities are high
and the subgrade CBR is poor. Life cycle costs are
invariably reduced.
4. With a leaner cross section, the pavement section can be
laid faster. As this case study highlights, geocells are
indispensable for providing quicker access during
emergencies.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Authors would like to thank Strata Geosystems (India) Pvt.
Ltd. and the Assam Public Works (Building and NH)
Department for extending their cooperation for preparing this
paper.
REFERENCES
1. IRC 37:2012, Guidelines for the design of flexible
pavements (Third Revision), Indian Road Congress.
2. Chandan Basu & Jitendra Kumar Soni (2012), Design
Approach for geocell reinforced flexible pavements,
Highway Research Journal, pp. 1-7.
3. Sireesh S., Vijay Kumar R, V. Suraj and Anand J Puppala
(2013), Repeated Load Tests on Geocell Reinforced Sand
Subgrades, Geosynthetics Conference, Long Beach,
California, USA, pp. 400-409.
4. Rajagopal, K., Chandramouli, S., Parayil, A., & Iniyan, K.
(2014). Studies on geosynthetic-reinforced road pavement
structures. International Journal of Geotechnical
Engineering, 8(3), pp. 287-298.

WRM Paper Nov 29 17 PDF

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

WRM Paper Nov 29 17 PDF

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

WRM Paper Nov 29 17 PDF

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

REHABILITATION OF NATIONAL HIGHWAY

DAMAGED BY RAIN USING GEOSYNTHETICS IN

FIGURE 1 Satellite imagery of the location

FIGURE 2(a) Damaged stretch through the dense forest

FIGURE 2(b) Actual site condition

TABLE 1 Parameters considered in analysis

The flexible pavement was modeled as an elastic multilayer

FIGURE 3 Critical locations for computing strain values

Generally thicknesses of the pavement and its various

FIGURE 4(b) Permissible vertical subgrade strain values v/s

TABLE 2 Limiting strains for conventional section

It was proposed by Strata Geosystems to design road section

FIGURE 5 Geocell reinforced section (CBR – 0.5%, 20msa)

The geotextile layer below prevents inter-mingling of the in-

Computed strain values for the geocell reinforced section are

TABLE 4 Computed strains for StrataWeb® section

TABLE 5 Comparison of strain values for Conventional and

FIGURE 6(a) Laying of FIGURE 6(b) StrataWeb®

FIGURE 6(c) Granular base FIGURE 6(d) Pavement

FIGURE 7 Continuous traffic movements over geocells during

Thereafter, the surface was asphalted and work was deemed

FIGURE 9 Finished surface after one year

No distress in the pavement was observed indicating overall

You might also like