The use of geosynthetics in roads

Abstract

This paper addresses unpaved and paved roads improved with geosynthetics, such as geotextiles, geogrids and geocells. The paper examines the mechanisms associated with the use of geosynthetics to improve roads, describes the principles of the design methods used to quantify the benefits of geosynthetics used in unpaved and paved roads, presents case histories to demonstrate the use of geosynthetics to solve challenging road problems, and discusses the relevance of tests and trials to real roads. This paper is supplemented by four presentations in pdf format that contain more than 800 slides. These four presentations are updated versions of the four presentations made during a one-day short course at the 11^th International Conference on Geosynthetics held in Seoul, Korea, in September of 2018. The paper that follows contains a summary of each of the four presentations, with special emphasis on key issues.