01372830

Component

Geocellular confinement systems (geocells) are 3-dimensional honeycomb-like structures filled with an in-fill of some available materials that vastly improve shear strength of in-fill materials. Geocells have the possibility of being a viable solution for the challenges of low-volume paved road reconstruction. The objective of this study was to test geocell designs with different in-fill materials and a thin hot-mix asphalt (HMA) overlay under full-scale loading. To achieve this study objective, four pavement test sections were constructed at the Civil Infrastructure System Laboratory of Kansas State University. Three out of these four lanes had geocell-reinforced bases with three different in-fill materials; crushed limestone; quarry by-products; and Recycled Asphalt Pavement. The fourth test lane was the control section consisting of crushed stone base. All sections were heavily instrumented. Repeated loads (80-kN single axle) were applied using an accelerated pavement testing machine. The sections with 50-mm HMA layer reached the failure criteria of 12.5- mm rut depth after 10,000 passes due to excessive stress in the subgrade. The redesigned sections with 100-mm HMA layer carried 500,000 passes with less than 6-mm rut depth. Thus geocells with marginal materials as in-fills appear to be viable in low-volume paved road applications.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AFB30 Low-Volume Roads

01362476

12-3662

English

16p

2012

Transportation Research Board 91st Annual Meeting

Digital/other

Figures; References; Tables

Crushed limestone; Low volume roads; Overlays (Pavements); Reconstruction; Recycled materials; Repeated loads; Shear strength

Accelerated pavement tests; Geocells

Construction; Highways; Materials; Pavements; I30: Materials; I52: Construction of Pavements and Surfacings

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2012 Paper #12-3662

TRIS, TRB

Feb 8 2012 5:18PM