Indian Infrastructure and Role of Geosynthetics
Indian Infrastructure and Role of Geosynthetics
Indian Infrastructure and Role of Geosynthetics In order to fulfill growing population, India needs to develop quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure, including regional and trans-border infrastructure to support economic development and human well-being, with a focus on affordable and equitable access for all.
India is currently ranked 70 out of 140 countries for infrastructure quality in the Global Competitiveness Index. Similarly on the quality of road infrastructure (rank 48), adoption of standards in the coming years will deliver better results.
Sustainable road construction: current practices and future concepts
The road sector produces the highest level of greenhouse gas, directly, through fossil energy used in mining, transportation, paving works...
Besides, huge challenges await the road construction sector such as a cheaper and better production, construction and of course maintenance, all the more as raw materials are becoming scarce and the environmental laws are getting stricter regarding air pollution and noise disturbances. Like the rest of the sectors, the road construction sector needs to face the challenge of sustainability.
Role of Geosynthetics for building Sustainable roads
Conventional construction material like aggregates is becoming progressively scarce on account of environmental concerns as well as legal restrictions on quarrying while the construction activity has expanded phenomenally. This has shifted focus from large scale use of conventional aggregates to use of local, recycled and engineered marginal aggregates in construction.
Geosynthetics can enhance the properties of such recycled and engineered marginal aggregates in construction. Enhancing performance and reducing maintenance and thereby increasing comfort and minimizing interruptions to smooth flow of traffic.
Use of Geosynthetics for various applications in road pavements optimizes the total cost of project as these materials reduce the use of natural aggregates significantly. This in turn reduces the construction period and impact of carbon footprint on the environment.
To summarize, with the use of geosynthetics, apart from technical and environmental benefit the direct cost benefit of 10% to 30% can be achieved based on the site condition and availability of natural aggregates.
Applications of Geosynthetics for Road Construction
Important applications of geosynthetics in developing good transportation infrastructure include:
- Use of Biaxial Geogrids and Geotextiles for subgrade separation and stabilization
- Use of Biaxial Geogrids and Geocells for the reinforcement/stabilization of granular base and sub-base courses of pavements
- Use of Paving fabrics, and Asphalt Interlayer Composite in asphalt pavements
- Use of Drainage Geocomposites for behind the retaining structures & subsurface drainage of pavements
- Use of uniaxial Geogrids and Geostraps for reinforcement of fills for the construction of reinforced soil walls and steep slopes
- Use of Gabions and Geocells for retaining structures and slope protection and stabilization
- Use of high strength polyester Woven Geotextiles, Geogrids, Geocells and PVD's for ground improvement for embankments and reclamation fills on soft ground
Use of geosynthetics in Roads and Provisions in Indian Codes
The new IRC SP 59: 2019 emphasizes on detailed design methodology, specifications, construction guidelines, standard test methods, handling and storage of all the geosynthetics for road pavement applications.
IRC 37: 2018 “Design of Flexible Pavements” also advises for usage of Geosynthetics in cost optimization, complex site conditions and minimization of natural aggregates.
PAVEMENT STABILISATION WORKS IN AMARAVATI, ANDHRA PRADESH
Project : Construction of E10, E14 and N16 roads in AP new capital city, Amravati
Client : Amravati Development Corporation Ltd.
Product and Quantities : Techgrid PP Biaxial 30/30 Geogrid – 2,50,000 Sqm and Techgeo PN 25 Non-Woven Geotextile – 2,50,00 Sqm
Problem : The major challenge was to develop a ring road on the agricultural fields which contain black cotton soils having more than 200% swelling index. So, the government is taking all necessary measures to adopt the global technology to strengthen the road network and make the road infrastructure more durable.
Solution proposed:
After a careful evaluation of the project requirements and site conditions, it was decided to reinforce the pavement section with Techgrid PP biaxial 30/30 Geogrid + Techgeo PN25 Non-Woven Geotextile at the subgrade level.
Specific to the roads developed in the Amaravati capital region of Andhra Pradesh, the subgrade soil is purely black cotton with high free swell index, wherein the current solution to counter the effect of free swell index proposed is to prepare a subgrade of 0.5m with sand before laying the pavement layers (Base and Sub base).
Figure 3: Typical Section of Reinforced Pavement with PP Biaxial Geogrid and Non Woven Geotextile at the subgrade level
In this scenario addition of PP biaxial geogrid will further improve the elastic modulus of the prepared subgrade by the mechanism of lateral restraint and tension membrane effect. This improvement in elastic modulus will minimise the strains developed due to high expansiveness of existing subgrade.
Considering the effect of shallow ground water table, a non-woven geotextile layer is provided below the geogrid. The function of Non-Woven geotextile is to act as separation layer between the subgrade layer and the granular base and sub base layers.
Author by :
Namrata Bichewar (Design Engineer)
Manish Barot (Business Development Head)
TechFeb India Industries
Current Issue
12-2025
