Composite Geotextiles a new generation of protectors

The Company has installed and commissioned a new line to manufacture geocomposites. This significant investment provides the Company with the capacity to manufacture 6m wide materials using the GEOfabrics needlepunched geotextiles and a diversity of other geosynthetic materials including: impermeable membranes drainage cores geogrid reinforcement filter fabrics

Updating the Stone Calculator The Company's laboratories expect to carry out sufficient cylinder tests with the new materials and larger stone sizes, to enable the Stone Calculator to be extended to deal with stone up to 40mm and waste up to 50m deep (the Stone Calculator is an Excel spreadsheet which appears on the GEOfabrics' web site and is also available, on request, from GEOfabrics Limited). To date, the laboratories have carried out over 50,000 hours of cylinder tests, with different stone and geotextiles, to enable the current Stone Calculator to be generated. This enables landfill engineers to quickly identify the HP grade to deal with a particular size and cost of stone and a specific depth of waste. A cylinder test can then be carried out with the protector and the stone to confirm its suitability. The new GEOfabrics composite protectors are much thicker than traditional geotextiles. They are also capable of resisting puncture by larger, more angular stone, to ensure that any strains within a geomembrane are below the level set by the Environmental Agency.

Geotextile protectors for large aggressive, drainage materials and deep landfills As the market leader for geomembrane protectors in the UK, the Company have monitored a trend for Operators wanting to use larger stone for drainage purposes. Quite often this is angular, crushed stone and this had meant that the existing protectors had proved to be either borderline or ineffective in dealing with point loads imposed by upwards of 50m of waste. One aspect of the new process is that it allows geotextiles to be bonded to each other and, as a result, HP 25, 30, 35 and 40 have been created - these have 25, 30, 35 and 40kN CBR Puncture Resistance (respectively). Previous to this the highest-rated GEOfabrics' product had been 19kN.

The new GEOfabrics composite protectors are much thicker than traditional geotextiles.They are also capable of resisting puncture by larger, more angular stone, to ensure that any strains within a geomembrane are below the level set by the Environmental Agency.

Composite Geotextiles a new generation of geocomposites

Barriers, drains, filters and reinforcement Geocomposites provide Contractors with a simple premise - rather than unroll individual components, operatives can now place a single 6m wide product. It could be: a geomembrane with integral protection for landfill containment a geogrid with a separator/drainage layer for the base of an embankment constructed using a marginal soil a cut-off drain with it's own filter and barrier for isolating contaminated land
Gas collection liner composite

Capping seal with run-off drain & protection layer

These are just a few of the many combinations. Engineers can specify the in-service functions required, the properties - such as In-plane Flow Capacity, Puncture Resistance or Chemical Resistance, and GEOfabrics can bond together the appropriate geosynthetic components and provide a single solution.

Textured geomembrane with integral drain and filter

Side-wall liner with integral protection

Waste or contaminated soil

Soil to be protected

Diagram example: filter - drain - barrier - protector in the form of a single Geocomposite

Drainage/protection layer with integral band drains

Visit GEOfabrics' web site at www.geofabrics.com to view product specifications, case studies and other relevant information regarding the Company's products.

Skelton Grange Road, Stourton, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS10 1RD, United Kingdom Telephone +44 (0)113202 5678 . Facsimile +44 (0) 113 2025655 Email info@geofabrics.com . Website www.geofabrics.com