104 Paper No.

99-1316 TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH RECORD 1687

Geosynthetics have been used in pavement systems for several purposes,
including reinforcement, layer separation, drainage, and moisture barri-
ers. For the layer-separation application, the geosynthetic material is used
to prevent soil nes from migrating into the base-course layer as well as
stones from this layer from penetrating into the subgrade. This material
migration would affect the drainage capability as well as the structural
capacity of the pavement. However, such an effect is very hard to detect
since soil pumping will occur under the pavement surface, and therefore
a comparison of the performance of different types of geosynthetic sepa-
rators is almost impossible. A 3-year project to study the in situ behavior
of geosynthetically stabilized exible pavements in Bedford County, Vir-
ginia, ended recently. Results from ground-penetrating radar surveys and
materials excavation are presented. Ground-penetrating radar surveys,
falling-weight deectometer results, rutting measurements, and ground-
truth excavation indicated that the separation provided by geotextiles was
important in reducing base-course contamination by subgrade soil. Such
a reduction will signicantly reduce the resilient modulus of the base-
course layer. In addition, service-life predictions of evaluated sections
were conducted based on the traffic applied and rutting distress. Geosyn-
thetics improved secondary-road pavement performance; geotextiles
increased service life more than geogrids, due to their separation function.
Geosynthetics have been used in roads since the 1920s. In 1926, the
South Carolina Highways Department used geosynthetics (heavy
cotton fabric) in eight eld experiments (1). Since then, research
dealing with geosynthetics concentrated on identifying their effec-
tiveness in reducing plastic deformation or base coarse thickness
(24). Other laboratory and analytical research focused on the effec-
tiveness of geosynthetics in reducing rutting or increasing pavement
fatigue life (5,6). In 1993, researchers at Virginia Tech undertook a
laboratory study to validate the performance of geogrids and geo-
textiles under controlled laboratory conditions using dynamic load-
ing (7). The study found that geotextile materials do improve exible
pavement performance. The improvement is due, however, to the sep-
aration characteristic of the geosynthetic and not to the reinforcement,
as previously believed. The separation theory has recently received
new momentum, although its importance was well recognized by
Yoder and Witczak (8) more than two decades ago.
In 1994, a 150-m-long secondary-road exible pavement was
instrumented in Bedford County, Virginia. This test-bed pavement is
composed of nine individual sections. Sections 1 through 3 have a
100-mm-thick limestone base course (VDOT 21-B); Sections 4
through 6 have a 150-mm-thick base course, and Sections 7 through
9 have a 200-mm-thick base course. Three sections were stabilized
with geotextile and three with geogrid; the other three were kept as
control sections. Geosynthetics were placed at the base course-
subgrade interface; a geotextile and a georigid were included in each
base-course thickness group. The pavement portion is located on a
curve of constant radius with an intersection at midlength. The aver-
age daily traffic is a little above 500 vehicles (in summer), with trucks
accounting for 8 to 10 percent.
The pavement instrumentation includes pressure cells, strain
gauges, thermocouples, moisture sensors, and piezoelectric sensors
(9). A Keithley 500-A data-acquisition system was used to collect
instrument responses on site. Data were transferred via a modem to
a Virginia Tech laboratory where they were analyzed over a span of
three years. In addition to instrument responses from inside the
pavement, tests such as resilient modulus and creep modulus were
performed in the laboratory on the hot-mix asphalt (HMA) wearing
surface. Resilient modulus and other physical testing were per-
formed on the base course and subgrade samples collected from
the eld. Periodic rut measurements, falling-weight-deectometer
(FWD) analysis, and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) surveys were
also performed on the test sections. The data were analyzed to deter-
mine the performance of each section. The FWD data have been pre-
sented in another paper (10). In the current paper, GPR survey
analysis performed prior to excavation, rut-depth measurement
analysis, and ground-truth (excavation) samples collected from the
test sections are presented.
GROUND-PENETRATING RADAR
GPR was used in the eld project periodically to monitor any changes
in the pavement system in all sections. A ground-coupled impulse
system with a 900-MHz center frequency was used. Figure 1 shows
the equipment while taking measurements.
The theory of electromagnetic waves is described by a set of basic
laws derived primarily from experiments performed in the 19th cen-
tury by several scientists, including Ampere, Faraday, Gauss, Lenz,
Coulomb, and Volta. The Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell
then combined these laws into a set of vector equations, known as
Maxwells equations. The theoretical concepts of electromagnetic
waves are applied to the design and operation of the GPR. Four dif-
ferent elds are involved in electromagnetic waves: the electric eld
(E)

, expressed in Volts/m; the magnetic eld (H)

, expressed in
amps/m; the electric ux density (D)

, expressed in Coulomb/m
2
; and
the magnetic ux density (B)

, espressed in Weber/m
2
. These elds
satisfy at any point in space and at any time the set of Maxwells
equations given by
Faradays Law: ( ) =

E
B
t
1
Evaluation of Geosynthetics
Used as Separators
AMARA LOULIZI, IMAD L. AL-QADI, SALMAN A. BHUTTA, AND
GERARDO W. FLINTSCH
A. Loulizi, I. L. Al-Qadi, S. A. Bhutta, G. W. Flintsch, Virginia Polytechnic
Institute and State University, The Charles Edward Via Jr. Department of
Civil and Environmental Engineering, 200 Patton Hall, Blacksburg, VA
24061-0105.
Loulizi et al. Paper No. 99-1316 105
where J

is the electric current density (A/m

2
), and
v
is the volume
charge density (C/m
3
). The electric eld and the electric ux density,
as well as the magnetic eld and the magnetic ux density, are also
related through what is known as the constitutive relations given by:
where
r
and
r
are relative permittivity (dielectric constant) and the
relative permeability, respectively, and
0
and
0
are the permittiv-
ity and permeability of free space (
0
= 8.854 10
12
Farads/m and

0
= 4 10
7
Henries/m).
Materials are roughly classied as either conductors or dielectrics.
The dividing line is frequency dependent. This means that materials
could be classied as conductors in one part of the frequency range,
and as dielectrics in another part. The criterion for classication is the
value for / where is the electric conductivity, is the angular
frequency, and is the dielectric constant. When this value is greater
than 1, the material is considered to be conductive; when it is less than
1, the material behaves as a dielectric. At the frequency range of the
GPR system used in this study, the pavement system materials are
B H
r

=
0
6 ( )
D E
r

=
0
5 ( )
Conversation of magnetic charge: =

B 0 4 ( )
Gausss Law: =

D
v
( ) 3
Amperes Law: = +

H J
D
t
( ) 2
considered to be low-loss dielectrics. This means than an electro-
magnetic wave would be able to travel through these materials, but
the amplitude of the wave would be attenuated. This could be written
in equation form, for the electric eld, for a wave travelling in the (+z)
direction as
where k is the complex-wave number. For the materials encountered
in pavements, the real part of the wave number, called the phase
constant, is approximated by and therefore, the speed
of propagation of the wave will be
where
0
is assumed one for pavement materials. The imaginary part
of the wave number is called the attenuation constant. The skin
depth of the wave is dened as the depth at which the wave falls to
e
1
of its initial value, and it is found by = 1/k. When an electro-
magnetic wave travels through two different materials, at the inter-
face, energy will be reected and transmitted. The degree of
reection depends on the relative dielectric constants of the two
materials. This is approximated by
Equations 8 and 9 are considered as the basis for interpreting GPR
data. From Equation 8, one can calculate the depth of a hidden inter-
face from the measured time of reection and the known dielectric
constant of the medium. From Equation 9, one can realize that the
degree of reection at an interface depends on the relative dielectric
constants of the two materials. The higher the absolute value of r
(high contrast between the two media), the stronger the reection,
and therefore, the easier the identication between the two media.
The criterion used to determine if contamination exists in the base
layer is to monitor changes in the amplitude of the reected signal at
the base/subgrade interface as shown in Figure 2. When contamina-
tion (soil movement into subgrade) is present, the amplitude of this
signal will be low due to the weak contrast between the dielectric
constant of the base material and the subgrade soil. This is because
the subgrade nes migrated to the base layer, and therefore the
dielectric constant of the heterogeneous material becomes closer to
that of the subgrade. When contamination is not present, the ampli-
tude of the signal is high due to the contrast in the dielectric constant
of the base material and the subgrade material (due to the signicant
r
r r
r r
=

+


1 2
1 2
9 ( )
v
k
c
r r
=

= =

1
8
0 0

( )
= k ,
E E e
kz
=

0
7 ( )
FIGURE 1 GPR system used in study.
FIGURE 2 Typical GPR waveforms showing the
interfaces between layers.
difference in their dielectric constants). A color code can be used to
represent the intensity of the reected signal. This means that differ-
ent colors are assigned to different ranges of the reected wave ampli-
tude. A weak reection is represented by green (homogeneity in the
scanned material, which leads to no wave reection), while red and
dark blue represent great changes in the dielectric properties.
In addition to periodic surveys, three GPR passes were taken for
each section in October 1997 before excavation of the HMA wear-
ing surface: one pass over the inner wheel path, one pass over the
outer wheel path, and one pass in the middle of the lane. Figure 3
shows the GPR radar data for the three sections over the inner wheel
path. From this gure, it is clear that the amplitude of the reected
wave from the base/subgrade interface is higher in Sections 2 and 3
than it is in Section 1. This would imply that more contamination
has occurred in the control section compared to the sections stabi-
lized with geosynthetics. A similar trend was observed in the outer
wheel path and the middle of the lane.
Excavation and Gradation Analysis
In October 1997, 600-mm-wide strips from the instrumented lane
were carefully excavated from the rst three sections of the test bed
(Sections 1 through 3), as shown in Figure 4, to visualize the extent
of contamination in the base-course layer. After the HMA layer in
the respective sections had been removed, prefabricated forms were
placed on top of the base course in the outer wheel path, the inner
wheel path, and the middle of the lane. Figure 5 is a schematic of the
excavated pit.
The prefabricated forms were made out of wood and had four rec-
tangular openings with inside dimensions of 230 mm 230 mm.
Sampling of the base course material was performed in Locations 1,
2, 3, and 4 as shown in Figure 5a for each form. The excavations
were performed in 50-mm-deep increments in the base course, and
the depth of excavation was measured for accuracy. A total of four
samples for each depth increment were taken per location in each
excavated section. Once the bottom of the base course was reached,
the excavation was carefully performed in order to avoid accidental
intermixing of the subgrade into the base course, especially in the
control and geogrid-stabilized sections.
Base-Course Samples
A total of 72 samples were collected from the three excavated test
sections. All samples were properly labeled, placed in moisture-
proof bags, and brought from the site to the laboratory for further
testing. Once the base-course samples were collected, the whole
600-mm-wide strip of base course was cleared in three sections. The
geotextile and the geogrid samples were collected from the exca-
vated area. With the base course cleared and the geosynthetics
removed, samples from the subgrade were taken from all the exca-
vated sections. Samples were taken in 50-mm-deep increments from
the subgrade, underneath the locations where the base-course samples
were taken.
Moisture Content
Two different types of tests were performed on the base-course
samples collected from the field: standard test method for total
106 Paper No. 99-1316 TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH RECORD 1687
moisture content of aggregate by drying (ASTM C566-89) and
standard test method for sieve analysis of ne and coarse aggregate
(ASTM C136-95a). For the moisture content, base-course and
subgrade materials were measured rst in the eld using a micro-
wave oven. Other samples were transported from the site in seal-
able plastic bags to avoid loss of moisture. All the samples were
tested, and it was found that the moisture contents of the tested
FIGURE 3 GPR scan of inner wheel path: (a) Section 1;
(b) Section 2; (c) Section 3.
Loulizi et al. Paper No. 99-1316 107
compared to the gradation curves of the base-course material
before construction.
Figures 6 through 8 present these curves for the inner-wheel path
samples of Sections 1 through 3, respectively. From these gures, it
is clear that the nes percentage of the base-course material had
increased over the past three years for all sections. However, a dif-
ference between the three sections is also noticeable. The nes rep-
resent approximately 16.1 percent for the control section, 15 percent
for the geogrid-stabilized section, and 12.4 percent for the geotextile-
stabilized section. Figure 9 compares the gradation curves for the
sampled material obtained from the inner-wheel path of all three
sections. The relative difference between the percentage of nes in
the three sections is signicant, which supports the visual observa-
tions made in the eld during the excavation, the FWD results (10),
and the GPR survey. Similar gradation curves were developed for
the material sampled from the outer-wheel path and the middle of
the lane for all sections. All gradation curves have shown lower per-
centages of nes in the geotextile-stabilized section compared to the
control and geogrid-stabilized sections.
Subgrade Samples
Subgrade samples were taken from underneath the same locations
from which the base course samples were collected at depths of 50,
100, and 150 mm. Moisture content of the samples was determined
using the ASTM C566-89 standard. All the samples were tested, and
it was found that the moisture contents of the tested samples varied
between 25 and to 31 percent. These values were in agreement with
the microwave-oven measurements and those of the embedded mois-
ture sensors. Gradation analysis was performed on all the samples
collected from the site. For the portion passing a 75-mm sieve, the
hydrometer method was used. Figure 10 shows the gradation curve
for the sample collected from the inner-wheel path of Section 1.
There was no signicant difference in the gradation of the samples
collected from all the sections near the base course-subgrade inter-
face. This indicates that the subgrade nes present in the base course
may be pumped from a depth greater than 150 mm inside the sub-
grade. Since the presence of large quantities of nes is evident in the
base course (and was observed as soil), the possible development of
pressure gradients at depths greater than 150 mm is the probable
cause of subgrade nes migration. Perkins and Brandon (11) noticed
this phenomenon in a laboratory study.
Geosynthetic Material
The geosynthetic samples collected from the eld were tested for
ultimate strength and ultimate elongation. Table 1 shows the test
results for the geosynthetics before the start of the test project in
July 1994 and after 3 years of in-field testing in October 1997.
There is considerable reduction in the geotextile ultimate strength
in the warp direction (33 percent), whereas in the ll direction, the
ultimate strength of the material did not change. Geogrid, on the
other hand, did not encounter any significant changes in ultimate
strength after three years of testing. There was considerable strain
development in the geotextile in the warp direction (59 percent)
compared with the ll direction (26 percent). Geogrid, on the other
hand, developed 39-percent strain in the machine direction and a
52-percent strain in the cross-machine direction. This strain devel-
opment is a direct result of the distress encountered by the section.
aggregate samples varied between 5.8 and 6. 3 percent. These val-
ues were in agreement with the microwave-oven results and the
values obtained using the embedded moisture sensors presented by
Al-Qadi et al. (9).
Base-Course Gradations
The total number of samples collected from the field, 72, was quite
high. Samples 1 and 2 and Samples 3 and 4 were combined for
each location (Figure 5a). The final number of gradations per-
formed was reduced to 36. These 36 gradations were performed by
washing the aggregate through a 75-mm sieve and then drying it in
the oven at 110C for 24 h. This step (ASTM C136-95a) was incor-
porated to break up the conglomerated fines in the sample. Grada-
tion curves for the sampled materials from all three sections were
FIGURE 4 Section 1 after removing the hot-mix asphalt layer.
FIGURE 5 Test section with forms: (a) plan; (b) elevation.
108 Paper No. 99-1316 TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH RECORD 1687
Although the geotextile has a cloth-like nature, the lower level of
developed strain in the geotextile indicates lower structural dis-
tress, possibly because of maintaining the structural integrity of the
base-course layer.
PERFORMANCE OF TEST SECTIONS
The aforementioned results from the GPR survey and excavation
are in agreement with the rutting results. The performance of the
rst three test sections was compared in terms of rutting develop-
ment to evaluate the effect of the two stabilization alternatives on
the service life of the pavement. The rutting resulted from three
years of service (exposed to normal traffic and controlled research
traffic applied during an accelerated loading period in August
1996). The normal traffic on the test section was monitored using
a traffic counter and the piezoelectric sensors. The average number
of vehicles per day recorded for each month is presented in Table
2a. This monthly distribution was projected using a 3-percent
growth rate to estimate any data for specic missing periods. These
values were then used to compute the number of 80-kN-equivalent
single-axle loads (ESALs) applied per day considering the per-
centage of trucks at 10 percent and a truck factor of 1.28, as shown
in the last column of Table 2a.
The controlled research traffic was applied using a truck with a
134-kN axle load and a tire pressure of 700 kPa. The number of
passes and ESALs per day over the 2-week period of analysis is pre-
sented in Table 2b. The ESALs were computed using the AASHTO
FIGURE 6 Section 1, Layer 2, inner-wheel-path base-course gradation.
FIGURE 7 Section 2, Layer 2, inner-wheel-path base-course gradation.
Loulizi et al. Paper No. 99-1316 109
equivalent axle load factor (EALF) for the 134-kN axle, a structural
number of 2.6, and terminal present serviceability of 2. These
ESALs were added to the normal traffic to compute the total loading.
Figure 11 presents the evolution of rutting as a function of the
number of 80-kN-equivalent single-axle loads applied during the
first 3 years in service for Sections 1 through 3. The three sections
had an increase in rutting of approximately 7 to 9 mm in the first
few weeks of service. This was probably due to the initial com-
paction of the HMA wearing surface due to traffic. After this ini-
tial compaction, the rutting progression followed a rather linear
pattern. Thus, linear regression analysis was used to model the rut-
ting progression after the initial consolidation. The best-fit mod-
els obtained are plotted superimposed to the rutting measurement
in Figure 11, and the goodness-of-fit statistics are presented in
Table 3. The coefficients of determination and mean square errors
for all three equations are very reasonable, taking into account the
high variability usually encountered when conducting distress
surveys in pavements.
For comparison purposes, the service lives of the three sections
were computed using the linear equations obtained and a terminal rut-
ting of 20 mm. The service lives computed are presented in Table 4.
It is clear that the inclusion of geosynthetics increased the service
life of the pavement. The geogrid-stabilized section carried 82 per-
cent more ESALs before failure than the control section, while the
geotextile-stabilized section carried 134 percent more ESALs before
failure than the control section. In addition, considering that geo-
textile is less expensive than geogrid, the service-life-cycle-cost of
geotextile-stabilized pavement will be more effective.
FIGURE 8 Section 3, Layer 2, inner-wheel-path base-course gradation.
FIGURE 9 Layer 2 inner-wheel-path base-course gradation for all three sections.
110 Paper No. 99-1316 TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH RECORD 1687
FINAL REMARKS
It appears that geosynthetics improve secondary-road pavement per-
formance. Ground-penetrating radar surveys, FWD results, rutting,
and ground-truth excavation (base-course and subgrade gradation
analyses) indicate that separation provided by geotextiles is important
to reducing base-course contamination by subgrade soil. Such a
reduction would signicantly reduce the resilient modulus of the base-
course layer. Service-life analysis of test sections supports earlier lab
testing at Virginia Tech. Both geosynthetics can increase pavement
service life, but geotextiles provide a greater increase in service life
than geogrids due to their separation function.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors acknowledge the nancial support of the Virginia Center
for Innovative Technologies and the Amoco Fabrics and Fibers Com-
pany. The invaluable help and support provided by the Virginia
Department of Transportation, especially Barney Barnhart and Jeff
Kessler, are greatly appreciated. Special acknowledgments go to
Alexander Appea, James Bryant, Brian Diefenderfer, Ramzi Khuri,
and Stacey Reubush for their help during the excavation.
FIGURE 10 Section 1 inner-wheel-path subgrade gradation.
TABLE 1 Characteristics and Properties of Geosynthetics Before Installation and
After Excavation
TABLE 2 Traffic in Test Sections: (a) Monthly Normal
Traffic Distribution; (b) Controlled Research Traffic and
Loading
Loulizi et al. Paper No. 99-1316 111
FIGURE 11 Rut depth progression in Sections 1, 2, and 3.
TABLE 3 Linear Regression-Model Statistics
TABLE 4 Computed Service Life for Sections 1, 2, and 3
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Publication of this paper sponsored by Committee on Geosynthetics.