Geosynthetics International, 2006, 13, No. 3 Effect of geotextiles on the load-carrying capacity and deformation characteristics of sabkha soil S.A. Aiban!, Z. U. Siddiqi, O. $. Baghabra Al-Amoudi’, H. M. Al-Ahmadi! and I. M, Asi> "Associate Profeson Departnest of Ci Engineering, King Buhd University of Petroleum and Minerale (KEUPAO, Dhahran 31261, Soult Arabia, Telephone: +966 3 860 2272 Telefe: 9663 8601413, E-mail saban@jepmedsa Department of Civil Engincering, King Fahd University of Peoleum and Minerals (KFUPM), Dhahran 31261, Saul Arabia, Telephone: +9563 8602550, Tolar: +9663 8602879, E-mail 20h 7@onginercom Profesor, Deparment of Chil Engincering and Deputy Dean, Graduate Suds, King Pad Universiy af Patroleum and Mineral (KPUPN), Dhahran 31261, Saud Arabia Telephone: +966 3 860 2268, nef: 1966-4 860 2829, E-mail: amouti inn od z0 “Assistant Professor, Department of iil Engineering, King Fad University of Petrol and Minerale (KFUPM), Dhahran 31261, Sh Arabia, Telephone: +966 3860 2829, Tolefi: +966 3860 2578, Email abmaw@iigm ease Chairman, Civil Engineering Department, Hackente University PO Box 150459, Zarga 13115, Jordan, Mile: +962 793821710, ele: +962 65378867, Email: st @hu.sdujo Received 18 Jul 2005, revised 21 February 2006, accepted 21 Febnuary 2006 ABSTRACT: Road construction on sabia terain along the coastal regions of the Arabian Gulf and the Red Sea i often faced with different types of damage due to the low bearing capacity of sabkha deposits, specially when they are wetted Such conditions necessitate the improverent of sabkha prior to any construction, The purpose of this investigation was to upgrade the lowd-carrying capacity of sabkha soil using gootextiles by varying the geotextle type, base thiekness, moisture condition and the magnitude of the deviatoric suess. To achieve these objectives, a special mould was fabricated to secommodate the soil~fabie-aggrepate (SFA) systems. The perfomance of SFA systems was cuted ty measuring the permanent deformation under the apolid “dynamic” load. Resalls of this study indicate that the selection of an appropriate geotexle type can bring about signifiant improvement in the load-canying capacity of the watersemsitive sabkha soils, particularly undor soaked conditions. The inclusion of a geotetle layer on top of the sabkha subgrade reduced the thickness of the graded base layer by 34%. In addition, the geoiextile increased the stiffness of the ssbka subgrade and reduced the permanent deformation after a certain simbe of load reputations. KEYWORDS: Geosynthetics, Sabkha, Geoteatile, Roads, Load-carying capacity, Steel slag aggregate, Dynamic loading REFERENCE: Aiban, $. A, Siddigi, ZU, Baghabra Al-Amoudi, 0. 8, ALAhmadi, HM. & Asi, LM, (006), Bifect of geotestiles on the load-carrying capacity and deformation characteristics of ‘bia sil. Geosynthetics Intemational, 13, No. 3, 98-110 1. INTRODUCTION The fines content (sit and clay) in sabka is sometimes 1. General significant, depending on the nature of the sabkha, ic. ‘The expeesson ‘sabia’ is originally an Arabic term that whether agillaccous or arenaceous. The sand in tems of hs long been in use to desorbe indefinitely saline Nats mineral constituents, is mostly quartz, but the carbonate that are underlain by sand, silt or clay, and are often and sulphste contents are also significant (Fookes et af cnerusied with salt (-Amoudi 199). Sabkha sediments 1985). Sabkhas, in gonoral, display th following charac- are composed predominantly of sand with occasional teristics layers of clay, clayey silt oF silty clay in addition to the diagenetic salts (halite, anhydrite, gypsum, aragonite, et) that are formed in st, The salinity of the sabkha is very (1) highly saline and shallow groundwater table; high: sabkhs brine salinity can reach as much as 15 times (2) variability of ther constituents in both the horizontal that of soa water (Kinsman 1966; Ellis and Russell 1974). and vertical directions; and 10726349 © 2006 Thomas Telford Lad 98Effect of geotextles om the load-carrying capacity and deformation characteristics of sabiha soit 9 (3) the relatively hard crusty surface caused by salt enerustation and desiccation (Ghali et al. 1985), However, because these soils are sensitive to moisture, collapse and a large reduetion in the bearing capacity are often noted when sabkha soils are flooded with water Such behaviour is attributed to the fact that some of the cementing materials, such as halite, that bond the mineral rains of sabkha togethor are highly soluble in water, In addition, tae ess soluble minrals such as gypsum, aragonite or caleite become very weak upon Mooding. ‘These attributes make sabkha soils susceptible to collapse upon wetting (Al-Amoudi et al. 1992). Because of this, sabkha flats are associated with many engineering pro” blems, such as ravelling, cracking, rutting, and the forma- tion of potholes in recently built “highways and expressways (Farwana and Majideadch 1988; ALAbdul ‘Wahab and Ramadhan 1990). Sabla soils often exist over relatively extensive areas the Arabian Peninsula 2s well as in many other parts of the world. As these soils display variable properties because of their heterogeneous nature, they often require different treatments for the different types of construction, especially in the case of shallow foundations and roads, ‘The main problem associated with sabiha soils in the Arabian Gulf is that many sabkha terrains are situated very close to the major indusirisl areas or population centres, for example the petrochemical complexes in Jubail, ‘Ras Tanura, Yanbu, Rabigh and Jeddah (AKili, 1981; ALAmoudi 1995). In the case of small-scale o¢ shallow construction projects, such as highway embank- ‘ments and small residential buildings, chemical stabilisa- tion seems to be a good altemative, with many technological advantages (Al-Amouei 1994) Despite all the advantages associated with chemical stabilisation, sabkba is not a ‘normal’ sol, in the sense that the presence of large proportions of diagenetic minerals, such as gypsum, halite, aragonite and anhydrite, may Significantly alter the response of sabkha to chemical stabilisation (Al-Amoudi and Asi 1991), In addition, the chemically aggressive nature of the sabkha may deter the usage of chemical stabilisation, especially when consider- ing its long-tem performance. Consequently, previous experience with ‘normal’ soils cannot be easily applied properly to this “unusual” soil. For example, argllaceous sablehas will not respond well to cement stabilisation because of their high gypsum and bassanite contents (Alban ef af, 1999). In fact it bas been reported that the strength of cement-sabilised soils tends to decrease tre- mendously in the presence of smectite and gypsum/ bassanite, upon soaking in water (Akpokodje 1985), whereas an abundance of illite and carbonate tends to produce an opposite effect. Stipho (1989) stabilised two simulated-saline sabkha soils using lime for the fine- grained soil and coment for the coarser-gruined one. ‘Though be observed some improvement in the strength oF both soils, be was not sure about the behaviour when such stabilisation is applied to the ‘genuine’ sabkha soils. Al- Amoudi (1994) conducted an investigation on sabkha soils at high moisture contents using lime and cement, His resulis indicated that cement was very successful in Improving the sabkha strength whereas lime was not Aiban ef al (1999) studied the effects of chemical stabilisation on tree diferent sabchas ftom eastern Saudi ‘Arabia. Their results indicated that cement addition imm- proved tbe suength of sandy sabia, whereas lime addition had marginal effets on the stength of the three sabkhas, On the other hand, the clayey sabia did not respond well to tho addition of coment except when high percentages of coment (more than 7% basod on the dey weight of sabkhs) were used, Theie results clearly indiate that chemical ‘ceatment of poor subgrades may not always be effective or functional. However, othr ground improvement techniques such asthe inclusion of geotentiles may be effective. The use of geotexties is one ofthe most promising and cost-effective means of stabilising poor soils worldwide. Geotexties can bo used in many areas, suchas road and railroad construction, itgation, drainage and erosion control (Kocmer and Welsh 1980). The use of geosyn- tetis in road applications dates ack to the late 1970s, ‘when Webster and Watkins (1977) presenied tho results of their fieldwork. Many publications subsequently fllowed, including those of Webster and Alford (1978), Goud and Noiray (1981), Ramalho-Ontigao and Palmcira (1982), Delmas eral (1986), Aiban et al (1998), Barksdale er af (1989), Perkins (1999), Aiban and Ali (2000) and Leong et al. (2000), Robnett and Lai (1982) successfully used eotextles to allow a substantial recicton in the agare- sate layer thicknoss required to provide a given level of performance for aggregate-surfaced roads over soft soil deposits. Their findings clearly indicate that geosyathetics ate offetive in reinforcing weak subgrades and in separat- ing soft subgrades and the better-qualty fill or graded base material Tn the Arabian Gulf arcas, the use of geotextiles could be an efficient and cost-effective solution for some consicuction problems in the sable sol, Aiban ef al (1998) conducted a pilot experimental progeamme to improve the performance of an easicn Saudi sabkha soil using various techniques. The resulis demonstrated that the use of @ nonwoven geotextile can improve the load carrying capacity of the sabkha by fourfold as compared ‘with the plain sabkha. Abduljauvad er al. (1994) also usod nonwoven geotoxtles to investigate the behaviour of sabkha~fabrie-agaregate systems. In general, they com cluded that, with the incorporation of geotextles, the performance of sabkha-fabric-agarogate systems was imn- proved sinificanly, partculasly when the specimens were flooded with wate. 1.2. Current practice in eastern Saudi Arabia Paved and unpaved roads built over soft, week sabkha subgrade have been used extensively in eastern Saudi Arabia as service roads for pipeline networks or as permanent roads for large plants and industrial facilites, residential areas or military facilities. The weak nature of the sabkha during wet seasons can clearly be seen in the borehole logs shown in Figure 1. The blow count 1 for the top 3m for boreholes 1 and 2 did not exceed 3. On the other band, if the sabkba hes erystalised salt (balite), Geosynthetics International, 2006, 13, No. 3100 Aiba eta Sasa poner sa pertain omcistan stants | “nner sete te concer pas panes ° ‘ “ > 7 2 aa AF ver sn yy a fees wena” I sence : | Es E 9A Grey vor soo sok | i ‘ver sore ar sty R| a ay ih sara | seewinarmn 3 soe 4 4 a ° ‘sea Seema of rss i ae sores Ri = | ° , . | © ° igure. Borehole data for typical sabkha daring wince season (a) Dorhol ; (0) hore 2 the strength is very high, and the blow count reached refusal, as shown in Figure 2. 1tis clear fom the data in Figure 2 thatthe sabkha below the crystallised sat is very ‘weak, with an IV value of only 2, indicating the tow load carrying capacity of sabkha: thus its suitability for construction without improvement is very risky, ‘Vehicular loads on ronds constructed on sabkha sub- grade will eause both vertical and lateral deformation and sates imciionciin | ga expe ee 1 sand, sill, salt and 7 r anhyeite (CL), . Fee ey 4 salt with sil and sand x Be 1 eat eee oF octoze Seeemitcens | so eg ccna Sesearas | ee talied gypsum a 2 Meese ‘gure 2. Borehole data for typical sabkiha with crystallised halite below the crust. ‘movement of the different layers within a short period of time. Typical deterioration of a recently constructed road lover sabkha is shown in Figure 3. It is clear from these photographs that part of the road was displaced laterally, ‘causing an embankmenttype failure, Such bebaviour was observed in a few locations in a paved two-lane road constructed only revently (less than 2 years ago). The two typical failures shown were observed in areas where the sand embankment on top of the weak sabkha subgrade is relatively thin (less than 750 mm thick), as shown in the photographs. On the other hand, when the sand embank- ment is thick (in excess of 1.5m thick), such as the section shown in Figure 4, these types of failure were not observed. Because of the prevalence of sabkha throughout the Arabian Gulf, and the weal nature of such soils, many solutions have heen proposed to (1) improve the load- carrying capacity of subkha soils and (2) overcome the difficulties of construction directly on sabkha. The success ‘of each solution is definitely case dependent. Both chemical stabilisation and deep ground improvement using heavy tamping have been tried on many large projects. In addition, soil roplacement techniques have been tried ‘wherever the sabkha layers are relatively thin, Vibro- flotation and vibro-replacement bave also been used with _zreat success in places where heavy loads are expected. Road construction on sabliha soils is considered somewhat special owing to the nature of the loading and the extent of coverage. ‘One of the most promising solutions for roads on sabkina is the use of a sand blanket underneath the flexible pavement layers. A typical section of a roed showing the thick sand blanket is provided in Figure 4, In this approach, the sabkiha surface is overlaid with a sand layer Geosynthetics International, 2006, 13, No. 3fect of geotextiles on the load-carrying capacity and deformation characteristics of sabkha soit 101 Figure 3. Typical deterioration ofa recently constructed road over sabkca shoving both lateral movement and vertical depression Figure 4. Typical thick sand embankment over sabkha subgrade with wide paved road shoulders that has a minimum thickness of 1.0 m, Such a blanket is _multifunetional, and has the following main objectives (1) Te raises the pavement away from the sabkha wet Tan 2) It provides appropriate access through sabkha during, construction, with free-draining characteristics. )_ The stresses on the weak sabiha are reduced because the suess is redistributed over a larger area, in proportion to the sand blanket thickness, (4) The sand produces a preconsolidation siress during msteuction, which minimises the expected total consolidation settlement before the asphalt layer is placed. (3) It provides layer that has load-carrying: capacity higher than that of the underlying sabkha. ‘This is an optimum solution, provided the final road clovation is consistent with the elevation of existing stcuctures, if any. Furthermore, the sand should be avail- able locally within @ reasonable distance from the con- struction site. However, if the final road elevation needs to ‘be maintained at levels lower than the anticipated one Decause of existing structures or because the cost of sand is very high, geosynthetic materials ean be used to reduce the thickness of the road blanket. 2, EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAMME 2.1. Characterisation and classification of sabkha soil ‘The sabkha soil was retrieved from the Ar-Riyas area, which is located about 30 km south-east of the industrial city of Jubail, eastem Saudi Arabia, as shown in Figure 5. ‘Tho surface was observed to be covered with non-crystal- lised halite, and the groundwater table was found at a depth of about 200mm, The cross-section of the pit excavated in the sabkha to rowrieve the material for laboratory testing is shown in Figure 6 The sabkha material was retrieved from all layers above the ground eS oa c een pa aA Geosynthetics International, 2006, 13, No. 3Figure 6. Photograph showing the layering characteristics of ‘AreRiyassabkcha ‘water table excluding the salt crust. The collected samples ‘were brought to the Geotechnical Laboratory at KFUPM, and the material was first spread on plastic sheets outside the laboratory for aic-drying, Thereafter, plastic hammers ‘were used to gently break the soil lumps to pass through ASTM sieve No, 4, Finally, the whole soil was thoroughly ‘and homogeneously mixed and kept in plastic drums vntil testing. X-ray diffaction (XRD) analysis was eartied out to identify the possible phases present in the Ar-Riyas sabkina, Semi-quantitative XRD results for the sabkha mixture are presented in Table 1. The results revealed the presence of calcium sulphate in the form of anhydrite (CaSOs, 84.5%), halite (NaCI, 7.5%), calcite (CaCOs, 53.5%) and quartz (SiO, 3%), in addition to traces of other minerals (1.5%). Washed sieve analysis was performed in peneral accordance with ASTM D 442, using both ‘listilled water and sabkha brine, as recommended by Al- Amoudi and Abduljauwad (1994). The results presented in Figure 7 indicate that the pereentage passing siewe Aiban et al ASTM Stove No RE esse e 100. 4 Bow é 001 a0 1.00 000 Pareles ne) igure 7. Parfele sie distribution of Ar-Riyas sabkha soll, No. 200 was 97 when distilled water was used and 92 ‘when salbkha brine was used in the washing provess. This leads to a difference of 5%, which is attributed to the dissolution of sabkha salts in distilled water. The miner- logical data presented in Table 2 indicate that this sabkha contains minerals of low solubility, ic. gypsum and anhydrite (Aiban er al. 1998), The liquid limit for this sabkha was found to be 42.5, and 33 when distilled water and sabka brine were used, respectively. The corresponding plastic limit values were 26.3 and 20.4, Thus the plasticity index is 162 for distilled water and 12.6 for sabkha brine. As the classi cation of the soil should be based on the parameters obtained using sabkha brine (Al-Amoudi and Abdul- jauwad 1994), the soil was classified as CL, representing clay of low plasticity according to the Unified Soil Classification System (USCS), and as A.6, representing clayey soil and rated as fair to poor for subgrade, according to the AASHTO classification system. These Tuble 1. Summary of the geotechnical and mineralogical properties of Ar-Riyas sabkiha Pepe ele Particle size ange More thn 50% {passing ASTM sive 200) ied tnt (2) 08) Was dni wate ws Wi sbi tine no Plastic tinit (PL) C4) With csi wate 263 With sbida brine 204 Psy index (PD 0) With distil water 162 With sta bine 6 [AASIITO casicaon AS USCS caifeton cL Maximam dy density (ified Proctor ts) (gen!) 140 Optima maste coateat (OME) (6) ry Miscalogical eomposiéon ©) | Anya Mas Hite 75 Calee 3 Que 30 Ober ier 15 Geosynthetics International, 2006, 13, No. 3Effect of geotextles on the load-carrying capacity and deformation characteristics of sabkhi soil 103 ‘Tuble2, Summary of the technfeal speifieations of the geotextiles® Charsteae™ ‘Sided cote ype (aomeves) a0 0 ‘Mass per wit aca Gn?) ASTM D 5261 140 00 Thickness (under 2KNin#) (mam) ASTM D 5199) 20 40 Tensile sregth (MDICD) (NIS em) EN 200733 sswaso | 10/400 Elongation (MEXCD) (%) EN 200753 >mss | >ra>%0 ‘rab suena (MDACD) () ASTM D 632 sevsoo | 11001500 Grab elongation (MDACD) (4) [ASTM D 4632 >ave% | 40250 Permeabiliy, K (mi) ASTM D 4891 05 Das Teanumiiviy Gt 24m!) (10-6 X mi) | ASTM D A716 ” » AOS (Ox) Gam) ASTM D451 106. 0 TAs prsened by We banat (Mb) chine dnection, CD, srormachine direction, propertis are presented in Table 1. Note that the USCS indicates that the soil is clay whereas the soil does not contain any clay mineral, a6 is evideut fiom the miner- logical analysis presented in Table 1. This is one of the ‘main issues that make sabkiba soils special with regard to the applicability ofthe commonly used sol standards. In order to determine the moisture content-dry density (e-7) telationship, the modified Proctor compaction test. ‘vas cared out according to ASTM D 1557. The reslis shown in Figure 8 indicate that the optimum moisture content (eq) is 14% and the maximum dry density (aon) is 180 g/cm. The California Beating Ratio (CBR) test was conducted for all the samples prepared for tho compaction test (ie. at different moisture. contents) to assess the moisture sensitivity of the sabkha soil. The CBR value atthe dry side of vig tended to increase uni it reached a maximum value of 66 at about wa. Beyond ‘wag. the CBR decreased drastically, reaching’ very low CCBR values. These CBR results indicate the acute water sensitivity of the sabkha, The acute water sensitivity oF ‘ArsRiyas sabkha is further evidenced by the results of the soaked CBR test, whereby the CBR values did not excood 4 rogues ofthe moulding moisture content (Figure 8). 20.9 : » i i Bis 5 (5-9 Bry de sa 15 8-9-0 Uncskedtor} SES seser cae ‘0 eit corn) Figure 8. Effoet of molsture content on dry density and CBR of Ar-Riyas sable soil, 2.2, Characte jes of the geotextiles In this study, nonwoven, needle-punched, polypropylene ‘geotextiles were used. One special characteristic of poly- propylene geotextile is its insensitivity to chemical expo- sure of low and moderate concentrations. These types of gcotextile are manufactured locally, and are used exten- sively in the region for reinforcement, separation and filtration purposes. In this research programme, two sgeotextile grades from the same manufacturer were used, ‘They wore designated as A-140 and A-400, The important properties of these geotextles are summarised in Table 2 2.3, Steel slag aggregate Steel slag aggregate (SSA) was used as a graded base ‘material because of its high density and high strength ‘when compared with sands with similar gradation, High density was achieved by pluviating the SSA from a height of, Im. The SSA usd for this study contained fine particles ranging fiom 0.1 to 2mm in size. The specific ravity forthe steel slag aggregate was 3.47. 24, Large-scale testing mould In this study, a home-made testing mould was manufac- ‘ured to conduct tests on sabkiha soil reinforced with geotextle. The set-up is shown in Figure 9; it consists of a Jarge stainless steel mould having an internal diameter of 750 min and a height of 450mm with a wall thickness of| 64mm. The mould rests on a square stainless steel plate having the dimensions 110mm 110mm and 16mm in thickness. The diameter of the mould is about five times greater than the loading plate diameter (130 mm), in order to avoid the side restraining effect of the mould walls and to provide enough anchorage of the geotextile ‘whereby slippage of the geotextile under the action of forces would be avoided. The mould was made of stainless see] to avoid the chemical aggressivity of the sabkha, In ‘order to soak the samples before testing, four holes were positioned in the lower portion of the mould, as shown in Figure 9. These holes were connected to an upper reservoir coniaining distilled water. A bottom reservoir ‘vas provided to maintain a constant water level during the tests Geosynthetics Intemational, 2006, 13, No. 3104 ian ah tee fey Soi ie nanny Hae = Uw sae = x toa et esta “menann | nar ‘eorement Lover i rence saneoreree NV veservalr e sy ‘Sabina sof load conete Sj eet so chet shen Figure 9, Schematic diagram of large mould and soaking accessories used for dynamic testing of sabkha: 25. Sample preparation ‘The preparation of the SPA samples in the large-seale ‘mould included mixing and compacting the sabkia, placing a layer of geotextle over the subgrade (i.e. sabkha soil), and placing the base material (ie. SSA). Fist, a 20 mm layer of coarse sand was laid in the mould, which ‘vas intended to at as afille/dain. Then, a cixcular piece ‘of geotextil, 750mm in diamete, was placed aver the sand. Such a layer acts as a separator between the sand ‘and sabkna soil, and as filter through which water flows in an upward direction during soaking of the sabkha sample with distilled water. The sabkha soil was mized with a specific amount of water in a large mechanical mixer. A specific amount of soil was placed in the mould and compacted tothe reqused dey density, using the static compaction method by means of a large hyéraulic jack, which acted against a song reaction beam. The sabkha ‘vas compacted in thee lifts having a thickness of 70, 60 and 70-mum, Each layer was compacted at the optimum ‘moisture content, and the relative compaction was kept at 90%. The gcotentile intended for reinforcement was cut into circular pieces wih a diameter of 750 mm and then placed on top ofthe compacted sabkha soil. On top of the peotentile layer, a granular layer of SSA. was provided as 0 ‘ase coarse layer wit diferent thicknesses. As mentioned previously, the SSA was pluviated from a height of Im, ‘with the opening size ofthe pluviaton cove being 15 mm. The samples to be tested under soaked conditions wero soaked through the four holes made in the lower portion Of the mould, which were connected to the top water reservoir, os shown in Figure 9. Soaking was dono by eotextile system permitting distilled water, fom the top reservoir, to flow fiom the botiom upwards through the compacted sample. Full soaking was achieved when the water insido the ‘mould reached the top surface of the specimen. A period of at least 8 to 10h was required for complete soaking. ‘After soaking the sample, the valve of the top reservoir ‘was closed and the valve of the lower reservoir was left ‘open to maintain the constant water level in the sample throughout the test 2.6. Dynamic load testing ‘The dynamic loading set-up, shown in Figure 9, consisted of. sieel loading frame, an sir-powered loading apparatus, and a control system 10 regulate the dynamic load. The load was applied using an clectto-pneumatic system consisting of a pressurised air cylinder, a shuttle valve and 4 three-way solenoid valve. The air eylinder was fixed to the upper side of the loading frame. The air ftom this cylinder pushes the piston, which is eonnected to the load cell, through the rod, to the loading plate on the centre of the top surface of the specimen, In all tests, a seating load ‘of 10 kPa was initially applied to hold the piston to the loading plate. The dynamic lond duration was maintained at 0.15. and the load frequeney at 1 Hz. All tests were performed in the laboratory at a temperature of 23 + 2°C. 2.7. Sample coding and testing ‘The main task in this study was to dynamically load the soil-aggregate and soil~fabric~aggregate (SFA) systems under different conditions. The experimental matrix con: Geospnthaties International, 2008, 13, No. 3Effect of geotestiles on the load-carrying capacity and deformation characteristics of sabkha soil siders: the soaking effect; the load type, ie. static or pulse; the magnitude of the pulse load; the thickness of SSSA; and the inclusion of geotextile with different charac- teristies. Each test was assigned a number in the form of a notation code, Table 3 summarises all the designated sample codes for the various test conditions and the characteristics of each designation. ‘The number of load repetitions and the measured permanent deformation were recorded in a computer that was connected to a data logger. Sensitive LVDTs were used to measure the permanent deformation at four equally spaced points around the perimeter of the loading plate. The permanent deformation at the centre of the loading plate was the average of the four LVDT readings. ‘The permanent deformation readings were plotted against the number of load repetitions for each tos. 3. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 34. General After the application of the 10 kPa seating load, the SEA samples were tested under one of the following theee deviatoric (pulse) stress levels: SOkPa, 100%kPa and 200 kPa, These stress values were chosen to cover a practical range of pressure on flexible pavements (Siddigi 2000). The tests were performed taking into account the following parameters: moisture condition (i.e. soaked or as- moulded); geotextile grade (i.e. the two grades A-140 and A400 geotentles); and base thickness (Le. the three base thicknesses 33, 65 and 98 mm). The permanent deforma- tion was the main output along with the number of load repetitions for all the testing conditions. The effect of different parameters is discussed in the following sections. 32, Effect of soaking Soaking of sabkha sails is considered the most critical condition from the strength and load-cerrying capacity perspectives. The effects of soaking and the presence of sgeotextile layer in the SFA systems are shown in Figure os 10, where the average total deformation (from the four LYDTS) is plotted against the number of load repetitions (®). All samples in these curves were tested under a soating pressure of 10kPa and a deviatoric stoss of 100 kPa, The permanent deformations at selected numbers of load repetitions are presented in Table 4, The data in Figure 10 indicate that the permanent deformation for the ‘three soaked samples was much higher chan that for the ‘two as-moulded samples for the same number of load repetitions. In fact, the soaked unreinforced sabkha sam- ples attained a permanent deformation of 30mm (ic. threshold value) at an 1 value of as low as about 40 165:nm thee SSA yer, 100 Pa pu org = Wout goal, soaked conditons ~ Win A740 goto, soak conatons wim 4400 gto, seated condone + Witt ges, ances condos = Wes ACO gett, 2= ous concn bafornaton ren SHA TI OE TEND TAO Te 3 AF Figure 10, Fifect of soaking and geotextle on deformation of Ar-Riyas sabkha ‘Table3. Experimental design matrix and coding designation for the various SRA systems Tt cxnlidon | Genet ene Bae dike Gm) Ths 6 Denso pie are P5) x 08 ‘Armonlict | Wiad geoexle = x ‘A-140 Gostextile = 3 ‘A400 Gootexte i i ‘Soded ‘Widoutgootexle A-140 Gootente ‘5-400 Groene ‘Avmoilisl sampler = a the coupacion maitre ona P= puke cevisterc loading 1H = Wickoes of SA Layer (ma), the tetas pevTormed, est was pened, Geosynthetics International, 2006, 13, No. 3106 Aiban et al ‘Table4, Summary of dynamée testing results considering effet of different parameters ‘Saople conton Defowaton (am) [No.of load rpatons so [100 [ 20 | so | 100 | 1000 ‘iil oF waking and inclson of getenle Soaked witout geotese, P= 1004s, 1 = 65mm wos] 320] sa] ss] aso] >a Asmbued witout geotestie, P= 100 KF, 268 mm us} ouz| wi] wz] po] us Soaked with A400 gecentie, P= 1007, = 65mm iss} ues | aes | 2 | om | oom Asrmouled with A800 goon, ?— 100s 185mm so} ss] s6] 90] 92] Acimpuled wih A140 gout, P= 100%, = 58mm vo | 2] as] 2] a7 | ss ie of hve tei Soaked witout grote, P— 100%, H= 33mm ms] 43 | ¥7| sa] oo | >a Soaked eth ADO gouenie, P— 100, 1 — 33mm mo| a4] wo} 22) mi} sa Soaked wiout seotedle, P— 100.7, H= 55mm sos | 320 | wa] ss] aso | oss Soaked with $00 goutenle, P= 1001s, H— 6S am iss | 153 | asa | ana | mai | ana Soaked witout seotetle, P~ 100%F, #~ 98mm no} iss | sr] mos] ms | 2x2 Sovked wih A400 acon, P= 100824, H= 98mm ne] a] ws] tes] isi | ans Et of deviate sues levels Soaked widout aeons, P= SOK? H— 65mm Bo] us] so] va] ir] on Soaked with AAUO gouele, P= SOM, #68 am si] 67] 99] 3] us| im Soaked sidout geotexle, P—100%R #= 65am sas | x20] sa] ss] aso | mas Soaked ith A-400 getenle, P= 100, = 68 mm us| iss | ua | a2) ma] “ana Soaked wihoatgeotextle, P~ 200F, 7 ~ 65mm pas | oss | oss | oas | os | os Soaked ih A400 goto, P= 200K, f= 65mm Sas | Sas | 33s | oss | as | os Tet of pete rade Soaked withoat seotectle, P= 100 Fa, #7 = 6 mm sas ua] MS] 50] > Soaked with A140 getetle, P= 100%, 1 ~ 65mm 10 ag | asa] a7 | “as Soaked widh A400 getestle, P= 100%Pa, 1 — 65mm 155 wa | 202] | om Asmoulled without wevteatle, P= 100 MPs, H= 68 mma 3 wi] 7) ne] iss ‘Acmoulled with A400 gootle, P= 1007, H— 68 sn to ss| 0] 92] int repetitions, whereas the deformation of the unrcinforced asmoulded samples was less than 16mm even affer 100,000 toad repetitions. Further, if the soaked and as- moulded samples were compared at a load repetitian of 1000, the permanent deformation values of the two unreinforced samples were 35mm and 13mm, respec- tively (see Table 4). These results clearly demonstrate the extremely deleterious role that soaking may play. Such situations call for extreme caution prior to any construe- tion in sabkhsa terrains, Similar behaviour was observed for the samples reit forced with geotextile, as shown in Figure 10. The permanent deformation of the as-moulded SFA. sample with A-400 geotestile is only 12mm after 100,000 load petitions, whereas an identical soaked SFA sample attained almost 31 mm deformation after the same number of load repetitions. Moreover, the resulting deformations for the two samples shown in Figure 10, at a load repetition of 1000 eyeles, are 9.2 and 22.1 mam in the as- rioulded and soaked conditions, respectively. The corre- sponding valves are 13 and 35mm for the samples without geotextile (Table 4). These results vividly demon- strate the efficiency of geotexiles in improving the per- foumance of sabklis suberade, particularly under soaked conditions ‘The deleterious role of water is attributed to the prosence of water-sensitive ingredients (Le. salts) in the sabkis, particularly the halite (NaCI), in addition to some caleite (CaCOs) and anhydrite (CaSO,), As the solubility ‘of halite is very high compared with that of anbydsite or calcite, the collapse of sabkha microstructure and, conse quently the reduction in the bearing capacity, is probably ascribable to the dissolution of halite and softening of anhydrite and calcite upon water flooding. These minerals act as comenting agents at low moisture contents, thereby producing high ‘superficial’ strength. Such situations may ‘make the sabkba terrains act as hard bases under normal dry conditions. However, upon wetting, the cementing effects are lost, and thus the sabkha soils lose their strength and become soft and very weak. 33. Effet of base thickness ‘Three SSA. base thicknesses were investigated namely 33mm, 65mm and 98mm, which were correlated with the radius of the loading plate (Le. 65 mm), with thickness to plate radius ratios of 0.5, 1 and 1.5 times, respectively. Identical samples with and without geotoxtiles were tested for these three thicknesses under soaked conditions, and the results are presented in Figure 11. The samples were tested under a seating pressure of 10 kPa and deviatoric siress of 100 kPa; A-400 geotextle was used in the SEA specimens. The results are shown in Figure 12, and Table Geasthetics International, 2006, 13, No. 3Effect of geotextites on the load-carrying capacity and deformation characteristics of sabkha soll 107 Soakod saute, 100 iP pus tong = = = Wit gate 38mm ek SSA yer Wot gota, 65m Bick 8A ayer Wout ott, 38mm ick SSA jer === Wit 00 gece, 39 mm Hee SSA yee wir 400 potato, 5 mm hek SSA yor li 9400 geet, 98 rm ek SSA yee ‘Soak comple, 10 KPa pce acing © 0 0 Smmin SSA wer 2 8 A sommmcKESAlaer 2 obmminck ssA Byer ‘ih 0 goto taut get Teel, Detonation ge 0 Detematon ne) r 7 toa DID tse tae TI tee igure U1, Effet of SSA base thickness and geotextie on performance of Ar-Riyas sabkh soll under soaked conditions 4 summarises numerically the deformation values at some selected numbers of load repetitions ‘The results show that, for the SFA systems, the permanent deformation decreases with an inetease in the SSA base thickness for the same number of load repeti tions. The deformations at 10,000 load repetitions for the soaked SFA samples of 33, 65 and 98 mm base thick- nesses with A-400 geotextile were 32.1, 27.1 and 20.5 mm, respectively. For the samples without geotex- tiles, the deformations at the same load cycles (ic. 10,000) were much higher (Tablo 4). The samples with 33 and 65 mm base thicknesses exceeded the failure deforma- tion criterion (Le, 30 mm) before reaching 100 cycles. For the sample with 98 mm base thickness, the deformation at 10,000 load repetitions was 28.2 mm. ‘As summarised in Table 4, the data therein clearly demonstrate that the incorporation of geotextle in SFA. systems reduees the deformation, The deformation of a ‘sample with base thickness 65mm with geotextile is comparable to that of a sample with base thickness 98 mm. ‘without geotextile, This indicates that the use of A-400 _gootextile ean reduce the base layer thickness by 34% for the same deformation. Hence the use of geotextiles ean be ‘economically and structurally justified to reduce the ‘graded base thickness in pavement design and construc- tion. The data also indicate that the use of A-400 sgeotextile with the 98mm thick base layer reduced the permanent deformation significantly. At 10,000 load repe- titions the deformation of sample without geotexiile was Ae tote No, ofa repatos,W Figure 12. Effect of bate thickness and geotextle on deformation of Ar-Riyas sabkha for selected load repetitions 28.2.mm, whereas it was 20.5 mm when A-400 geotextile ‘was used, The data on permanent deformation in Figure LI and ‘Table 4 are reploited in Figure 12 for the samples with and without gootextiles. The data therein show a consis tent trend by having a straight line in tae somi-log plot for all values of < 10,000 repetitions. The discontinuity of the curves at N > 10,000 repetitions and the flatter slope thereafter clearly indicate that compression of the sabliha as a result of the permanent deformation increases its density and its resistance to deformation. Such compres sion is definitely more atthe surface of the sabkha, which ‘means that this portion is getting stiffer and thus will provide more resistance to deformation with further load repetitions, This additional resistance is affected by the inclusion of the geotextile. In general, the data therein indicate that the permanent deformation decreases with increasing base thickness because, when the base thick- ness increases, the load will be spread over a larger area at the level of the sabkha, thereby decreasing the load intensity (i.e. pressure) on the sabklia soil and thus reducing the deformation, 34, Effeet of stress levels ‘The effect of three deviatoric (pulse) stress levels, namely 50KPs, 100kPa and 200 kPa, was investigated. Identical soaked samples with and without geotextiles were tested under these three stress levels. The thickness of the base Geosynthetics Iernatonal, 2006, 3, No. 310s fn these samples was kept constant at 65mm, and A-400 goolextile was invariably used. Curves of the permanent deformation against the number of load repetitions for Afferent deviatoric stress levels are plotted in Figure 13; the deformation st some selected mumbers of load repo tions are quantitatively summarised in Table 4 and plotted in Figure 14. ‘The test results in Figure 13 indicate that the geotextile succeeded in decreasing the permanent deformation in the samples subjected to pulse stress values of 50 kPa and 100kPs, especially for N values greater than 10,000 repetitions. For example, the permanent deformation de- creased from 23.1 mm to 17.1 mm when including A-400 geotextile at a pulse stess of 50kPa. Similarly, the permanent deformation values for 100 KPa pulse stress were 271mm when A-400 geotextile was. included, ‘whereas the corresponding deformation value exceeded 35mm when no geotextile was included. On the other Fhand, there was marginal improvement due to the inclu- sion ‘of A-400 gootextle when the deviatoric stress was increased to 200 kPa. The marginal effet of the geotextile was probably aseribable to the exttemely high load ‘intensity (i.e. 200 kPa), which the weak ‘soaked’ sabkba soil could not tolerate, even when the SFA system was used. Howover, at tho lowor levels of pulsating stress (i.e. 50kPa and 100KPa), the use of geotextile was signifi- cantly beneficial, as documented in Table 4. The data on permanent deformation in Figure 13 and Table 4 are replotied in Figure 14 for the samples with and without sgeotextile. The data therein indicate that the permanent ‘Soaked samp. 65 4 Hck SA ayer 200 se pute ning, wine gotta — = = 200 sep oaing ith 400 getetie {00 Wels sting without ecetia ‘00 krasulee oding, wih A400 geo 20 4Pa ue ong, wot got 50 KPa pute losing. wt. A400 gece oir ee Daten mn) eid Yoag facta oes esata No, oad poten, Figure 13, Effect of devitorie stress level and geotextile on deformation of Ar-Riyas sabkha under soaked conditions Aiban et al Socks samp, 8 minh SSA yer (© s0Pa dover pus sss 2 100 WP devine plo sos Wino geotortlo 90 Deter) x tk T [ Tet peng nea ‘N,foarapestona se tx igure 14, Effet of deviatoric stress level and geotextile on ‘deformation of AR-Riyas sabkha for selected load repetitions ‘under soaked conditions deformation increases as the stress level increases, How- ver, the rate of deformation decreased for N values {xcater than 10,000 repetitions whenever geotentles were used for pulse siress levels less than 100 kPa 25, Effect of geotentile grade The effect of geotextle grade on the performance of SFA systems was investigated by testing two grades of ronvoven, polypropylene geotentile, designated as A140, and A400, ‘which diferod in thoir physical properties, inluding weight, thickness, tensile strength, elongation, and permeability, 25, shown in Table 2. The effect of the geotextle grade om the deformation of SFA systems was investigated for both the as-moulded and soaked conditions. Identical samples of 665 mim base thickness were subjected to a deviatoric tess of 100 kPa, The permanent deformation values are shown agains the numberof load repetitions ofthe soaked and as moulded samples in Figures 10 and 15, A summary of the deformation at some selected numbers of load repetitions is presented in Table 4, The data in Figur 15 indicate that the incorporation of geoteniles significantly increases the load- carrying capacity of the sabkha subgrades, even under seaked conditions. However, the SFA systems displayed variable performance because ofthe different grade of the eotentle used in each SFA system (je. all the other ‘ariables were mainiaed constant in this seies of ts). Figure 15 further indicates thatthe SPA incorporating the A~ 400 geotentile displayed distinctly superior performance as compared with the A-140 geotextile system at all load repetitions Geospntheties International, 2006, 13, No. 3Pifect of geotextiles on the load-carrying capacity and deformation characteristics of sabkha soil 109 | Sonkedsarrlo, 100 puss aig, ‘oie tick SEA yer ee 0 Witt getote mA WR AHO eat Bg — 2 Wom A400 gece Detar (re txt tee ae No, fle eating, Toto igure 15. Bifect of geotetile grade on deformation of AR [iyas sabkha for selected load repetitions under soaked conditions ‘The same observation could be noted for the as- ‘moulded samples shown in Figure 10, whereby the use of ‘A-400 geotextile reduced the deformation; however, the improvement is more pronounced for soaked conditions. ‘As mentioned previously, comparison of the data in Figures 10 and 15 indicates the oxcessive deformation of the sabkha soil under soaked conditions as compared with the as-moulded conditions (soe Table 4), The. superior performance of the SFA system prepared with the A-400 ‘geotextile is aseribable to its superior characteristics, particulary its tensile strength, ‘The data in Figure 15 clearly show that the inclusion of seotextiles is suppressing the deformation, even at a high ‘number of load repetitions (N). The slope of the lines for N > 10,000 ropetitions is flatter than the portions for N < 10,000 repetitions. The test for the sabkha without sootextiles was not allowed to continue for more than 10,000 repetitions because the deformation already ex- ceeded 50% of the graded base thickness (or the radius of the loading plate, ic. 33mm) at a very low valuc of N (200 repetitions). 4, CONCLUSIONS Based on the results of the experimental programme conducted in this investigation, the following, conclusions cean be drawn, ©The soaked sabkha samples exhibited significant ‘strength loss and more permanent deformation than the as-moulded samples. * The sabkha samples with geotextiles displayed significant improvement in the load-carrying capa city of SFA. systems, in both the as-noulded and soaked conditions. However, the improvement level ‘was greater for the soaked conditions and for high N values (ie. more than 10,000 repetitions). * The inclusion of a geotextile layer on top of the sabkdia subgrade reduced the thickness of the graded base layer by 34%. ‘© Tho superiority of SFA systems in decreasing the permanent deformation tends to diminish with increase in the magnitude ofthe pulse stress level + The geotextile grade has a significant effeet on the load-carrying capacity of SFA systems. Geoteatiles with higher tensile strength will enhance the performance of SFA systems, + The sabkha samples tend to get stiffer as the number ‘of load repetition exceeds 10000, owing to the increase in density, particularly for the samples with eotextile and for those subjected to low and ‘medium deviatoric stress levels, 5, Acknowledgements ‘The authors gratefully acknowledge the support provided by the Department of Civil Engineering, King Fahd Uni- ‘versity of Petroleum and Minerals. H. 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Carrying Copociy of Povement on Sabha, MS thes, Depart of Ci TBnpineniag, King Fahd University of Petceum and Mineral, Dhaba, Sead Arabi ‘Sipho, AS” (1889). Some engterng propaties of sailed sine ‘oil. Engineering Geog 26, No 2, 181-197 Nets SL Alford, 84 (1972. Imenigetion of Contraction Concepts for Pavements demas Sof Ground, Tenia Report ‘1846, United States Amy Corps of Engines, Waleriays Expect Satin, Missi USA, Webaeg, SR Wola LE (1077), Invention of Contraction Teciquer for Tactical Bridge Aperoach Roads Acrass Sift Ground, Tecnial Report $77, United Sates Army Cos of Engines, Watersays Experiment Stato, Misispi, USA, “The altars welcome dicusion om al popers plied fa GcorytbetisInterstional Please email your contribution to “Shcnsiondgensateticein naioncom by 15 December 2006 Geasynthties International, 2006, 13, No. 3