ADAMSON UNIVERSITY

Graduate School

Term Paper on
Geosynthetics Engineering

Paper Title

APPLICATION OF GEOSYNTHETICS FOR THE PROPOSED ROAD REBLOCKING

PROJECT AT CARARAYAN-PACOL ROAD, NAGA CITY, CAMARINES SUR

KHYRWIN O. HIDALGO
Student Name

MARIA CECILIA MARCOS, Ph.D. CE

Professor

MAY 22, 2021

1. INTRODUCTION

One of the biggest challenges in the field of civil engineering is the degradation of road
concrete pavement. Although it is undeniable that road pavement requires maintenance in order
to maximize its service life, it is important to note that the life of these roads is heavily
dependent on the soil and subgrade on which they were built. Weak subgrade soil is a common
problem in road construction. A significant deformation of the subgrade can lead to degradation
of the paved or unpaved surface, whether it is a temporary access road or a permanent road built
over a weak subgrade. (Abu-Farsakh et al., 2016) When the subgrade quality for a proposed road
project is not taken into account, it is not far from reality that life span of concrete roads will
deteriorate in less than its designed life.

When concrete roads exhibit signs of deterioration in the Philippines, asphalt overlaying
for the whole surface or tar pouring to patch gaps in the concrete road is common practice.
However, with severely damaged concrete pavements, road re-blocking is the preferred option.
This is the removal and replacement the concrete pavement with a new one. Not only is this
method costly, but it also creates traffic delays. In the Philippines, road construction has not yet
innovated to seek for new ways to extend the life of these concrete pavements, and engineering
authorities seldom do geotechnical analyses for road projects in provincial regions.

Geotextiles and geogrids are the most often utilized geosynthetic products in roadway
systems, although erosion-control products, geocells, geonets, and geomembranes have also been
employed in a variety of applications. These diverse geosynthetics can be employed to provide
one or more specific functions in a wide range of highway applications. Geosynthetics in road
construction can be used for a variety of applications.  Separation, filtration, reinforcement,
stiffening, and drainage are among others. Geosynthetic separators are used to keep two
dissimilar materials together while preserving their integrity and functionality. Geosynthetics can
also be used as a filter, allowing fluids to pass over a plane while retaining small particles.
Geosynthetics are used as reinforcement to keep the soil-geosynthetic composite stable. To
control the deformations in the soil-geosynthetic composite, stiffening is used. Finally,
geosynthetics can be used to allow liquid or gas to move within the structure's plane. (Zornberg,
2017) The use of geosynthetics in road pavement construction has a significant influence since it
extends the service life and reduces degradation.

The route between Sitio Salunguigui in Cararayan to Pacol in Naga City, Camarines Sur
Province, has severe road damage, despite the fact that a portion of it was re-blocked in 2019. If
no other engineering solutions are given, this never-ending problem will only worsen. In this
study, geotechnical engineering aspects of the proposed re-blocking site will be considered, and
solutions including the use of geosynthetics will be presented.
2. GEOLOGICAL SETTING

Naga City is centrally located in the province of Camarines Sur, about 377 kms south of
Manila and 100 kms north of Legazpi City, Albay. Nestled at the foot of Mt. Isarog, the city has
a total land area of 8,448 hectares or 84.46 sq kms. On the Philippine Map, it is placed between
13 to 14° North Latitude and between 123 to 124° East Longitude. It is bounded on the North by
the towns of Canaman, Magarao and Calabanga; on the East by Mt. Isarog; on the South, by
Milaor and the capital town of Pili; and on the West by the town of Camaligan.

Fig 1. Map of the City of Naga

The city’s terrain generally slopes upward from west to east. Its city center, trisected by
the Bicol and Naga rivers which are fed by creeks and riverine that crisscross the city, is located
near its lowest point, making it susceptible to flooding when unusually heavy rainfall causes
these waterways to overflow. The low flatlands from the city center up to the upper barangays of
Pacol and San Isidro at foot of Mt. Isarog have slopes of 0-3% (almost level) to 3-8% (nearly
level to slightly sloping). Collectively, they account for 58% of the total land area. On the other
hand, the eastern part covering barangay Carolina has slopes of 8-18% while Panicuason, which
includes the Forest and Parks Reserve of Mt. Isarog that forms part of the National Integrated
Protected Areas System (NIPAS), has the steepest from 18-30% and above.

The city has three corresponding soil types namely, Pili clay loam, Tigaon clay, and
Bulusan loam. Pili clay loam are poorly drained and renewed by the Bicol River every year by
delivering ang depositing materials and organic matter from the highlands by flooding, and this
series is located in the low elevation areas of the city. Tigaon clay is found in the midland
barangays of Naga, namely Pacol, Cararayan and San Isidro. It is said that Tigaon clay has good
moisture retentivity with water easily percolating through the soil layers. The Bulusan Loam, the
primary soils developed from weathering of massive to fragmented volcanic rocks, is found in
the upper barangays of the city.
barangays Cararayan, and Pacol, which are located in Naga's midland. The road was buil
prior to Naga's hosting of the Palarong Pambansa 1997, with the goal of connecting the maj
r roadways of Pacol and Cararayan. The pavement has been maintained several times and severa
road re-blocking projects have been implemented given the fact that it is over
0 years old. Despite the local government's maintenance efforts, the concrete pavement of the a
orementioned r

Fig 2. Deterioration of the road concrete pavement

 To estimate the soil property of the span of the road, the data from the Naga City Ecology
Report and a soil boring test that was conducted near the road span will be consolidated. The
location of the soil boring test obtained is at Pacol Naga City. According to the Ecology report,
the soil that Pacol and Cararayan has is called Tigaon clay, which has good water retentivity with
easy percolation through soil layers. The soil boring test reflected that the soil layers from 0-4
meters below the ground surface is Silty Sand (SM), and 4-8 meters below the ground is Clayey
Sand (SC). The ground water was also encountered 0.8 meters below the ground surface.

Fig 3. Boring logs of the soil test

 The top layer of the soil in the mentioned location is Silty Sand (SM). Silty sands are
considered problematic because they are prone to collapsing when exposed to water. (Abbasi and
Mahdieh, 2018) This discovery might be the cause of the deterioration of the area's road concrete
pavement, as it is not best suited for road applications due to its collapsing capabilities.

3. PROPOSED ROAD REBLOCKING PROJECT PLAN

Fig 4. Location map of the proposed re-blocking project

Fig 5. Typical section of the road

 As seen on the figures are part of the plans for the proposed road re-blocking project. In
the typical section, it can be seen that the plan for the road is to remove the damaged block and
replace it with a 300 mm thick road pavement, the initial assessment might be that the old
concrete pavement, with a thickness of 200 mm, might not suffice the load carried by the road.

Fig 6. Damaged concrete pavement

4. GEOSYNTHETICS FOR ROAD APPLICATIONS

Weak subgrade soil is a common problem in road construction. Whether it is a temporary

access road or a permanent road built over a weak subgrade, a large deformation of the subgrade
can lead to deterioration of the paved or unpaved surface. The use of cementitious materials to
treat/stabilize the poor subgrade is a conventionally accepted practice by many state highway
agencies. However, geosynthetics offer an environmentally friendly and potentially economical
alternative solution for reinforcing/stabilizing roads built over weak soil. The concept of using
geosynthetics as reinforcement in roadway construction started in the 1970s. Since then, many
experimental, numerical, and analytical studies have thus been performed to evaluate the benefits
of using geosynthetics in pavement application. (Abu-Farsakh et. Al, 2014)

The following should be addressed in order to make the base of the roadway suitable for
road purposes: (1) viable options to combat the water retentivity of the soil as it causes the
collapse of the dominant soil, (2) Reinforcement of the road base to further strengthen and stiffen
the concrete pavement.
4.1 IMPROVEMENT OF LATERAL DRAINAGE
 Fig 7. Geosynthetic as a lateral drainage

Moisture in both the base and subgrade layers of a pavement is detrimental, as it

compromises the mechanical properties of these soils. The importance of lateral (internal)
drainage in a highway is sometimes overlooked by designers, who instead focus on constructing
thick, high-quality material layers while missing appropriate drainage features. Unfortunately,
retained moisture under a pavement will aggravate pavement distresses by increasing pore
pressures and weakening the subgrade soil.

Conventional geosynthetic drains include geo-composite drainage products (a

combination of geonets and geotextile filters) and geotextiles with comparatively high
transmissivity. However, traditional geosynthetic materials can only offer gravity-induced lateral
drainage, which is important when the soil adjacent to the geosynthetic has become saturated.
Drainage in unsaturated conditions has also been possible because to developments in
geosynthetic manufacture, such as the creation of geotextiles with improved lateral drainage

(ELD).
Fig 8. Zornberg et al. ELD Geotectiles
Regardless of the fact that moisture in the structural layers of pavements is a major cause of
pavement deterioration, the use of internal drainage in pavement systems has not been widely
implemented. While the volume of moisture within pavement sections may be low, traditional
drainage systems cannot often remove it because soil moisture is held under unsaturated
conditions. Zornberg et al. (2017) highlights the use of with ELD in a number of roadway
situations, including: (1) enhanced lateral drainage of moisture migrating upward from a high-
water table, (2) enhanced lateral drainage of moisture infiltrating downward from the surface, (3)
control of frost heave-induced pavement damage, (4) control of pavement damage caused by
expansive clay subgrades, and (5) enhanced lateral drainage in projects involving soil
improvement.
 Fig 9. Zornberg et al. ELD with the use of PVDs and Geotextile

4.2 STABILIZATION OF ROAD BASE

Base stabilization is a roadway application in which geosynthetics are utilized to keep the
rigidity of the base aggregate materials. The major function that leads to fewer lateral
displacements is stiffening. The typical placement location for construction is at the interface
between the stabilized base and the underlying subgrade. A geosynthetic used for base
stabilization may also be utilized for subgrade stabilization. Base stabilization is feasible for a

wide range of roadway deformations, including comparatively small levels comparable to those
seen in paved roads.
The displacements cause the aggregate to have lower lateral stresses (i.e. less
confinement), which has a significant impact on the modulus of the base material. Increased
contact pressures at the base-subgrade interface result from traffic-induced deterioration of the
initial modulus in the aggregate. To stabilize the base layer, high interface shear transfer is
required. The tensile strength of the geosynthetic also helps to restrict the development of lateral
stresses. To stabilize the base, a geosynthesis with a rather high stiffness is required.

The greater confinement provided by the geosynthetic layer in the base course material
causes the mean stresses to increase. The frictional and interlocking properties of the soil-soil
contact both contribute to lateral restraint. When geogrids are used to stabilize a road base, the
geogrid aperture and base material particle sizes should be properly selected.

4. RECOMMENDATIONS
 To address the problems of the aforementioned road, the following works are
recommended: (1) To lay geosynthetics between the concrete pavement and aggregate base
course, and (2) to incorporate enhanced lateral drainage.

Geosynthetic Stabilizer
Geosynthetics as Drainage

Fig 11. Proposed road section (with geosynthetics)

This section was based from Zornberg et al. (2017)'s case study on the Pioneer Mountains
Scenic Byway in Montana, USA. The difference between this study's concept and that of others
is that the material to be supported is a concrete pavement 300 mm thick, rather than a flexible
pavement. To ensure the road's stability, a geosynthetic material is put at the interfaces of the
concrete pavement and the aggregate base course. To address the soil's water retention issue, the
ELD geotextile will be laid immediately on top of the silty soil. The ELD geotextile combined
with PVD was also considered, but the technology would not be widely available in this location,
and ELD geotextile alone is reported to perform well when construction is completed.
5. CONCLUSION

It is essential to examine the kind of soil on which the road will be built.  The road's
foundations will support both live and dead loads, therefore, it is necessary make sure the
construction site is suitable for the aforementioned worksIt is vital to do geotechnical
assessments before road construction to ensure road safety, by this method it can also save
implementers a lot of money by preventing rapid deterioration of the concrete pavement. It is
also high time for the Philippines to use geosynthetic materials in various civil works projects.
Geosynthetics have shown to be beneficial in a variety of infrastructure projects across the
world. However, further studies on the use of geosynthetic on Philippine soil is necessary in
order to understand its behavior in a specific setting.
REFERENCE

Abu-Farsakh, M., Hanandeh, S., Mohammad, L., & Chen, Q. (2016). Performance of
geosynthetic reinforced/stabilized paved roads built over soft soil under cyclic plate loads.
Geotextiles and Geomembranes, 44(6), 845–853.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geotexmem.2016.06.009

Zornberg, J. G. (2017). Functions and Applications of Geosynthetics In Roadways. Procedia

Engineering, 189, 298–306. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2017.05.048

Abbasi, N., & Mahdieh, M. (2018). Improvement of geotechnical properties of silty sand soils
using natural pozzolan and lime. International Journal of Geo-Engineering, 9(1).
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40703-018-0072-4

Zornberg, J. G., Azevedo, M., Sikkema, M., & Odgers, B. (2017). Geosynthetics with enhanced
lateral drainage capabilities in roadway systems. Transportation Geotechnics, 12, 85–100.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trgeo.2017.08.008

Abu-Farsakh, M., Gu, J., Voyiadjis, G.Z., Chen, Q. (2014). Mechanistic-empirical analysis of the
results of finite element analysis on flexible pavement with geogrid base reinforcement. Int. J.
Pavement Eng. 15 (No. 9), 786-798.

J. G. Zornberg, R. Gupta, Geosynthetics in Pavements: North American Contributions, Theme

Speaker Lecture, 9th International Conference on Geosynthetics, Guarujá, Brazil, May, Vol. 1,
pp. 379-400.