Geosynthetics

Geosynthetics are man-made materials used to improve soil conditions. The word is. derived from: Geo = earth or soil + Synthetics = man-made. Geosynthetics are typically made from petrochemical-based polymers (“plastics”) that are biologically inert and will not decompose from bacterial or fungal action.

Examples include: geotextile-geonet; geotextile-geogrid; geonetgeomembrane; or a geosynthetic clay liner (GCL). Prefabricated geocomposite drains or prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) are formed by a plastic drainage core surrounded by a geotextile filter.

Geotextiles

Geotextiles are permeable fabrics which, when used in association with soil, have the ability to separate, filter, reinforce, protect, or drain.

Geogrids

A geogrid is geosynthetic material used to reinforce soils and similar materials. Geogrids are commonly used to reinforce retaining walls, as well as subbases or subsoils below roads or structures. Soils pull apart under tension. Compared to soil, geogrids are strong in tension.

Geonets

A geonet is a geosynthetic material consisting of integrally connected parallel sets of ribs overlying similar sets at various angles for in-plane drainage of liquids or gases. Geonets are often laminated with geotextiles on one or both surfaces and are then referred to as drainage geocomposites

Geomembranes

Geomembranes are continuous flexible sheets manufactured from one or more synthetic materials. They are relatively impermeable and are used as liners for fluid or gas containment and as vapour barriers.

Geocomposites

Geocomposites are geosynthetics made from a combination of two or more geosynthetic types. Examples include: geotextile-geonet; geotextile-geogrid; geonetgeomembrane; or a geosynthetic clay liner (GCL). Prefabricated geocomposite drains or prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) are formed by a plastic drainage core surrounded by a geotextile filter.

Geosynthetic Clay Liners (GCLs)

Geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs) are geocomposites that are prefabricated with a bentonite clay layer typically incorporated between a top and bottom geotextile layer or geotextile bentonite bonded to a geomembrane or single layer of geotextile. Geotextile-encased GCLs are often stitched or needlepunched through the bentonite core to increase internal shear resistance. When hydrated they are effective as a barrier for liquid or gas and are commonly used in landfill liner applications often in conjunction with a geomembrane.

Geopipes

Geopipes are perforated or solid-wall polymeric pipes used for drainage of liquids or gas (including leachate or gas collection in landfill applications). In some cases the perforated pipe is wrapped with a geotextile filter.

Geocells

Geocells are relatively thick, three-dimensional networks constructed from strips of polymeric sheet. The strips are joined together to form interconnected cells that are infilled with soil and sometimes concrete. In some cases 0.5 m to 1 m wide strips of polyolefin geogrids have been linked together with vertical polymeric rods used to form deep geocell layers called geomattresses.

Geosynthetics include a variety of synthetic polymer materials that are specially fabricated
to be used in geotechnical, geoenvironmental, hydraulic and transportation engineering
applications. It is convenient to identify the primary function of a geosynthetic as being
one of: separation, filtration, drainage, reinforcement, fluid/gas containment, or erosion
control. In some cases the geosynthetic may serve dual functions.

Separation

The geosynthetic acts to separate two layers of soil that have different particle size distributions. For example, geotextiles are used to prevent road base
materials from penetrating into soft underlying soft subgrade soils, thus maintaining design thickness and roadway integrity. Separators also help to prevent finegrained subgrade soils from being pumped into permeable granular road bases.

Filtration

The geosynthetic acts similar to a sand filter by allowing water to move through the soil while retaining all upstream soil particles. For example, geotextiles are used to prevent soils from migrating into drainage aggregate or pipes while maintaining flow through the system. Geotextiles are also used below rip rap and other armour materials in coastal and river bank protection systems to prevent soil erosion.

Drainage

The geosynthetic acts as a drain to carry fluid flows through less permeable soils. For example, geotextiles are used to dissipate pore water pressures at the base of roadway embankments. For higher flows, geocomposite drains have been developed. These materials have been used as pavement edge drains, slope interceptor drains, and abutment and retaining wall drains.
Prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) have been used to accelerate consolidation of soft cohesive foundation soils below embankments and preload fills.

Reinforcement

The geosynthetic acts as a reinforcement element within a soil mass or in combination with the soil to produce a composite that has improved strength and
deformation properties over the unreinforced soil. For example, geotextiles and geogrids are used to add tensile strength to a soil mass in order to create vertical or nearvertical changes in grade (reinforced soil walls).

Reinforcement enables embankments to be constructed over very soft foundations and to build embankment side slopes at steeper angles than would be possible with unreinforced soil. Geosynthetics (usually geogrids) have also been used to bridge over voids that may develop below load bearing granular layers (roads and railways) or below cover systems in landfill applications.

Fluid/Gas Containment

Fluid/Gas (barrier) containment: The geosynthetic acts as a relatively impermeable barrier to fluids or gases. For example, geomembranes, thin film geotextile composites, geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs) and field-coated geotextiles are used as fluid barriers to impede flow of liquid or gas. This function is also used in asphalt pavement overlays, encapsulation of swelling soils and waste containment.

Erosion Control

The geosynthetic acts to reduce soil erosion caused by rainfall impact and surface water runoff. For example, temporary geosynthetic blankets and permanent lightweight geosynthetic mats are placed over the otherwise exposed soil surface on slopes. Geotextile silt fences are used to remove suspended particles from
sediment-laden runoff water. Some erosion control mats are manufactured using biodegradable wood fibres.

Other Functions

Geotextiles are also used in other applications. For example, they are used for asphalt pavement reinforcement and as cushion layers to prevent puncture of geomembranes (by reducing point contact stresses) from stones in the adjacent soil, waste or drainage aggregate during installation and while in service. Geotextiles have been used as daily covers to prevent dispersal of loose waste by wind or birds at the working surface of municipal solid waste landfills. Geotextiles have also been used for flexible concrete formworks and for sandbags. Cylindrical geotubes are manufactured from double layers of geotextiles that are filled with hydraulic fill to create shoreline embankments or to dewater sludge.

Geosynthetics are synthetic products used to stabilize terrain. They are generally polymeric products used to solve civil engineering problems. This includes eight main product categories: geotextiles, geogrids, geonets, geomembranes, geosynthetic clay liners, geofoam, geocells and geocomposites. The polymeric nature of the products makes them suitable for use in the ground where high levels of durability are required. They can also be used in exposed applications. Geosynthetics are available in a wide range of forms and materials. These products have a wide range of applications and are currently used in many civil, geotechnical, transportation, geoenvironmental, hydraulic, and private development applications including roads, airfields, railroads, embankments, retaining structures, reservoirs, canals, dams, erosion control, sediment control, landfill liners, landfill covers, mining, aquaculture and agriculture.

Inclusions of different sorts mixed with soil have been used for thousands of years. They were used in roadway construction in Roman days to stabilize roadways and their edges. These early attempts were made of natural fibres, fabrics or vegetation mixed with soil to improve road quality, particularly when roads were built on unstable soil. They were also used to build steep slopes as with several pyramids in Egypt and walls as well. A fundamental problem with using natural materials (wood, cotton, etc.) in a buried environment is the biodegradation that occurs from microorganisms in the soil. With the advent of polymers in the middle of the 20th century a much more stable material became available. When properly formulated, lifetimes of centuries can be predicted even for harsh environmental conditions.

Geotextiles

Geotextiles form one of the two largest groups of geosynthetics. They are textiles consisting of synthetic fibers rather than natural ones such as cotton, wool, or silk. This makes them less susceptible to bio-degradation. These synthetic fibers are made into flexible, porous fabrics by standard weaving machinery or are matted together in a random non woven manner. Some are also knitted. Geotextiles are porous to liquid flow across their manufactured plane and also within their thickness, but to a widely varying degree. There are at least 100 specific application areas for geotextiles that have been developed; however, the fabric always performs at least one of four discrete functions: separation, reinforcement, filtration, and/or drainage.

Geogrids

Geogrids are used to prevent sliding on long and steep slopes during installation and use of a landfill capping system.

Geogrids represent a rapidly growing segment within geosynthetics. Rather than being a woven, nonwoven or knitted textile fabric, geogrids are polymers formed into a very open, gridlike configuration, i.e., they have large apertures between individual ribs in the transverse and longitudinal directions. Geogrids are (a) either stretched in one, two or three directions for improved physical properties, (b) made on weaving or knitting machinery by standard textile manufacturing methods, or (c) by laser or ultrasonically bonding rods or straps together. There are many specific application areas; however, geogrids function almost exclusively as reinforcement materials.

Geonets/Geospacers

Geonets, and the related geospacers by some, constitute another specialized segment within the geosynthetics area. They are formed by a continuous extrusion of parallel sets of polymeric ribs at acute angles to one another. When the ribs are opened, relatively large apertures are formed into a netlike configuration. Two types are most common, either biplanar or triplanar. Alternatively many very different types of drainage cores are available. They consist of nubbed, dimpled or cuspated polymer sheets, three-dimensional networks of stiff polymer fibers in different configurations and perforated mini-pipes or spacers within geotextiles. Their design function is completely within the drainage area where they are used to convey liquids or gases of all types.

Geomembranes

Geomembranes represent the other largest group of geosynthetics, and in dollar volume their sales are greater than that of geotextiles. Their growth in the United States and Germany was stimulated by governmental regulations originally enacted in the early 1980s for the lining of solid-waste landfills. The materials themselves are relatively thin, impervious sheets of polymeric material used primarily for linings and covers of liquids- or solid-storage facilities. This includes all types of landfills, surface impoundments, canals, and other containment facilities. Thus the primary function is always containment as a liquid or vapor barrier or both. The range of applications, however, is great, and in addition to the environmental area, applications are rapidly growing in geotechnical, transportation, hydraulic, and private development engineering (such as aquaculture, agriculture, heap leach mining, etc.).

Geosynthetic clay liners

Geosynthetic clay liners, or GCLs, are an interesting juxtaposition of polymeric materials and natural soils. They are rolls of factory fabricated thin layers of bentonite clay sandwiched between two geotextiles or bonded to a geomembrane. Structural integrity of the subsequent composite is obtained by needle-punching, stitching or adhesive bonding. GCLs are used as a composite component beneath a geomembrane or by themselves in geoenvironmental and containment applications as well as in transportation, geotechnical, hydraulic, and many private development applications.

Geofoam

Geofoam is a polymeric product created by processing polystyrene into a foam consisting of many closed cells filled with air and/or gases. The skeletal nature of the cell walls resembles bone-structures made of the unexpanded polymeric material. The resulting product is generally in the form of large, but extremely light, blocks which are stacked side-by-side and in layers providing lightweight fill in numerous applications.

Geocells

Geocells (also known as Cellular Confinement Systems) are three-dimensional honeycombed cellular structures that form a confinement system when infilled with compacted soil. Extruded from polymeric materials into strips welded together ultrasonically in series, the strips are expanded to form the stiff (and typically textured and perforated) walls of a flexible 3D cellular mattress. Infilled with soil, a new composite entity is created from the cell-soil interactions. The cellular confinement reduces the lateral movement of soil particles, thereby maintaining compaction and forms a stiffened mattress that distributes loads over a wider area. Traditionally used in slope protection and earth retention applications, geocells made from advanced polymers are being increasingly adopted for long-term road and rail load support. Much larger geocells are also made from stiff geotextiles sewn into similar, but larger, unit cells that are used for protection bunkers and walls.

Geodrains

Geodrains are prefabricated product consisting of one or more polymeric core elements transporting fluid (perforated mini-pipes, geonets, cuspated sheets) and one or more geosynthetics separating the flow region from the surrounding environment.

Geocomposites

Installation of a geocomposite drain. Geocomposite drains are often used on steep slopes of landfill capping systems.

A geocomposite consists of a combination of geotextiles, geogrids, geonets and/or geomembranes in a factory fabricated unit. Also, any one of these four materials can be combined with another synthetic material (e.g., deformed plastic sheets or steel cables) or even with soil. As examples, a geonet or geospacer with geotextiles on both surfaces and a GCL consisting of a geotextile/bentonite/geotextile sandwich are both geocomposites. This specific category brings out the best creative efforts of the engineer and manufacturer. The application areas are numerous and constantly growing. The major functions encompass the entire range of functions listed for geosynthetics discussed previously: separation, reinforcement, filtration, drainage, and containment.