Grant: Engage Plus Grants Program
University of Western Ontario
$12,500.00
Investigation of geogrid reinforcement in unpaved road applications
FY 2014-15
Summary
Geogrid materials' use in road projects is becoming an important geotechnical practice. Placed between the subgrade and base course, or within the base course, the geogrid improves the performance of unpaved roads. Currently, the design of geogrid reinforced unpaved roads is based on an empirical method, which doesn't allow efficient utilization of modern stronger geogrids. The main objectives of this project are to understand the reinforcing mechanism of geogrids and optimize the location of the geogrid layer and quantify its reinforcing effect. This will involve monitoring the performance of geogrid layers with different strength chracteristics and placed at different locations in a field study.The testing program will be carried out at the Environmental Site of Western University (ESWU), London. The ESWU has an unpaved road (entrance), which experiences significant rut due to the heavy traffic and will be considered here as the test road. It will be subdivided into 5 segments. Four segments will be reinforced with geogrid material (manufactured by Terrafix, i.e. TBX 1500, TBX2000, TBX2500 and TBX3000) and one segment will be used as base line (control). Each segment will be subdivided into two sections. In one section, the geogrid will be placed at 200 mm below the ground surface. In the second section, the geogrid will be placed at 400 mm below the ground surface. The global geogrid strain will be measured by using four Position Sensors. A set of earth pressure transducers will be used to monitor the stress state at different locations in the base and the subgrade. In addition, all geogrid layers will be strain gauged at various locations to monitor the stress distribution in the geogrid. In addition, the road surface will be surveyed regularly to establish the change in elevation (rut) after each hundred load cycles(passage of truck). A standard truck with known weight will be allowed to pass in a controlled manner over the road to exert the pressure on the different sections of the road.The strain and pressure readings will be used to evaluate the reinforcing mechanism, while the comparison of the rut amounts will be used to evaluate the efficiency of different geogrid types.
Program
Engage Plus Grants Program
Recipient
Location
Ontario, Canada
Recipient Type
Academia
Type
Grant
Source
NSERC's Awards Data
As published
Application id
461878-2014
Name nom
ElNaggar, MHesham
Department département
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Organization id
36
Institution établissement
University of Western Ontario
Province en
Ontario
Province fr
Ontario
Country en
CANADA
Country fr
CANADA
Fiscal year exercice financier
2014
Competition year année de concours
2014
Award amount
12500
Program id
EGP2
Program name en
Engage Plus Grants Program
Program name fr
Programme de subvention d'engagement partenarial Plus
Group en
Research partnerships programs
Group fr
Programmes de partenariat
Committee code
1553
Committee name en
Ontario Internal Decision Committee
Committee name fr
Comité de décision interne pour l'Ontario
Area of application code
701
Area of application group en
Transportation systems and services
Area of application group fr
Services et systèmes de transport
Area of application en
Ground (road and rail)
Area of application fr
Terrestre (routier et ferroviaire)
Research subject code
1002
Research subject group en
Civil engineering
Research subject group fr
Génie civil
Research subject en
Geotechnical engineering (including engineering geology)
Research subject fr
Géotechnique (y compris génie géologique)
Partie
1
Nb partie
1
Application title
Investigation of geogrid reinforcement in unpaved road applications
Keyword
NSERC
Application summary
Geogrid materials' use in road projects is becoming an important geotechnical practice. Placed between the subgrade and base course, or within the base course, the geogrid improves the performance of unpaved roads. Currently, the design of geogrid reinforced unpaved roads is based on an empirical method, which doesn't allow efficient utilization of modern stronger geogrids. The main objectives of this project are to understand the reinforcing mechanism of geogrids and optimize the location of the geogrid layer and quantify its reinforcing effect. This will involve monitoring the performance of geogrid layers with different strength chracteristics and placed at different locations in a field study.The testing program will be carried out at the Environmental Site of Western University (ESWU), London. The ESWU has an unpaved road (entrance), which experiences significant rut due to the heavy traffic and will be considered here as the test road. It will be subdivided into 5 segments. Four segments will be reinforced with geogrid material (manufactured by Terrafix, i.e. TBX 1500, TBX2000, TBX2500 and TBX3000) and one segment will be used as base line (control). Each segment will be subdivided into two sections. In one section, the geogrid will be placed at 200 mm below the ground surface. In the second section, the geogrid will be placed at 400 mm below the ground surface. The global geogrid strain will be measured by using four Position Sensors. A set of earth pressure transducers will be used to monitor the stress state at different locations in the base and the subgrade. In addition, all geogrid layers will be strain gauged at various locations to monitor the stress distribution in the geogrid. In addition, the road surface will be surveyed regularly to establish the change in elevation (rut) after each hundred load cycles(passage of truck). A standard truck with known weight will be allowed to pass in a controlled manner over the road to exert the pressure on the different sections of the road.The strain and pressure readings will be used to evaluate the reinforcing mechanism, while the comparison of the rut amounts will be used to evaluate the efficiency of different geogrid types.
