By - Viswanadham B.V.S.
Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai
Gupte A., Satkalmi V. & Bhonsle S.
Polymer Business Development Group, Reliance Industries Limited, Mumbai
Introduction
Civil engineers, especially geotechnical engineers face several challenges while building structures for infrastructure development of the society. In such situations, one of the alternatives is to improve the ground using geosynthetics for building structures for infrastructure development. Geosynthetics is a generic term used to envelop family of materials manufactured from polymer materials, namely:
* Geotextiles
* Geogrids
* Geomembranes
* Geocomposites, and
* Other products
Over the last three decades, the use of geosynthetics has recorded a tremendous growth, and is being increasingly employed in many civil engineering projects; especially the most common use of geosynthetics is in road construction. In addition to the application of geosynthetics in road construction, they can be used for number of applications like slope stabilization, drainage control in embankment and dams, land reclamation, landfills, canal lining, railway embankments, erosion control, etc. Realizing the use and potential of geosynthetics in civil engineering structures, various engineering organizations the world over have been engaged in extensive research and development.
Geosynthetic materials perform five major functions, namely: separation, filtration, reinforcement, drainage, and as a moisture barrier. The concept of reinforcing soils is not new. As early as 1000 B.C., reeds and vines were used extensively to reinforce clay bricks and granular soils in the construction of many large earth structures. In the modern context however, reinforced soil began to be used during the early 1970’s, where firstly steel strips, and later geotextiles. Geotextiles were first developed in the Netherlands in the 1950s as a result of an ambitious civil engineering construction program. It was initiated after the catastrophic flood of 1953, which inundated 150,000 hectares of land and killed 2,000 people. Since that time, many countries have shown growing interest in geotextiles.
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