Widening State Highway 105 Despite Challenging Soil Saturation
How did Ferguson Waterworks use TenCate Mirafi® H2Ri to further stabilize moisture-sensitive soils for the State Highway 105 Grimes County Widening Project?
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Project Overview
The widening of State Highway 105 at the FM1774 crossing in Plantersville, Texas presented construction and long-term performance challenges. The project consisted of widening the east-west, one-by-one lane to a two-by-two roadway. During the earthwork cuts into the natural hillside, several springs were encountered in the westbound portion of the project. As a result, making the already less-than-ideal subgrade conditions more challenging by increasing the moisture content to a near-saturated state.
Challenge
Provide a cost-effective solution to stabilize soft soils below a highway lane widening area.
The original project pavement design consisted of a cement-stabilized subgrade to treat the existing subgrade with CBR=1.5%. In addition, the section included 7 inches of flexbase and 8 inches of asphalt. The civil engineering team wanted to consider alternate stabilization for the project since the constructability of the cement-stabilized base during saturated conditions would be problematic.
Solution
The project team eliminated the need to cement and stabilize the subgrade. Instead, they installed a geosynthetic reinforced pavement with Tencate Mirafi H2Ri. This high-strength, moisture-management geotextile did not add thickness to the original section, which included 7” of flex base and 8” of asphalt.
What are the product advantages of Tencate Mirafi H2Ri?
First and foremost, Mirafi H2Ri offers superior moisture management and lateral drainage. To explain, wicking nylons are incorporated into the geotextile during the manufacturing process in order to remove water laterally from both saturated and unsaturated subgrades.
Separation
The geotextile maintains the integrity of the existing soils and the crushed aggregate fill in order to prevent the migration of fines from the subgrade soils into the fill section. This is important because a small percentage of fines migration can have an enormously negative impact on overall strength.
Filtration
It allows the movement of water, meanwhile retaining soil on the upstream side. Furthermore, the unique double-layer construction provides a wide range of pore sizes for an excellent separation factor, superior filtration, and flow characteristics of a fine to coarse sand layer.
Confinement
Mirafi H2Ri prevents lateral movement (spread) because it has excellent soil and base course confinement, resulting in greater load distribution.
Reinforcement
Tensile elements improve the bearing capacity of the section. Mirafi H2Ri has higher tensile modulus properties than the leading stabilization products.
Durability
Benefit from robust damage resistance for moderate to severe stress installations. The stabilized section using Mirafi H2Ri passed the 95% compaction requirement in all areas.
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