Laboratory testing of reinforced unpaved roads
Abstract
Improving the rutting resistance and design life of unpaved roads is a major application for geosynthetics. A test facility has been developed at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne which allows pavement sections to be constructed in the laboratory at a practical scale. The finished pavement can then be trafficked using an electrically powered truck and subjected to full scale wheel loading to simulate in service loading. The paper describes the development of the test facility together with the results of testing carried out to compare the performance of different geosynthetic reinforcing materials to enhance the performance of pavements over soft foundations.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Geotechnical Engineering and Soil Stabilization
Landfill Environmental Impact Studies
Geotechnical and construction materials studies
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Earth Reinforcement, volume 1
- Publisher
- CRC Press
- Pages
- 615–618
- Publication date
- 18 February 2026
- Language
- EN
- Document type
- Book chapter