Bearing Capacity of Flexible Pavement System Reinforced with Fiberglass Geogrid

Abstract

Fiberglass geogrids are often used to minimize thermal and stress related reflective cracking and to increases the fatigue life of pavements with weak foundations. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the bearing capacity of flexible pavement system on weak subgrade reinforced with fiberglass geogrids by laboratory California Bearing Ratio (CBR) test. The pavement system consists of a cold mix asphalt layer, a gravel base layer, and a soft clay subgrade. Two fiberglass geogrids were used as reinforcement material and were placed at two different locations. The bearing capacity of unreinforced and reinforced pavement systems were measured and compared. Results of these tests show that the bearing capacity of the pavement system can be increased by up to 166% for the system reinforced with fiberglass geogrid placed at the middle of the asphalt layer.