United States Department of Transportation
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Quantifying Soil Moisture Reduction by Wicking Geotextile to Minimize Pavement Distresses
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2024-06-01
[PDF-5.09 MB]
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Edition:Final Report 07/01/2022 - 06/30/2023
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Abstract:Excessive moisture in pavement foundations including base courses and subgrade is one of the major causes for pavement distresses, which often pose safety risks to vehicles and drivers and increase the cost for maintenance and reconstruction. Moisture can weaken pavement foundations and become a source for freeze-thaw problems in cold regions, which accelerate the deterioration of pavements with time. Therefore, pavement drainage is critical to pavement performance. Typical drainage systems are effective for saturated soils but become less effective or ineffective for unsaturated soils. Wicking geotextile that contains deep-grooved fibers can generate suction when in contact with water and reduce moisture in unsaturated soils. However, the effectiveness of the wicking geotextile in reducing moisture depends on several factors including the percentage of fines in soils. So far, no simple test method is available to evaluate the effectiveness of the geotextile in reducing moisture in soils including those with fines and no fines content limit has been established for the wicking geotextile to be effective. This research evaluated wettability of geotextiles with contact angles and developed a simple soil column test method to quantify the effectiveness of the wicking geotextile in reducing moisture in sands at different fines contents and the influence distances from the geotextile as compared with the non-wicking geotextiles. The measured contact angles for the wicking geotextile decreased quickly to less than 90o and were smaller than those for the non-wicking woven geotextile and the nonwoven geotextile, indicating its better wettability. The soil column tests first determined field capacities of silty sands at different fines contents and then evaluated moisture reduction by geotextiles by measuring moisture contents at different distances from the geotextile location at different time periods. These tests demonstrated the effectiveness of the wicking geotextile and determined the amount of moisture reduction and the distance of influence, and the fines content limit for the wicking geotextile to be effective.
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