Overview of Geosynthetics

The term ‘Geosynthetics’ has two parts:

 In war, corduroy roads are often used as an

emergency measure where poor quality
roads have been damaged by the large
numbers of vehicles or troops that have
passed over them

 Drainage & Soil Filters = Terzaghi &

Geo: Greek, meaning Synthetic: Greek synthetikos
earth, ground or soil (of composition, or component, from
synthethinai to put together), made by Casagrande in 1930s and Bertram thereafter
combining different substances, artificial, man-
made, not natural

GEOSYNTHETICS
According to ASTM D4439-18 “Standard
Terminology for Geosynthetics

a planar product manufactured from polymeric

material used with soil, rock, earth, or other
geotechnical engineering related material as an
integral part of a man-made project, structure, or
system

Grading of Particles

A polymeric material (synthetic or natural) used in

contact with soil/rock and/or any other geotechnical
material for civil engineering applications
(International Geosynthetics Society, 2009)

Historical Background
 Soil reinforcement – adding materials to
enhance soil behavior  Liners have historically been made using low
 ‘Corduroy’ roads – 3000 BC permeability clay soils
 A corduroy road or log road is a type of road  Roman Aqueduct
or timber trackway made by placing logs,
perpendicular to the direction of the road
over a low or swampy area
 Liners made from bitumen and various cements WHY USE GSY?
have been used since 1900, but it was the
synthetic rubber material “butyl” that ushered
in polymeric liners.
 Sir Henri Vidal – French engineer
 Terre Armee or ‘reinforced earth’ in 1950s –
sand castles with pine needles
 Patent filed for the term, ‘reinforced earth’ in
1963.

Geosynthetics Five Major Functions

1. Separation
2. Reinforcement
3. Filtration
4. Drainage
5. Containment

SUMMARY: D - DRAINAGE
The geosynthetic acts as a drain to carry fluid flows
through less permeable soils.

B - BARRIER (FLUID)
The geosynthetic acts as a relatively impermeable
barrier to fluids (liquids or gases).

S – SEPARATION
The geosynthetic acts to separate two layers of soil
that have different particle size distributions.
F – FILTRATION Common Types of Geosynthetics
The geosynthetic acts similar to a sand filter by
allowing water to move through the soil while
retaining all upstream soil particles.

R – REINFORCEMENT
The geosynthetic acts as a reinforcement element
within a soil mass or in combination with the soil to Assignment (handwritten)
produce a composite that has improved strength (Submission on Dec 7, 2019)
and deformation properties over the unreinforced
soil. 1. What are Polymeric materials in Geosythetics
2. Discuss the Common types of polymer use in
Geosynthetics

E – EROSION CONTROL
The geosynthetic acts to reduce soil erosion caused
by rainfall impact and surface water runoff.

P – PROTECTION
The geosynthetic acts as a cushion layer to protect
puncture of underlying geosynthetics (eg
geomembrane, geotextile tube, geotextile bags) by
reducing point contact stresses from stones in the
adjacent soil, waste or drainage aggregate during
installation and while in service.