Performance-Based Specifications for Roadways

Discussion on the specification of Mechanically Stabilized Layers (MSL) in Paved and Unpaved Applications

A Tensar International Corporation White Paper

Preface

With the introduction of new forms of geogrid reinforcement, there exists a need to consider alternate means of specifying materials intended to deliver optimum pavement performance. Public agencies are challenged to deliver better performing civil engineering solutions at lower cost and must rely upon innovative technologies to meet these needs. The utilization of method specifications is common to building materials, such as geogrid reinforcement. This specification type defines minimum characteristics that the material must possess that theoretically apply to the design in question. With the advent of new technologies such as TriAx Geogrid, performance-based specification offers an attractive, more reliable alternative to design engineers in that the performance of the composite structure is defined to yield the desired serviceability. This paper will: review the history of geogrid specifications in the Americas, review the state of practice concerning the design of paved and unpaved roads using geogrids and offer commentary as to the future means to specify performance of a mechanically stabilized layer (MSL) reinforced with geogrids.

Readership

This white paper is intended for design engineers and owners responsible for either public or privately funded civil engineering pavement projects in the Americas.

Performance-Based Specifications for Roadways. Tensar International Corporation March 2010

This document is Copyright 2010 by Tensar International Corporation. All products, trade names, and registered trademarks used in this document are acknowledged. Tensar International Corporation 5883 Glenridge Drive, Suite 200 Atlanta, GA 30328 USA 800-TENSAR-1 www.tensar-international.com

Performance-Based Specifications for Roadways. Tensar International Corporation March 2010

Improving Performance over Soft Soil

With the increasing cost of building materials, scarcity of quality aggregates and dwindling revenues for roadway construction projects, there exists a growing need for engineers, owners and contractors to employ innovative practices for the design of pavement sections. Indeed, our industry has to do more with less. Geosynthetics have been available for over 30 years to address these issues and have delivered tremendous value through both initial and life cycle cost savings. Poor subgrade conditions are a common and costly problem for roadway contractors and their customers. Traditional solutions for these conditions include scarifying and drying the soils, over-excavating and backfilling with select fill, chemical stabilization of the subgrade using calcium-based materials and the installation of woven and non-woven geotextiles. In the early 1980s, roadway designers were presented with a new option for building structures over soft soilsgeogrids. Unlike geotextiles, geogrids consist of connected parallel sets of ribs with apertures of sufficient size to allow strikethrough of the surrounding soil, stone, or other geotechnical material (Figure 1). Geogrid-reinforced granular fill provides significant advantages in the performance, cost, design and installation of paved and unpaved roads constructed over soft soils.

Figure 1 Tensar TriAx, Uniaxial (UX) and Biaxial (BX) Geogrids

Many small- and full-scale studies were performed over the next three decades following the initial introduction of geogrids. These help the designer to understand how geosynthetics interact with fill materials and to contrast their performance with unreinforced structures in a variety of civil engineering applications. This historical empirical data served as the basis for the development of a number of design protocols such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Design Method (2003)1 and the Giroud-Han Design Method (2004)2. These methods helped to quantify the thickness of a geosynthetic reinforced composite structure that is required to achieve a minimum level of serviceability. Performance-Based Specifications for Roadways. Tensar International Corporation March 2010 3

As these design methodologies were being developed, the commercial geosynthetic marketplace was also evolving and now offered several types of geogrid; these included extruded punched-and-drawn biaxial geogrids, woven and coated geogrids, welded geogrids, and geocomposites (a geogrid and geotextile combination). Geogrids have become an important option for reinforcing aggregate fill placed over soft ground to provide a stable foundation under flexible and rigid pavements, unpaved roads, railroad track beds, industrial yards, equipment work platforms, parking areas and building foundations. However, there remains significant opportunity to leverage the mechanisms of geogrid reinforcement to also realize the initial and life cycle cost benefits within permanent, flexible pavement systems built over competent subgrade conditions.

Aggregate Base Reinforcement in Flexible Pavement Structures

Even when they are constructed on firm subgrade, flexible pavement structures often fail prematurely due to progressive lateral and vertical particle displacement that causes a weakening of the aggregate base course (ABC) layer. Additionally, asphalt layers develop fatigue cracking with repeated traffic loads and thermal cycling. These factors contribute to the development of surface ruts and cracks that propagate through the asphalt cement concrete (ACC) layer. A geogrid included within the ABC layer results in the confinement of the individual aggregate particles, an application that has historically been referred to as base reinforcement. Positive confinement of the aggregate particles increases and maintains the structural capacity of the base course and has been proven to improve the performance of the flexible pavement. The term mechanically stabilized layer (MSL) was introduced to define a composite structure (geogrid and aggregate) with enhanced stiffness in relation to a conventional, unbound aggregate layer. In addition to others, the concept of the MSL (Figure 2) has been recognized by the US Army Corps of Engineers. According to the Corps, a geogrids unique structure provides a high degree of inplane stiffness through the mechanism known as lateral restraint (Figure 3), now often referred to as aggregate confinement. This is considered to be the primary reinforcement mechanism of the three mechanisms defined within the Corps document. As granular base courses typically used in flexible pavement structures are considered to be stress-dependent materials, the lateral restraint offered by properly designed, stiff geogrids results in an increase in the elastic modulus both above and below the geogrid. When it is available, full-scale test data can be used to quantify the stiffness enhancement provided by the geogrid and allow for its effect to be considered within the pavement design.

Performance-Based Specifications for Roadways. Tensar International Corporation March 2010

Unconfined Zone

Transition Zone (Partial confinement)

Fully Confined Zone TriAx geogrid Magnitude of confinement Figure 2 Anatomy of a Mechanically Stabilized Layer (MSL)

Figure 3 Lateral Restraint Mechanism

Base reinforcement of flexible pavement structures offers two principle benefits to designers: Lower Initial Costs: A reduction in the required pavement component thickness can be achieved with the inclusion of a geogrid within the aggregate base and/or granular subbase. Cost savings of the order of 10% to 15% typically result from the use of less material and a reduction in the amount of subgrade undercut/replacement required. Reduced Life Cycle Costs: Longer term cost savings can result due to the extension in service life resulting from the inclusion of a geogrid within the pavement structure. These result from the extension of the period 5

Performance-Based Specifications for Roadways. Tensar International Corporation March 2010

between maintenance and rehabilitation intervals typically associated with pavement preservation. Guidance on how to quantify the enhanced performance of an MSL has been provided by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). Following more than eight years of successful use, AASHTO recently converted their former Provisional Standard PP46-01 into the Standard Practice document, R50-09 (AASHTO, 2009)3. As the original document was adopted in a virtually unchanged state, the conversion to a standard practice document is effectively a very strong endorsement of the information contained therein. Of particular significance to the pavement designer is the recommendation by AASHTO that the selection of a geosynthetic be based upon past experience and full-scale empirical evidence demonstrating long-term performance: Because the benefits of geosynthetic reinforced pavement structures may not be derived theoretically, test sections are necessary to obtain benefit quantification. Studies have been done that demonstrate the value added by a geosynthetic in a pavement structure. These studies, necessarily limited in scope, remain the basis for design in this field. computed engineering designs and economic benefits are not easily translated to other geosynthetics. Therefore, users of this document are encouraged to affirm their designs with field verification of the reinforced pavement performance, both in engineering design and economic benefits. Similar case histories of pavement reinforcement should also be used to help estimate the potential benefit of geosynthetic reinforcement for the specific application being considered.

Conventional Geogrid Specifications

In addition to offering design guidance, the AASHTO standard practice document suggests a means by which the engineer can specify an appropriate geosynthetic to achieve the desired performance: Prepare material specifications. Based on the results of the above process, the engineer may want to develop an approved list of products that are considered appropriate for this application, based on successful past applications. The construction contractor then has the option, based on the results of the design, to select products based on suitability, availability, and economics. 6

Performance-Based Specifications for Roadways. Tensar International Corporation March 2010

In the Americas, geogrid reinforcement has historically been specified based solely upon material characteristics and properties. The expectation in using this approach was that this would capture the key indices that will ensure both optimal performance for the intended application and also that the geogrid will withstand the rigors of construction. In the United States there exist over 40 State Department of Transportation material specifications for geogrid reinforcement in either a standard or provisional form. Each of these specifications defines the minimum properties a geogrid must possess in order to be considered for approval on a state and/or federally funded project.

Property Test Method Aperture Stability Kinney - 01 Modulus at 20 cm-kg/deg Rib Shape Rib Thickness Nominal Aperture Size Junction Efficiency Flexural Rigidity Minimum True Initial Modulus in Use Observation Calipered I.D. Calipered GRI-GG2-87 ASTM D1388-96

Units m-N/deg N/A in (mm) in (mm) % mg-cm

Type 1 0.32 Rectangular or Square 0.03 -0.76 1.0 to 1.5 (25 to 33) 93 250,000

Type 2 0.65 Rectangular or Square 0.05 -1.27 1.0 to 1.5 (25 to 33) 93 750,000

- MD ASTM D6637-01 - CMD

lb/ft (kN/m) lb/ft (kN/m)

17,140 250 27,420 400

27,420 410 44,550 620

Table 1 Typical Geogrid Properties within an example Method Specification

The introduction of many different types of geogrid materials has complicated product selection for engineers, owners, and contractors. This has been further complicated in the past decade with the increase in geogrid usage in the Americas. These decision makers ultimately settled on index properties such as aperture size, rib tensile strength, junction strength and manufacturing process as reasonable metrics for determining which product to select for a given application. In an early attempt to determine which geogrid properties govern performance in roadway applications, Kinney4 determined that the Secant Aperture Stability Modulus (also known as Aperture Stability Modulus, Torsional Stiffness Modulus, or simply Torsional Rigidity) correlated well with Traffic Improvement Factor(s) in a set of full-scale tests undertaken by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers5. This index property describes the geogrids resistance to

Performance-Based Specifications for Roadways. Tensar International Corporation March 2010

torque; specifically for a given torque (moment) of 20 cm-kg/degree, the test quantifies the geogrids capacity to maintain its aperture(s) configuration. At the time, this material property was arguably the best single indicator of a geogrids likely performance in a base reinforcement application. Additional research and real-world installations, however, began to show that index properties alone, even the aperture stability modulus, did not correlate well to inground performance when comparing commercially available geogrid products. For example, an extruded, punched and drawn biaxial geogrid and a woven biaxial grid might have similar aperture sizes and perhaps even comparable wide width tensile strength but the two products might deliver very different inground performance after installation. Subsequent research undertaken by Watts6 clearly demonstrated that products with the highest aperture stability moduli did not perform as well as some of the other products when tested in a full-scale unpaved road. Given this situation, at first glance it might seem odd that aperture stability modulus is the key performance parameter used in the Giroud-Han method to determine the thickness aggregate thickness for unpaved, geogrid-reinforced roads. The explanation for this is that the authors research was confined to one type of geogrid a punched and drawn product. For this particular product, the aperture stability modulus provided an excellent indication of likely performance for different individual product types. This same property may well be a strong indicator of performance for other geogrid types but in order for these to be considered in for analysis using this method, Giroud-Han state that it would first be necessary to undertake calibration of the products using the same sort of laboratory and full-scale testing carried out on the punched and drawn geogrids when the method was originally developed. Under no circumstances would it be appropriate for an engineer to use the calibration factors within the current Giroud-Han formula in conjunction with aperture stability moduli for geogrids that have not been fully tested in the same way as those used in the original calibrations. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has weighed in on the relevance of geosynthetic properties as it relates to both in-ground performance and survivability. In their geosynthetic design manual7, they suggest minimum properties for geogrids that are necessary in order to survive the installation; this is typically when the product will experience the greatest amount of stress: the strength of the geotextiles or geogrid in roadway applications is usually governed by the anticipated construction stresses and the required level of performance. This is the concept of geosynthetic survivability the geosynthetic must survive the construction operations if it is to perform its intended function. Performance-Based Specifications for Roadways. 8 Tensar International Corporation March 2010

Accordingly, the FHWA offers a set of minimum properties required by geogrid reinforcement for stabilization and base reinforcement applications that are recommended. It is important that the designer appreciates that the geogrid properties listed in the FHWA design manual are solely for survivability and are not indicators of performance. Design guidance for both paved and unpaved applications is also offered within the FHWA geosynthetic design manual. For geogrid reinforcement in paved applications, the manual advocates the AASHTO PP46-01 (now standard practice R50-09) as, the state of practice for geogridreinforced base courses in flexible pavements. AASHTO suggests the preparation of specifications for geogrids based upon fullscale performance through an approved products list. The means to build a specification to both protect the design and ensure optimal performance remains in question for many pavement design engineers. These same engineers are motivated to offer cost-effective, reliable and perhaps non-proprietary designs to their clients/constituents and there exists a need to explore new mechanisms to specify performance over method.

The Trend toward Performance Specifications

The FHWA investigated the history of specifications in highway construction through a series of workshops hosted in the early 2000s8. This effort resulted in a road map for the development and implementation of specification alternatives for the benefit of end-users, owners, engineers and contractors alike. The challenges described earlier in identifying key material properties for geogrid within prescriptive or method-type specifications to predict performance are not limited to this product type. This state-of-practice applies to virtually all materials utilized in highway construction. Other challenges associated with method specifications serving as the sole measure of predicted performance include: The reduction in both number and experience level of field inspectors to verify installation quality The quantity of high-speed construction, night-time construction and intraffic rehabilitation projects are on the increase thus straining available quality assurance/quality control resources The desire for long-term performance warranties through the contracting entity

Given the difficulties of specifying material properties to ensure the successful application of a particular design, the use of a true performance specification

Performance-Based Specifications for Roadways. Tensar International Corporation March 2010

provides an attractive option to the design engineer. Performance-based specifications are considered as a valid means to9: 1. reduce completion time but maintain or improve quality 2. encourage innovation, reduce mandatory method requirements and define end products 3. develop different specifications that can be used effectively in various contracting scenarios A performance specification offers a mechanism by which the characteristics of the constructed pavement section or component may be defined, verified and compared to the design parameters. The United States Department of Defense10 defines a Performance Specification in two ways: A performance specification states requirements in terms of the required results with criteria for verifying compliance, but without stating the methods for achieving the required results. A performance specification defines the functional requirements for the item, the environment in which it must operate, and interface and interchangeability characteristics.

Figure 4 illustrates the concept of a performance specification and depicts this as a Pyramid of Performance; this was first developed by the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2). The illustration highlights the method specification (those which define material characteristics only) as the foundation of the pyramid from which more functional or composite specifications may be derived. As one ascends to the point of the pyramid, the transition to a performance specification ultimately yields with more certainty the desired outcome for the end-user.

Figure 4 Pyramid of Performance

Performance-Based Specifications for Roadways. Tensar International Corporation March 2010

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Performance Specifications for Mechanically Stabilized Layers

Tensar International believes strongly in the value of performance specifications and promotes the use of this form of specification in conjunction with its own products and systems. Tensar has invested significant resources in generating quantifiable evidence, both in small- and full-scale, to deliver the relevant proof, field verification and case studies in keeping with the standard practice recommended by AASHTO R50-09 for paved applications. SpectraPave4 PRO, one of the primary analysis tools developed by Tensar, offers designers the ability to create composite specifications calling out the performance requirements for the MSL rather than just physical properties of the geogrid component. The principle advantage of this approach is that the specification serves as an effective means to ensure that the geogrid manufacturer has undertaken the sort of fullscale testing advocated by AASHTO; this greatly increases the likelihood that the final road structure will perform as intended. In order for the specification to be satisfied, a manufacturer vying for approval would need to produce evidence in full-scale of a like application demonstrating the performance of their respective product in-ground. The value of such a requirement is that it removes concern or doubt as to the relevance of comparable geogrid index properties through a more defensible performance-based specification parameter. Tensars performance specifications include: Description/definition of the mechanically stabilized layer (MSL) Material composition of the MSL (aggregate plus geogrid reinforcement) Basis of approval and rejection for the geogrid item Construction requirements e.g. surface preparation, geogrid installation, aggregate placement, etc. Sampling and testing of geogrid reinforcement for quality control/quality assurance purposes Method of measurement and pay item definition Approved products list Quality control/quality assurance testing procedures

Innovation Delivered through Composite Specifications

With available funding for infrastructure projects throughout the Americas reaching a crisis level, the construction industry must explore unconventional means and methods for constructing roadways. Public agencies readily admit that Performance-Based Specifications for Roadways. Tensar International Corporation March 2010 11

the need for innovation exists in highway construction to lower initial costs and extend service life. However, these same agencies are hindered by the very real prospect of unwanted scrutiny and perhaps even the threat of legal action as a result of specifying proprietary technologies through method specifications. Performance-based specifications offer a means by which the performance of the roadway or composite layer may be prescribed to both protect the design and avail options for the consideration of innovative solutions offered by the contractor or others. Ultimately, the end-user and/or owner are the beneficiary of a high quality pavement structure designed to last through the desired service life.

References
Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 2003. Use of Geogrids in Pavement Construction, Engineering Technical Letter 1110-1-189. Giroud, J.P. & Han, Jie. 2004. Design Method for Geogrid-Reinforced Unpaved Roads. I. Development of Design Method, American Society of Civil Engineers Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, (August); Volume 130, Number 8. AASHTO. 2009. Standard Practice for Geosynthetic Reinforcement of the Aggregate Base Course of Flexible Pavement Structures. AASHTO Publication R50-09. American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Washington, D.C.
4 5 3 2 1

Kinney, T.C. & Xiaolin, Y. 1995. Geogrid Aperture Rigidity by In-Plane Rotation, Geosynthetics 95, Nashville, TN

Webster, S.L. 1992. Geogrid Reinforced Base Course for Flexible Pavements for Light Aircraft: Test Section Construction, Laboratory Tests and Design Criteria. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Report No. DOT/FAA/RD-92-25. United States Army Corps of Engineers, Washington, D.C.
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Watts, G.R.A., Blackman, D.I. 2004. The Performance of Reinforced Unpaved Sub-Bases Subjected to Trafficking, Transport Research Laboratory Limited, Crowthorne, United Kingdom, pp.261-266

FHWA. August 2008. NHI Course No. 132013, Geosynthetic Design & Construction Guidelines Reference Manual. Publication No. FHWA NHI-07-092. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration. Washington D.C. FHWA. Spring 2004. FHWA IF-04-023. Performance Specifications Strategic Road Map: A Vision for the Future. Publication No. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration. Washington D.C.
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Strategic Highway Research Program. Performance Specifications for Rapid Renewal. Presentation Slides: TRB Annual Meeting 2010 Performance Specifications for Geosynthetics Workshop. SHRP 2 R-07. Washington D.C.

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Department of Defense. 2003. Defense and Program-Unique Specifications Format and Content. MIL-STD-96E. United States Department of Defense. Washington D.C.

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