GRT Soil

Stabilization in
Road
Construction

One Comment

Methods of Soil Stabilization in Road Construction, what does it

mean ?
Soil stabilization in road construction is a very important phase. Stabilized soil as
road base has to bear weight of pavement and dynamic load of traffic. Most roads
erosion and sedimentation problems originate from unstable base. These erosion
problems lead further to ruts, pumps and potholes that compromise driving safety
and damage vehicles. The phases in road construction are planning, design,
earthwork and paving.
Planning and design
Road construction project begins with evaluating the transportation system taking
into account states strategic plans. Further needed information about roads are road
and bridge conditions, traffic volumes and crash statistics. Using this data,
transportation planners, engineers, environmentalists, landscape architects, soil
scientists and others determine type of road and how to build it.

Further items that should be considered are:

legal obstacles for building the road on the property,

environmental issues,
utilities that will be affected by a project,
funding of the project.

Some items regarding design are already investigated during planning phase.
Further factors for design are location, terrain and soil properties, drainage
capabilities and possible future development in the area.
Earthwork
The aim of earthwork is to provide soil stabilization in road construction. If foundation
is not stable enough, road will fail prematurely. Procedure steps for earthworks are:

Embankments using cuts and fills are being built.

Grader or bulldozer levels bumps and fills in dips.
Screened dirt is sprayed with water and compacted to its maximum density.
Drains and sewers are being installed. The central part of the road must be higher than the
edges so that water runs off into the storm sewers.
Gravel in 12-inch layers is being placed on the road bed, moistened and compacted until
the projected height is reached.

Paving
As a pavement material either asphalt or concrete is used.
Asphalt mainly consists of bitumen, sand and crushed rock. Bitumen acts as a binder.
This mixture is heated in asphalt plant to around 300 degrees. At the construction
site, workers spread and compact the hot mixture onto the roadbed upon completed
soil stabilization in road construction.
Concrete uses cement and water as the glue between aggregate particles. Concrete
is placed into steel molds. A finishing machine trims concrete to the necessary
height. In order to prevent cracks, joints between concrete slabs are cut. At each
joint wire baskets and steel dowels connect the slabs. In this way slabs can expand
and contract due to temperature changes without damage. The slabs can decrease
and increase in horizontal direction, but not vertically. Modern paving equipment can
insert dowels as the concrete is poured, then immediately tine the concrete.
Before the road is open for traffic, ride quality testing has to be performed. This is
done by seismology equipment which measures vibrations of the pavement. If
vibrations are too intensive, the pavement must be grinded to provide a smooth
surface.
Soil stabilization in road construction is usually done by adding certain amount of
water, applying compaction and incorporating drainage systems. Compaction makes
soil resistible to water and extreme temperatures to certain extent and certain
period. Although pavement is waterproof and in this sense protects road base from
precipitation water, this water reaches road base through nearby unpaved soil.
Global Road Technologies proposes more durable solution as treatment with GRT
products provide highly resistible road base. GRT products are polymer-based agents
which make in situ soil stable and water resistible. In most cases GRT method does
not demand ex situ materials. Global Road Technology has solution for unpaved
roads as well. Most of conventional soil stabilizers are not suitable for surface layers,
while GRT products provide tough, flat and non-slippery surface.
For more information regarding Global Road Technology or Soil Stabilization in Road
Construction please