Use of Wicking Fabric to Reduce Pavement Pumping: Fid-Bau Portal

Use of Wicking Fabric to Reduce Pavement Pumping

Galinmoghadam, Javad / Zhang, Xiong

Pumping is among the leading distresses in both flexible and rigid pavement. Pumping is defined as the ejection of water and fine materials of the pavement system under pore water pressure generated by repetitious traffic loading through larger voids or cracks. Pumping can significantly reduce the overall strength of the pavement, clogging the course material and eventually affecting pavement performance. Pumping requires heavy traffic loads, water, fine content in the lower layer, and no fine particles in the upper layer. Methods of limiting pumping include removing water, reducing pore water pressure, and separation of fine content from upper layers. The latter is investigated extensively in the literature. In this study, the reduction of water content as a means to reduce pumping is investigated. The drainage performance of a newly developed geotextile that can drain water both in saturated and unsaturated conditions has been compared to conventional drainage systems being used in pavements. For this purpose, a box filled with a granular pavement base material was instrumented and measurements of volumetric water contents were made to compare the effectiveness of each studied case. Results showed that the drainage ability of the newly developed geotextile is significant, specifically in an unsaturated condition, compared to conventional drainage methods being used in practice.