Paving Fabric Interlayer Systems for Pavement Enhancement: Fid-Bau Portal

Paving Fabric Interlayer Systems for Pavement Enhancement

Myers, Ray

Pavement interlayers represent one of the largest geosynthetic applications, in part due to the tremendous amount of research and documented proof of performance. However, much of this technical work was done 20-30 years ago and the commercial market for this technology peaked shortly thereafter. Today, because of transportation agencies personnel turn over and a lack of performance monitoring, much of the pavement life extension afforded by this technology has been overlooked, forgotten or misunderstood. This presentation will discuss the combination of benefits provided by geosynthetic pavement interlayers compared to other, less cost effective pavement construction and maintenance strategies. Many agencies are turning to open graded friction courses to reduce hydroplaning and road noise. This technology can result in added exposure to water in the pavement structure and more rapid pavement deterioration. It will be shown how interlayers can mitigate this issue. A geosynthetic interlayer remains a very attractive value proposition for pavement preservation, especially in light of the rapidly rising cost of road building materials. The presentation will redirect attention to this excellent pavement strategy for both new pavements and for pavement rehabilitation. The technology and the associated benefits of different geosynthetic pavement interlayers will be reviewed. Then, to allow designers and end users to make intelligent pavement design choices, the costs of the different systems are compared to the cost of traditional pavement strategies. It will be shown how geosynthetic pavement interlayers are more appropriate today than ever as public agencies and private owners try to meet their transportation/pavement maintenance needs with very limited dollars.