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Application of Jute–Polypropylene Blended Geotextile in Black Cotton Soil Subgrade for Low Volume Road Construction

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A Correction to this article was published on 14 September 2021

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Abstract

To assess the suitability of a newly developed jute–polypropylene blended jute geotextile (JGT) in expansive black cotton (BC) soil as road-subgrade for low volume road construction, several laboratory-based studies were carried out, viz., the effect of pressure on the thickness of the geotextile fabric, long-duration biodegradability of it in saturated BC soil, microscopic study on the biodegraded blended JGT fabrics and finally a moderately long-duration California Bearing Ratio (CBR)-study incorporating experimental geotextile/s inside the compacted BC soil subgrade. Comparative performance of a commercial synthetic geotextile was also studied under similar conditions as that of the blended JGT for determination of the thickness profiles and CBR-study. Biodegradability study reveals that the blended JGT (composed of 77% jute by weight) retains around 81% and 67% of its initial tensile strengths in warp and weft directions respectively, even after remaining embedded in 100% saturated BC soil for 15 months. It has been experimentally found that this blended JGT for single layer application causes about 44% maximum CBR improvement over only soil system. The findings recommend that the blended JGT can be an economical and environment-friendly substitute of 100% synthetic geotextiles in the construction of low volume roads constructed over BC soil subgrade. The extent of CBR improvement and mechanism of reinforcement obtained from this study can guide the road engineers for the design of roads along with supporting field data.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to sincerely express their gratitude to Dr. U.S. Sarma, ex-Director, IJIRA for his kind support, inspiration, and permission for publication of this research paper. The authors would like to sincerely thank Dr. S. K. Chakrabarti, Deputy Director, IJIRA for his kind advice. Co-operation and help extended by Dr. Sandip Bose, Smt. Soumita Chowdhury, Shri Debi Prasad Gon, Shri Arindam Das and Shri Joyjit Mukherjee of IJIRA are hereby acknowledged. Also, the assistance of technical staff of Physical Testing Laboratory of IJIRA is acknowledged.

Funding

There is no external funder. The entire laboratory study has been carried out at Soil Testing Laboratory and Physical Testing Laboratory of IJIRA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geotech Cell, Indian Jute Industries’ Research Association (IJIRA), 17 Taratala Road, Kolkata, 700088, India

    Mahuya Ghosh, Rumki Saha & Monimoy Das

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  1. Mahuya Ghosh
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  2. Rumki Saha
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  3. Monimoy Das
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Contributions

Dr. Mahuya Ghosh, First & Corresponding Author has planned the entire research activity as described in the present research paper. She has also analysed the results/outcomes of the entire study and wrote the paper manuscript. Ms. Rumki Saha, Second Co-author and Mr. Monimoy Das, Third Co-author have jointly carried out all the soil laboratory-related experimental works and compilation of data for CBR-tests.

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Correspondence to Mahuya Ghosh.

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Ghosh, M., Saha, R. & Das, M. Application of Jute–Polypropylene Blended Geotextile in Black Cotton Soil Subgrade for Low Volume Road Construction. Int. J. of Geosynth. and Ground Eng. 7, 53 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40891-021-00301-x

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