Neoloy® Geocells Enable Road Construction Using Sand
Neoloy Geocells have a strong, 3D cellular structure, which can use sand to reinforce the base of Canadian roads, railways, ports and working platforms.
Although sand cannot normally be used to construct a road, Neoloy Geocell is an innovative road reinforcement technology that enables the use of sand to reinforce the base of roads, railways, ports and working platforms.
A major advantage of Neoloy Geocells are their ability to utilize fine grained granular materials, such as sand to build roads (much like a pail filled with sand at the beach). Cellular confinement of sand prevents lateral dispersion, limits strains and can increase the modulus of the sand to 300+ MPa. This enables the use of locally-available sandy soils to be utilized as structural infill for all types of heavy-duty and long-term flexible pavements, including heavy load support applications.
Neoloy Geocells have been shown to have the highest creep resistance and stiffness of any geocell – this means reliable performance, even when using poorly graded, beach and dune sand for infill, for the design life of the project. Neoloy reinforced roads from sand have been proven on all types of sand subgrade for the transport of heavy equipment and heavy haul trucks, and in the base layer reinforcement of container yards for ports, railways and road pavement types worldwide.
See more in case studies and published research on using sand geocell reinforcement for roads, rails and ports.
Benefits
- Confinement increases elastic modulus of sand (high apparent cohesive strength)
- High stiffness and creep resistance provides long-term reliability
- Highest durability and lifespan even under heavy and cyclical loading (e.g. ports and railways)
- Fast and simple installation
- Reduce construction and life-cycle costs
- Proven for heavy loads in extreme conditions with excellent results
- Sustainable solution
- Utilize commonly available sand and sandy soils for structural infill
- Reduce quarrying and use of aggregate
- Excellent drainage