Skip to main content

Polish road strengthened by Tensar

Consultants have specified Tensar techology in the rebuilding of a deteriorating Polish highway in order to meet current standards. The use of Tensar geogrids enabled consultants Drotest and Dro-konsult Warsaw to create a stable asphalt pavement quicker and more economically than using conventional construction methods, says Tensar. The 40km long road, which connects Bartoszyce and Ketrzyhn, had exceeded its design life and clearly showed its structural weakness with bad rutting, extensive fatigue crackin
July 31, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Consultants have specified 340 Tensar techology in the rebuilding of a deteriorating Polish highway in order to meet current standards.

The use of Tensar geogrids enabled consultants 1438 Drotest and Dro-konsult Warsaw to create a stable asphalt pavement quicker and more economically than using conventional construction methods, says Tensar.

The 40km long road, which connects Bartoszyce and Ketrzyhn, had exceeded its design life and clearly showed its structural weakness with bad rutting, extensive fatigue cracking and surface deformation. The 6m wide carriageway was carried on a narrow fill embankment with minimum shoulders and flanked by deep ditches.

Conventional techniques of installing a thick pavement structure to improve the road bearing performance would have required widening the embankment to carry the additional construction. This was an expensive option and not economically possible.

Instead, the Tensar technical design team proposed the installation of a lean concrete base carrying Tensar geogrid composite reinforced asphalt layers. Over the concrete, the contractors PBDiM Minsk Mazowiecki laid a bituminous bond coat, and rolled out the Tensar ARG composite (geogrid bonded to a paving fabric) which was then brushed flat.

Over the concrete road base they laid a new binder course followed by wearing layers of asphalt. The function of the Tensar geogrid composite was to restrict any shrinkage cracking from the concrete layer from reflecting into the asphalt. In addition, its load bearing capability will provide fatigue resistance for the asphalt layers.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Geosynthetics give extra strength to soil reinforcement
    March 14, 2012
    Using geosynthetics for soil reinforcement is highly effective but requires a high quality and trusted geogrid. When it comes to deciding which geogrid is best for a specific project, a number of product parameters must be taken into account. In the design of steep slopes, the most important parameter is the available long term design strength (Pdes). Recently, Colbond has significantly increased this factor for its high performance Enkagrid product, recognised with a newly updated BBA (British Board of Ag
  • Geosynthetics give extra strength to soil reinforcement
    May 3, 2012
    Using geosynthetics for soil reinforcement is highly effective but requires a high quality and trusted geogrid. When it comes to deciding which geogrid is best for a specific project, a number of product parameters must be taken into account. In the design of steep slopes, the most important parameter is the available long term design strength (Pdes). Recently, Colbond has significantly increased this factor for its high performance Enkagrid product, recognised with a newly updated BBA (British Board of Ag
  • Historic promenade given a facelift
    July 17, 2012
    In the UK, Foster Contracting was part of the team that carried out road improvements to the main route along the historic promenade of the seaside town Great Yarmouth, in eastern England. The harshness of the sea environment coupled with traffic loading caused the road surface to deteriorate, leading to brittle cracking of the thin surface course and also reflective cracking from overlain service trenches and patches. The town centre was already undergoing a major regeneration and as part of this scheme, i
  • Pavement preservation techniques
    February 16, 2012
    In this second article of a three-part series on pavement preservation, Alan S. Kercher, of Kercher Engineering, discusses the different techniques that can be utilised as part of the preservation toolbox