Transportation and infrastructure

As traffic areas are generally designed from a service lifetime approach, the basic principles for design differ, to some extent, from the principles for building structures in general. For traffic areas the allowable deformation has more emphasis put on it than structural safety.

The reinforcement function is basically to improve deterioration characteristics of the structure. In practice, this means the reduction of structural deformations due to traffic – or other – loads. The potential benefit from reinforcement is generally connected to areas with high loads and soft subsoil.

Geosynthetic reinforcement may be used either to reduce the amount of the base layer/ballast or to increase the service lifetime of the structure. Reduction of base layer/ballast may have an effect on other functions, eg frost penetration depth, and this possibility must be evaluated fully.

To some extent, reducing the volume of filling materials due to the use of TeleGrid® and TeleVev® will lower the number of trucks supplying these materials and, as a consequence, their carbon footprints.