REMAINING TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO OBTAINING GENERAL ACCEPTANCE OF GEOSYNTHETICS

Over the past 10 to 20 years, geosynthetics have developed into a viable subset of civil engineering materials. The specific applications are usually in the environmental, geotechnical and transportation related areas. However, the majority of designers and facility owners in these areas have had little formal education in polymeric materials, in general, nor in geosynthetics, in particular Thus there is often a reluctance toward their use, particularly in critical situations. Unfortunately, this reluctance is often framed around reasons that are quite unfounded. Reflecting on this situation, we have selected three major areas of technical concern which require a critical assessment and additional investigation. They are the following: Geotextile filtration concerns when dealing with fine cohesion less soils, sediment and microorganism laden permeants, and dynamic or high gradient flow rates. Geotextile and geogrid time dependent behavior under load which involves both creep and stress relaxation. Geomembranes, geonets and geocomposites are sometimes challenged in this same manner. Polymer degradation concerns and related lifetime prediction methods. This applies to all geosynthetics used in permeant civil engineering systems. New research by the authors has been added in each of the above topics along with suggested future efforts. The conclusion to the paper presents what we feel to be a logical, technical-based, mind set for the use of geosynthetics in civil engineering applications.