Performance of Wicking Geotextile on Mitigating Water Pumping Issue on I-44 Highway

Water within pavement layers is the major cause of pavement distresses. An increase in pore water pressure caused by traffic loads causes fine particles of subgrade and subbase to migrate to base course layer. This migration results in the formation of void spaces and reduction in support of the pavement. On the other hand, migrated fines may clog the granular base course and reduce its drainage. All of these negative effects would reduce the durability of the pavement and damage it.
In this study, a full-scale test section located along I-44 highway was constructed and monitored to investigate the effect of a new type of wicking geotextile to enhance pavement drainage and to mitigate water pumping. 
Analyzing one year of data acquired from the sensors shows that the wicking geotextile has successfully reduced the volumetric water content of the base course material up to 5%-10% and enhanced the pavement drainage capacity. This conclusion has been verified by a set of small scale box tests in the laboratory as well. Observations showed that the efficiency of wicking geotextile is considerably better than conventional drainage systems including French drains when the pavement is under unsaturated condition.

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Report number: cmr 20-003
Published: March 2020
Project number: TR201905
Authors: Xiong Zhang and Javad Galinmoghadam
Performing organization: Missouri University of Science & Technology