Geocells

January 1, 1970  |  Products

Geocells are engineered for protection and stabilization applications. They are often used to help improve the performance of standard construction materials and erosion-control treatments. Geocell products are three-dimensional, expandable panels made from high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polyeste…
Erosion control materials

January 1, 1970  |  Products

These products are designed to help solve erosion- and sediment-control problems and to provide long-term stabilization by establishing and maintaining vegetative cover. Erosion-control products give engineers ready solutions for one of the fastest-growing design niches. Many of these products work …
What is GRS? (Geosynthetic-reinforced soil)

January 1, 1970  |  Products

The soil mass of GRS systems is reinforced in layers with a polymeric geosynthetic (e.g., geogrids or geotextiles), and the layered reinforcement is attached to facing elements that constitute the outer wall. Because the facing elements are commonly composed of articulated units that are not rigidly…
A CSPE (Hypalon) primer

January 1, 1970  |  Products

By Steve Roades Chlorosulfonated polyethylene (CSPE) geomembranes have a history of providing long-term performance in exposed environments. These geosynthetic barriers are increasingly referred to generically as CSM, but many people still refer to them by the no-longer-produced Hypalon elastomer br…
How do wick drains work?

January 1, 1970  |  Products

By Ron Bygness The term wick drain is a misnomer because these clever devices do not actually wick away water. Wick drains, perhaps more accurately called strip or prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs), accelerate preconstruction soil consolidation. The drains are composed of a plastic strip with dra…
Apparent cohesion leads to eventual failure

January 1, 1970  |  Products

These photos show a wall failure next to a corner. This failure occurred in an area where successive triangular sectors of geogrid layers were not installed. Failure is to be expected because reinforced walls without reinforcement should fail. Curiously, this failure occurred about one year after th…
Inadequate compaction necessitates massive remedy

January 1, 1970  |  Products

These photos show a massive remedy utilizing anchors needed for an initially inexpensive geotextile reinforced wall. One reason that necessitated this remedy is poor compaction. Also, risers collecting surface water were embedded in the reinforced soil zone. These risers were connected sequentially …