Reflective Cracking in Asphalt Pavements?... Use Geosynthetics

by Jeffrey Rasche, on October 03, 2018

Fatigue and reflective cracking in pavements are typically caused by traffic loading, age hardening or temperature cycling. Conventional remedies have included the application of thicker asphalt overlays – a solution that addresses the problem only at the surface, and for a limited period of time. For each inch of applied overlay, reflective cracking is only assumed to be deterred from reaching the surface for a period of just one year. 

The GlasGrid® paving grid system provides an additional means of resisting the migration of reflective cracking in pavement applications, reducing maintenance costs and extending pavement service life by 200% or more. Manufactured by Saint-Gobain ADFORS and distributed exclusively in the Americas by Tensar International, the GlasGrid System has been used on thousands of highways, roadways, parking lots, airport aprons and runways throughout the world. 

Installed between an asphalt leveling course and the surface course, the GlasGrid System becomes the hidden strength in a road, turning reflective vertical crack stresses horizontally to effectively dissipate them.

The video webinar below provides an overview of geosynthetic interlayers for asphalt reinforcement.

Topics Include:

  • All interlayer types and the unique difference between them
  • Understanding reflective crack distress types
  • Fatigue cracking vs reflective cracking
  • Installation of interlayers
  • Test methods for interlayers
  • Recycling of asphalt concrete with interlayers
  • Boundary conditions
  • Design methods for interlayers

 

 

Previously recorded webinar for Roads & Bridges Magazine