| "The university's research will show that this is a viable solution to base stabilization problems." Global Sales and Marketing Manager Daniel Senf |
Civil and Environmental Engineering Professors Tuncer Edil (left) and Craig Benson are collaborating with Daniel Senf (right), Presto Products' global sales and marketing manager, to test soil stabilization strategies on a 4,000-foot segment of Highway 60 near Lodi, Wisconsin. (Photo by Rebecca Smith) |
It's time consuming, inconvenient and expensive, but road construction and repairs are necessary to improve the condition and safety of highways. Fortunately, companies like Presto Products Company of Appleton, Wisconsin are working to extend the life of popular routes in a cost-effective manner.
With the help of Civil and Environmental Engineering Professors Craig Benson and Tuncer Edil, and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, Presto Products is engaging in soil stabilization research on a 4,000-foot segment of Highway 60 near Lodi, Wisconsin.
Rather than removing several feet of the subgrade and replacing it with crushed rock, the team is experimenting with nine new and inexpensive ways to stabilize the road's soft, muddy clay subgrade. The project includes fly ash and bottom ash, a gravel-like byproduct of coal burning, and two foundry byproducts: foundry slag and foundry sand. Once these stabilization materials are in place, a layer of crushed rock and asphalt will be added.
The five remaining segments will test different geosynthethic fabrics that reinforce soil. One such system is Presto Products' Geowebr®, a material that confines soil in its honeycomb-like structure, increasing the resistance-to-deformation of the subbase by a factor of 12 to 15 so that it can support the traffic on the highway above.
The Geowebr cellular confinement system was developed nearly 20 years ago with the help of the Army Corps of Engineers and was brought into the public sector in the mid-1980s. While Geowebr has been used all over the world to build cost-effective roads when soils can't support the anticipated loads, it hadn't been used on Wisconsin highways before this experiment. The research resulting from this project will help the Department of Transportation evaluate the effectiveness of the system and may result in its regular use down the road.
Daniel Senf, Presto Products' global sales and marketing manager, explained that this research project was key in promoting the strengths of the Geowebr system. "The College of Engineering's research will demonstrate to the State of Wisconsin that this is a viable solution to base stabilization and load support problems," he says.
The test segments, which are placed between control sections, are filled with various types of instrumentation like lysimeters, which measure the water percolating through soils and determine the materials dissolved in that water. Moisture and temperature probes will test conditions, and other gauges will measure the force of traffic on the geosynthethic materials.
During the construction process, various tests are completed to determine soil stiffness and dynamics. The measurements, combined with the researchers' visual examinations of road distress over the years, will determine if these materials perform as expected by providing a stable base for highway construction.
"This experiment will help us develop construction guidelines and specifications so highway engineers know what technical performance to expect from this product," says Edil. "They can use this information along with an economic analysis and can decide which soil stabilization material can best aid the Wisconsin Department of Transportation in the construction of new highways."
The soil stabilization research project on Highway 60 benefits all parties involved. For companies like Presto Products, the College of Engineering offers an unbiased testing and evaluation center that will offer credible evidence to assess their product. The college, in turn, has the opportunity to conduct research on state-of-the-art materials and practices that allow it to better educate its students. The results of the college's research offer the State of Wisconsin Department of Transportation important knowledge that enables it to build stronger, safer and longer lasting highways for Wisconsin travelers.
--By Rebecca Smith--
| For further information, please contact: |
Tuncer B. Edil, 608/262-3491
edil@engr.wisc.edu
Copyright 2001 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
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Date last modified: Thursday, 31-May-2001 09:06:25 CDT
Date created: 31-May-2001
