Project Summary
This project applied a privately developed geotextile as part of a road repair project on the Dalton Highway, Alaska. Researchers installed a new nylon wicking fabric under pavement to reduce or eliminate “soft spots”, areas where water pools underneath the pavement, causing rapid degradation and potholes. Researchers hope the fabric will capture water welling up through the foundation soils and route it to the side of the road, leaving the soil above drier and stronger. This project was a joint effort between Tencate, which provided the geotextile, ADOT&PF, which installed the new material, and AUTC, which provided data collection monitoring. A new project, which will collect data over the next two years, will reveal how well the material performs in this application.
