Tensar® TriAx® will optimize the thickness of your paved roads, extend the service life of the pavement, and stabilize soft ground conditions.

TriAx® Geogrid Applications on Paved Roads

Improving Paved Roadway and Parking Structures

Conventional road construction practices present ever-growing challenges to pavement engineers, contractors, and owners, including:

  • Increased pressure to deliver improved performance for less money

  • Increasing road traffic loads

  • Inadequate pavement structures

  • Lower maintenance budgets

  • Increasing material costs

Contractors and engineers are turning to geogrids to save big on project time, leading to fewer carbon emissions and lower costs. When constructing roadways and parking lots over softer subgrades, Tensar® TriAx® geogrids provide stability by confining and filling aggregate particles in place. This adds a layer of mechanically stabilized earth to perform well under the weight of heavy traffic. The Spectra® Roadway Improvement System incorporates Tensar® TriAx® Geogrids, which optimizes pavement design and construction.

The Spectra System combines the TriAx® Geogrid with aggregate fill to create a mechanically stabilized layer (MSL) that is significantly stiffer and more robust than a conventional unbound aggregate layer. The enhanced structural characteristics of the MSL allow the designer to obtain greater performance from the total pavement structure, which results in:

Pavements designed with the Spectra® System offer:

  • Reduced construction costs of 15% or more due to the optimization of pavement layer configuration

  • Dramatic extensions of pavement life due to enhanced performance of the MSL

  • Reductions in aggregate and asphalt quantities

  • Reduction in construction times

  • Optimized life cycle costs and maximum total value

TriAx® Geogrid Applications on Unpaved Roads

Reinforcing Subgrades of Unpaved Roadways

It’s estimated that half of all roads in the United States, and an even higher percentage of roads throughout the world, are unpaved. Many serve as heavy-duty access and haul roads for applications ranging from mining and logging operations to wind farms and landfills.

Weak subgrades pose the greatest challenge to these roads. A weak subgrade subjected to continuous heavy traffic can quickly deform, causing the road surface to rut, pothole, “washboard,” and ultimately deteriorate beyond use.

With increasing aggregate prices, tighter construction budgets and heavier wheel loads, lower cost alternatives to traditional methods of unpaved road construction have become more important but harder to find. One cost-effective, proven alternative has successfully stabilized thousands of miles of unpaved roads around the world: Tensar® TriAx® Geogrids.

Tensar® TriAx® Geogrids are designed to reduce stresses applied to weak subgrade, creating a mechanically stabilized layer (MSL) that distributes loads evenly to increase bearing capacity and to ensure long-term performance. TriAx® Geogrids also provide effective separation and filtration properties when properly graded aggregate fill is used in the MSL.

Tensar® TriAx® Geogrids improve the performance of unpaved roads by:

  • Maintaining road surface quality

  • Reducing the frequency of surface maintenance

  • Reducing aggregate requirements up to 60%

  • Accelerating construction

  • Reducing labor and equipment needs

  • Eliminating the need for costly over-excavation and disposal of poor quality soil

  • Eliminating challenges associated with chemical stabilization

  • Minimizing disturbance to the terrain and surrounding area