THE USE OF FABRICS IN FOREST SERVICE ROAD CONSTRUCTION

Fabrics are an important highway engineering material and significant cost savings and long term benefits can be obtained by their proper use in highway construction and maintennce. In order to make a rational fabric selection choice from the many options available, the highway engineer must know whether the intended use of the fabric is cost effective, what physical and chemical characteristics should the fabric have for the intended use and, the proper range of values for these characteristics. For the most part, many agencies including the Forest Service are using fabrics on a trial basis. The fabrics are being evaluated and compared to conventional and traditional ways for handling certain specific design and construction situations. Because fabrics are a relatively new construction material, they lack long term performance information. Traditionally, fabrics have been used in a very conventional manner for purposes of filtration, separation, subgrade restraint, and erosion control. Other possible uses include: Encapsulation of excavation material and incorporated into highway fills; containing and damping slumping, settlement, and differential movement within the fill; fabric covered drainage grids could be vibrated into the ground thereby avoiding costly excavation and backfill; and, a bio-degradable blanket of fabric with encapsulated and releasable seed, moisture, and fertilizer could be placed on erosion sensitive soils.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Prepared for presentation at the 63rd Annual Meeting of AASHTO, Atlantic City, New Jersey, October 31, 1977-November 2, 1977.
• Corporate Authors:

  US Forest Service

  1400 Independence Avemue, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20250
• Authors:
  • Pelzner, A
  • Steward, J E
• Publication Date: 1977

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 33 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Cost effectiveness; Encapsulation; Erosion control; Fabrics; Filtration; Forest roads; Highway design; Highway maintenance; Road construction; Settlement (Structures)
• Subject Areas: Construction; Design; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Materials;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00167877
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 26 1978 12:00AM