Indian Geotech J (June 2021) 51(3):612–623

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40098-021-00539-2

ORIGINAL PAPER

Geocells for Transportation Geotechnical Applications

Gali Madhavi Latha1

Received: 13 November 2020 / Accepted: 23 April 2021 / Published online: 19 May 2021
Ó Indian Geotechnical Society 2021

Abstract Since their inception in early 70s, geocells have have found many other applications like foundation rein-
found numerous applications in civil engineering. One of forcement, erosion control, slope protection, channel pro-
the most important applications of geocells, which has tection, flood walls and blast protection. However, the use
created considerable impact in the field of reinforced soil of geocells in various transportation-related applications,
structures, is their usage in various transportation including roads, embankments and retaining walls, remains
geotechnical applications. Geocells are successfully being well ahead among all other applications. Today, geocells
used for the reinforcement of road embankments, unpaved are being extensively used across the world, to construct
roads and creation of flexible retaining walls. This paper low maintenance roads in difficult ground conditions.
demonstrates the beneficial effects of geocells in all these Many case studies are available in literature, demonstrating
applications through laboratory model studies. Embank- the successful performance of geocells in protecting the
ments were built on soft clay with the support of a geocell roads and other components of transportation infrastructure
layer, withstanding higher loads with lesser settlements. against adverse weather conditions, earthquakes and floods.
Geocell reinforcement in unpaved roads has significantly Pokharel et al. [3] discussed the field size pilot studies
improved the cyclic load-bearing capacity and resilient on geocell reinforced unpaved road sections built in
modulus, improving the traffic benefit ratio and reducing Northern Alberta and British Colombia. These roads are
the rutting. Geocell walls built with low-cost polymers geographically located in places prone to cold winters and
could sustain severe earthquake conditions, without extreme freeze and thaw conditions. An excellent case
undergoing failure. study of building a geocell flood wall in a short time to
protect the city of Smithland, Kentucky from flood was
Keywords Geocell
Embankments
Unpaved roads
reported by Geocell Systems Inc. [4]. Another case study
Retaining walls
Reinforced soil of a 15 m tall geocell retaining wall built in Istanbul to
resist seismic loads was illustrated by PRS Geotechnolo-
gies [5]. The geocells were made of low tensile strength
Introduction uniaxial geogrids but provided high strength, flexibility and
resistance to extreme earthquake motions. Another case
The primary application of Geocells, when they were study of rehabilitation of damaged roads due to heavy
conceptualized and implemented in 1970, was providing rainfall in Hangal of North Karnataka using geocells is
immediate support for the movement of heavy military documented by Bagli [6]. Geocells provided a long-term
vehicles over soft roads [1, 2]. Over the years, geocells solution to the problems of reflective cracking, rutting and
mud-pumping, which were a constant hurdle to the
movement of vehicles during every monsoon season.
& Gali Madhavi Latha Several earlier researchers have presented the beneficial
[email protected]
effects of geocell reinforcement for transportation appli-
1
Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, cations through laboratory model tests. The beam effect
Bangalore 560 012, India and all-round confinement effect of geocells were

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conceptually explained by Han et al. [7]. Bathurst and

Karpurapu [8] and Rajagopal et al. [9] quantified the all-
Geocell layer
round confinement effect of geocells through large-scale
laboratory triaxial tests. Krishnaswamy et al. [10] showed
that geocell confinement can drastically reduce the vertical
settlements and heave of embankments built on soft clay
layers. Benefits of geocell reinforcement in reducing cyclic
deformations in soils were investigated by Latha et al. [11],
Soft clay foundation
Nair and Latha [12] and Latha and Manju [13]. Thakur
et al. [14] showed that the all-round confinement effect of
geocells is capable of reducing creep deformations in Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of a geocell-supported embankment
recycled asphalt pavements. Leshchinsky [15] presented
results from simulated load tests on models of railroad To understand the benefits of geocell reinforcement in
ballast embankments, showing that geocells are effective in embankments over soft soil beds, laboratory plate load tests
controlling the permanent deformations and degradation of were carried out. A soft clay bed of 0.4 m depth was cre-
ballast to slow down the deterioration of the embankment ated by mixing a lot of water with clay and consolidating it
geometry under heavy-duty rail traffic movement. Saride for a week by applying a uniform surcharge of 10 kPa. At
and Rayabarapu [16] discussed different methods of design the end, the shear strength and CBR properties of the clay
of pavements reinforced with geocells, in the light of lab- bed were measured by taking undisturbed samples from the
oratory model pavement studies on geocell reinforced prepared test bed. The unit weight of the test bed was
granular bases. 17 kN/m3, CBR value in soaked condition was 0.5% and
This paper presents some important laboratory and the undrained cohesion was 20 kPa. Uniaxial and biaxial
small-scale field simulations on geocell reinforced geogrids and geonets were used in different model tests to
embankments, road sections and retaining walls. fabricate the tri-planar honeycomb-shaped geocells.
Table 1 presents the properties of these geosynthetics.
Clayey sand was filled in geocells and carefully compacted
Geocell Supported Embankments to a unit weight of 17 kN/m3. The aperture openings of all
geogrids and geonets are at least 20 times larger than the
Embankments to support road and rail-road traffic move- average particle size of the clayey sand, allowing free
ment are essential components of transportation network. passage of clayey sand between the interconnected cells
In countries like India, where diverse soil conditions pose through the openings. In readymade geocells where poly-
many challenges for the construction and maintenance of meric sheets are ultrasonically welded, such soil movement
these embankments, supporting these embankments on a is restricted, imposing additional confining pressure inside
strong geo-cellular network is a sustainable solution. Since the cells.
geocells are tri-planar, they confine the infill soil in both Symmetric half models of soil embankments of base
lateral and vertical directions, thus providing a strong mat- length 1.8 m, width 0.8 m and height
like foundation to the embankment. Apart from transferring 0.6 m were built on top of the geocell layer using clayey
their tensile stiffness to load-bearing capacity of soils, sand to a unit weight of 19 kN/m3. Plate load tests were
geocells also contain the soils, allowing for the re-orien- conducted on the model embankments and settlements of
tation of shear planes and reducing the load on the foun- the embankment, deformations of the slope and heave of
dation soil. The pressure bulb, which usually extends to the soil layer adjacent to the embankment were measured
deeper soils, is widened and limits itself to shallow depths using dial gauges. Figure 2 shows the sequence of the
of the soil layers due to the beam effect of geocells, thus model construction and testing.
allowing constructions on weaker soils. Most importantly, Results from the load tests on model embankments
the benefits of geocell are immediate and hence the dis- proved that geocells provided at the base of the embank-
turbance to traffic movement during the construction phase ment are effective in controlling the vertical and lateral
is minimal. Additional supporting system for compactors deformations of the embankment. Variation of vertical
and trucks carrying construction materials are also not deformations with different aspect ratios of geocell layer
needed since geocells provide full-support for the vehicular created using single-plane biaxial geogrid is shown in
traffic, as soon as they are expanded in the field and filled Fig. 3. The position of dial gauges is marked with V in
with the infill material. Figure 1 illustrates a geocell sup- Fig. 3. As seen from the figure, inclusion of the geocell
ported embankment constructed over a soft clay foundation layer has significantly reduced the settlements of the
bed.

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Table 1 Properties of geosynthetics used for making geocells in model tests

Property of geosynthetic material Uniaxial geogrid Biaxial geogrid Geonet

Ultimate tensile strength (kN/m) 40 20 4.5

Failure strain (%) 28 25 10
Aperture opening (mm) 210 9 16 35 9 35 50 9 50
Secant modulus at 5% strain (kN/m) 200 160 70
Material High density polyethylene (HDPE) High density polyethylene (HDPE) Non-oriented polypropylene

Fig. 2 Sequence of embankment model construction and testing. a Mixing of soft clay, b filling of geocells, c compacting the embankment,
d test set-up

embankment and also controlled the heave of the soil ratio of height to diameter of the geocell, is an important
adjacent to the embankment. Aspect ratio, which is the factor that governs the deformations in the embankment.

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Fig. 3 Variation of vertical

deformations in an embankment
supported on a geocell layer
with different aspect ratios of
geocells

The optimum value of aspect ratio for the test configura- geonet failed at surcharge pressures of 96 kPa, 75 kPa and
tions and materials used in these model tests was found to 65 kPa, respectively, when the aspect ratio of cells was
be unity. 0.44. The maximum vertical settlements recorded for the
The geocell supported embankment with the cell aspect unreinforced embankment was 150 mm at 50 kPa and it
ratio of unity has settled three times less compared to an reduced to 100 mm, 80 mm and 70 mm at the same sur-
identical embankment constructed on the soft clay layer, charge pressure for embankments reinforced with geocells
without the geocell layer. When the performance of geo- made of geonet, biaxial geogrid and uniaxial geogrid,
cells made of uniaxial geogrid, biaxial geogrid and geonet respectively. The order of reduction is in the order of the
is compared, geocells made of uniaxial geogrid performed tensile stiffness of the geocells.
better, because of their higher tensile stiffness. Also, the economical benefits of geocells can be seen
Unreinforced embankment failed at a surcharge pressure from Fig. 4, where the cells made of uniaxial geogrid were
of 50 kPa, whereas the embankments reinforced with filled with the native clay material instead of clayey sand.
geocells made up of uniaxial geogrid, biaxial geogrid and Even with a clay infill, significant improvement in the

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Fig. 4 Variation of lateral

deformations in an embankment
supported on a geocell layer
filled with different soils

performance in terms of reduction in lateral deformation Geocell-Faced Retaining Walls

can be seen. The unreinforced embankment showed a load-
carrying capacity of 50 kPa, whereas the reinforced Transportation geotechnical applications have retaining
embankments with clay and clayey sand showed load- walls to serve functions like gradient change, slope pro-
bearing capacity of 65 kPa and 85 kPa, respectively, as tection and elevated corridors. Most of the gravity retaining
seen in Fig. 4. walls are being replaced with reinforced soil walls, to
At a surcharge pressure of 50 kPa, the lateral deforma- provide flexibility and resistance to seismic loads. Geocell
tion measured in the unreinforced embankment was 5 mm, walls provide attractive and economical solutions for such
whereas it reduced to 0.5 mm with the inclusion of clay- scenarios, given the ease of their construction and their
filled geocells. The embankment supported on geocells geometrically stable configuration. Unlike other types of
filled with clayey sand did not show any lateral deforma- mechanically stabilized soil retaining walls, geocell walls
tions up to a surcharge pressure of 50 kPa. The embank- do not require any facing. The key design principle of a
ment built directly on the soft clay bed has moved laterally geocell retaining wall is to counteract the cyclic vehicular
by about 6 mm under a surcharge pressure of 50 kPa. loads, wind loads and seismic loads through the additional
However, the embankment supported on clay-filled geocell friction and resisting moment generated at the base of the
layer has deformed only by about 0.6 mm. The embank- wall. Since geocell walls are built by stacking the layers of
ment supported on clayey-sand-filled geocells has not geocells, the entire width of the geocell layer acts as the
undergone any lateral deformations under 50 kPa. reinforced fill and the driving forces from the weight of the
retained backfill are counteracted by the gravitational for-
ces exerted by the reinforced fill. The failure wedge shifts
to much deeper into the fill, increasing the shear resistance
under active and passive pressure conditions. The stacked
geocells themselves act as the facing of the wall and if an
offset is provided between different layers, grass and other

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bio-stabilizing plants can be grown in cell pockets, which are not in contact with the models and hence they remain
will further contribute to the stability of the wall [17]. The undisturbed during the model testing.
porous walls of the geocells restrict the development of The model walls were shaken with different amplitudes
pore pressures inside the fill, thus reducing the danger of and frequencies of shaking. It was observed that the geo-
wall collapse and liquefaction. These walls are extremely cell-faced walls stayed intact even after severe shaking
stable against seismic loads since the design provides conditions. For example, Fig. 7 shows the results from a set
flexibility and makes the entire structure ductile, allowing of simulated shaking studies, where the models were sha-
displacement adjustments between the layers, unlike full- ken to a frequency of 1 Hz, changing the amplitude of
height rigid-faced walls or gravity walls. Fig. 5 shows the shaking between 0.2 and 0.3 g in tests S3A2F1 and
schematic diagram of a commonly adopted geocell wall. S3A3F1, respectively. These values of acceleration
One of the important advantages of geocell walls is their amplitude represent moderate and severe seismic condi-
resistance to earthquake shaking that comes from the wider tions. Deformation of geocell-faced walls at different ele-
facia, which is effective in resisting both sliding and vations measured in tests with two different acceleration
overturning of the wall. To understand the response of amplitudes is shown in Fig. 7a. For a moderate seismic
geocell-faced walls to earthquake shaking, geocell-faced shaking of 0.2 g amplitude, the wall deformed by a max-
walls constructed in a laminar shear box were tested on a imum amount of 4.2 mm and for severe seismic shaking of
uni-directional shaking table. Low strength geonets were 0.3 g amplitude, the wall deformation was 5 mm. For an
used to create the geocell facing. The sequence of steps acceleration amplitude of 0.2 g, the deformation at the top
followed for the construction of a geocell-faced wall inside of the retaining wall was found to be 4.2 mm, whereas for
the laminar shear box mounted on the uni-directional an acceleration amplitude of 0.3 g, the horizontal dis-
shaking table is shown in Fig. 6. Initially, the geocell layer placement was 5 mm. Another set of model tests were
of 100 mm height and 100 mm diameter is expanded to the carried out at a shaking frequency of 2 Hz and the defor-
required width of the box (0.5 m) and filled with aggregate mations corresponding to 0.2 g and 0.3 g acceleration
of average size 10 mm and compacted. Backfill sand is amplitudes from tests S3A2F2 and S3A3F2, respectively,
then filled to the height of the geocell layer and compacted. are presented in Fig. 7b. This situation corresponds to
Then, the next layer of geocells is placed above the first much severe shaking of the wall and for this condition, the
layer with an offset of 50 mm and filled with aggregates wall displaced by a maximum about of 4.8 mm at an
and compacted. This step is followed by the backfill sand amplitude of 0.2 g and 5.5 mm at an amplitude of 0.3 g
filling up to the second layer. These steps are repeated till and for a frequency of 2 Hz, as shown in Fig. 7b, the
the full height of the geocell-faced wall (0.6 m) is reached. values were 4.8 mm and 5.5 mm, respectively. However,
Displacements of the model walls were continuously the wall did not fail even under such severe seismic
monitored using ultrasonic displacement transducers, shaking conditions, proving that the geocell-faced walls
which can measure 20 displacement values within each have extremely high resistance to earthquake shaking.
second, with an accuracy of 1 lm. Also, these transducers

Fig. 5 A typical geocell-faced

retaining wall

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Fig. 6 Steps followed for constructing the geocell-faced walls. a Filling aggregate in cells, b compacting infill, c finished wall

Geocell Reinforced Unpaved Roads layer. This size corresponds to the least size of Grading 3
of granular sub-base design, specified for rural roads by the
Geocells perform multiple functions when used to rein- Ministry of Rural Development, India, as per the document
force unpaved roads. Apart from providing tensile and published by the Indian Roads Congress (IRC), New Delhi
shear resistance to the road, their network can act as a in 2014. Commercial geocells with honeycomb shape and
separator between the soft subgrade and sub-base/base porous walls, supplied by Strata geosystems were used to
courses, limiting the mud-pumping and layer mixing. By reinforce the aggregate base layer. Height of the geocell
providing a layer of geocells in the road section, the layer was varied in different model tests, starting from 25
thickness of the aggregate layer can be significantly mm to 150 mm, in increments of 25 mm. The test sections
reduced with additional advantage of increased strength have square dimensions of 0.75 m sides in plan and 0.62 m
and resilience. Being a porous inclusion, geocells also height. Figure 8 shows the schematic representation of the
allow free drainage between the layers and restrict the model test set-up.
development of excess pore water pressures within the road Once the model was set up, the subgrade was subjected
sections. to repeated loading conditions by applying a constant
To understand the beneficial effects of geocells in pressure of 300 kPa on the circular plate resting on the
unpaved roads, laboratory plate load tests were carried out subgrade, using a hydraulic jack. Hence, the repeated
on model sections with geocell reinforcement. In a steel loading mechanism represents stress-controlled testing,
test tank, a clay subgrade is created using low plastic clay where the pressure was applied repeatedly for 100 cycles
by compacting it to a unit weight of 18 kN/m3 at its opti- on the model sections. Dial gauges mounted on the plate
mum moisture content of 15%. Under these conditions, the recorded the vertical displacements. 5 kPa of seating
CBR value of the subgrade clay is 19%. Literature suggests pressure was constantly applied while unloading, to ensure
that best benefits of geocell reinforcement are obtained the contact between the plate and the subgrade. Each
when the CBR value of the subgrade is less than 10% [18]. loading and unloading cycle took about 3 minutes.
In the present study, the strength of the subgrade is high, Reduction in the vertical deformations of the road sections
representing a stiffer subgrade. Stiffer subgrade was with the inclusion of geocell layers of different heights is
selected to facilitate identical model preparations in lesser shown in Fig. 9. The plot shows diminishing benefits
time. With weaker subgrades, the beneficial effects will be beyond a cell height of 75 mm, suggesting possible buck-
much higher, due to additional beam effect and membrane ling that can happen in cell walls with further increase in
effect generated between the weaker subgrade and the high height. The maximum reduction in vertical deformations
strength polymeric reinforcement. Repeated load type was observed to be about 70%. In the repeated load testing,
plate-load tests were carried out on the model road sections vertical deformations are categorized into elastic and
built using aggregate of average size 10 mm above the clay plastic settlements. Plastic settlements are detrimental to

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carried out on the Indian Institute of Science campus. An

unpaved road section of 2 m length and 1 m width was
chosen for these tests. The natural sandy soil subgrade of
the campus has a CBR value of around 20%. The native
soil was ploughed to a depth of 0.5 m and mixed with
excessive amount of water and left for a day after mixing.
The CBR value of the prepared test bed was measured as
1%. Aggregate of average size of 12 mm was used as the
base course. Geocells were formed using a planar biaxial
geogrid having ultimate tensile strength of 40 kN/m.
Height and pocket size of the geocell layer were kept as
100 mm, which means that the aspect ratio of geocells was
unity. The formation of a single geocell layer of 2 m2 plan
area consumed a planar geogrid of 5.85m2 area. A geo-
textile layer having ultimate tensile strength of 55 kN/m
was used as a basal layer for the geocells. In a different
series of tests, only the planar geotextile and only the
planar biaxial geogrid were used as reinforcement, instead
of geocells. The cell pockets were filled with aggregate to a
unit weight of 13 kN/m3. Prepared subgrade with geocell
layer above the basal layer is shown in Fig. 11.
A cover layer of 50 mm thickness is created above the
geocell layer to facilitate smooth movement of vehicles by
mixing the native soil with 10% water by weight. After the
cover layer is finished, the road section is subjected to
moving vehicular loading. A Honda Activa two-wheeler
motor vehicle of 100 kg weight was used for this test. The
weight of the rider was 55 kg. The vehicle was driven
along the central line of the road section at a uniform speed
of 20 kmph. The vehicle generates a contact stress of about
8.5 kPa under both the wheels. This exercise was repeated
250 times and each time, the vehicle was allowed to move
on the test bed at the same speed in the forward direction
only, simulating on-way traffic. The entire road section was
Fig. 7 Facing deformations in geocell walls for moderate and high divided into equal area grids and the displacements were
seismic conditions. a 1 Hz frequency, b 3 Hz frequency
measured at the grid junctions at Sections 1, 2 and 3 as
shown in Fig. 12 after every 50 passes of the vehicle. These
the performance of the roads since they represent the
displacements were used to calculate the rut depths. The rut
fraction of settlements that will be permanent, unlike
depths were measured at marked grid points after every 20
elastic settlements. For the benefit of road service and
passes until 250 passes were completed.
maintenance, plastic settlements should be less. Compar-
As observed from the rut depth measurements along the
ison of plastic settlements accumulated in unreinforced
three transverse sections of the road shown in Fig. 12,
road section and different geocell reinforced road sections
geocell layer is very effective in controlling the rut depth.
is shown in Fig. 10. While the plastic settlement in unre-
Unreinforced road section (UR) developed deeper ruts and
inforced road section is about 110 mm at the end of 100
the vehicle started skidding on it within 20 passes of the
cycles of load, geocell reinforced section with 75 mm cell
vehicle. However, the road section with geocell rein-
height could bring down the plastic settlements to less than
forcement (GC5.85) developed less deeper ruts and the
50 mm. Reduction in stiffness of the geocell with increase
vehicle passage was smooth till 250 passes. Between
in height is a factor that should be considered in the design
since geocells with height beyond 75 mm have shown geotextile (GT) and geogrid (BG), geotextile performed
better since the function of separation controlled the mix-
comparatively lesser benefits.
ing of softer subgrade soil into the aggregate.
To demonstrate the effectiveness of geocells for
unpaved roads in a field set-up, small-scale field tests were

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Fig. 8 Schematic diagram of

the model set-up for repeated
load tests on unpaved roads

Fig. 9 Performance of geocell layer in reducing settlements in roads Fig. 10 Plastic settlements of road sections with geocell
reinforcement

Summary
roads that can sustain many cycles of wheel loads is
As demonstrated through various laboratory and field explained through model tests and field tests. In case of
studies in this paper, geocells have multiple roles in embankment support, the major function of geocells is
transportation geotechnical applications. Their role in spreading the load over wider area to reduce the zone of
supporting road embankments on weak subgrade soils, soil load influence so that the settlements of the soft layer can
retaining for cutting and filling operations related to road be reduced and lateral squeezing out of soil layer sand-
creation and widening, creating strong and sustainable wiched between the embankment and the rigid base is

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Fig. 11 Geocell layer prepared

at the site

controlled. In case of geocell-faced retaining walls, geo- corridor abutments, providing erosion control and tsunami
cells play the role of soil retention, as they replace the full- barrier systems that can sustain severe wave loads, creating
height rigid facing or panel facing, which are commonly flood protection barriers and blast proof roads and walls.
used in reinforced retaining walls. Geocells in the retaining
wall also provide lateral confinement effect to control wall
deformations, flexibility between layers to adjust the Conclusions
deformations between the layers, particularly during seis-
mic events and act as wave impeding layers, to control the Beneficial effects of geocells in various transportation
acceleration amplifications at the crest. In case of road geotechnical applications are highlighted in this paper
reinforcement, the mechanism of geocells is reduction of through various laboratory model experiments and small-
vertical and lateral deformations due to all-round confine- scale field studies. Road embankments constructed on soft
ment effect, providing a rigid mat to the wheel loads due to clay foundations supported on a geocell layer, retaining
the beam effect of geocells and uniform and wider distri- walls built with geocell facing and unpaved roads stabi-
bution of wheel loads to provide uniform deformations and lized with a geocell layer were tested under static, cyclic
better ridability. The laboratory repeated load tests and and seismic shaking conditions. These studies brought out
field tests with vehicular loads demonstrated the superior the advantages of using geocells for reinforcing soils for
performance of geocell reinforced roads compared to various transportation engineering applications. With the
unreinforced and planar geosynthetic reinforced roads, by support from the geocell layer, embankments settled less
sustaining much higher number of load cycles without and the slope deformations were completely arrested.
getting damaged. In all these applications, though the Under repeated loading conditions, the geocell reinforced
mechanisms of interaction of geocells with soils are dif- unpaved road sections showed lesser plastic settlements
ferent, the main benefits of geocells are derived from the and higher load-bearing capacity compared to unreinforced
honeycomb-shaped interconnected hollow structure of road sections. Field tests with soft subgrades stabilized
geocells, which provides all-round confinement, overall with geocell layer showed that the rut depth decreased
stability and stiffness, with optimal usage of polymeric substantially with the geocell reinforcement. Geocell
material. There is a greater scope for these materials in reinforced road sections could sustain many vehicle passes
several other applications, including high speed rail without failure. Seismic load studies on geocell-faced walls

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Fig. 12 Effectiveness of geocell layer in controlling the rut depths

highlighted their effectiveness under most severe earth- com/casestudies/15m-retaining-wall-residential-buildings/.

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