Booth Transport Storage Facility Pavement

Tasmania, Australia

Bridging various subgrade strength with ease

Soft subgrade was encountered unexpectedly at Booth Transport’s container storage facility during construction that required a thicker pavement. Incorporating Tensar stabilisation geogrid, the pavement thickness was maintained as per the original design.

Benefits:

  • Reduce pavement thickness by 40% in areas where subgrade was unexpectedly soft
  • Effective mechanical stabilisation helps maintain original pavement design across various subgrade strengths
  • Timely construction without the need for removal & replacement of low strength subgrade
Client's Challenges

Booth Transport needed assistance with a heavy-duty pavement solution to expand their existing container storage facility in Tasmania that would be trafficked by container-handling forklifts with axle loads of 80t. The consultant had designed the pavement based on CBR 9% as obtained from the soil investigation. However, during the construction, the actual subgrade CBR was 7% and some soft spots with CBR 2.5% were encountered which required a thicker pavement.

Tensar Solutions

Together with our distributor, Geofabrics Australasia, Tensar proposed a solution using Tensar stabilisation geogrid to the client which maintained the original pavement thickness. Tensar mechanically stabilised layers (MSL) incorporating Tensar stabilisation geogrid were constructed which saved around 40% of the thickness than that proposed without a geogrid. Compaction testing of the granular layers was conducted and it was found that the MSL provided consistent results, even with variable subgrade strength.