Abstract

Recycled geosynthetic materials can be incorporated into sand-based soils to improve their shear characteristics and enhance surface response in different engineering applications. This paper summarizes research undertaken to explore the effect of recycled geosynthetic components added to silica sand, whose complex and engineered soil matrix is currently used in the equestrian riding industry. Approximately 120 direct shear tests were used to evaluate the shear strength and compressibility behavior of several riding surface mixtures blended with a combination of short polymer fibers and cut-up pieces of geotextile fabric along with other components such as crumb rubber and binding agents. As expected, results suggest that the shear characteristics of these surfaces are very sensitive to changes in material composition as geosynthetics are incorporated into the soil matrix. It was demonstrated that the addition of geosynthetics can significantly increase the shear strength of granular materials. Although these tests were initially performed for equestrian riding surface applications, the findings of this research could be used for other engineering applications (e.g., lightweight fills, temporary roadways, etc.).

Issue Section:
Technical Papers
Keywords:
geosynthetics, recycled geosynthetics, sand, riding surfaces, shear strength, direct shear test

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