The client needed to strengthen the pavement section of the Kohima-Bypass Road in Nagaland. They wanted to design the new pavement for high traffic and reduce the maintenance frequency as the location was in the hilly, inaccessible regions of North-East India.

In this case, a conventional pavement section would be too thick and require large volumes of select aggregates for the various pavement components. This would cause excess quarrying of natural materials and increase the project’s carbon footprint in this eco-sensitive region.

A solution with StrataGrid™ Biaxial was selected over conventional methods since the thickness of the pavement could be reduced and could optimise the performance in terms of traffic (longevity).

The basic inputs included a subgrade California Bearing Ratio (CBR) of 10% and traffic intensity of 50 MSA. The final optimised design considered two layers of SGB Grid. One layer was placed within the Wet Mix Macadam (WMM) and the second within the granular sub-base. The LCR method of design was adopted. The confining effect of SGB Grid reduced the vertical and lateral movement of aggregates, thereby stabilising the section better under traffic loads than a section without reinforcement.

Strata’s innovative solution helped in easy installation with unskilled labour, minimised layer thickness to conserve natural materials, and reduced maintenance frequency. SGB Grid, being flexible, provided better interaction with the aggregates in the pavement section, improving the fatigue and rutting design life and facilitated economical and fast construction.