EFFECTS OF USE OF GEOSYNTHETICS IN ROAD CONSTRUCTION IN GHANA

The use of geosynthetics to control reflective cracking is fairly new in Ghana. The Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) used geogrids on the 22km Apedwa-Bunso road to reduce reflective cracking of the asphaltic concrete overlay. Geosynthetics are however widely used in the world to reduce reflective cracking in asphaltic concrete overlays (Button and Lytton 2003). Evaluation of the effectiveness of a geosynthetic reinforced asphaltic concrete overlay will need monitoring in the long term to determine and evaluate its benefits. In Ghana, some investigations have been made to determine the effect of geogrids on the California bearing ratio of lateritic soil (Adams et al. 2015, 2016) and the effect of geogrid reinforced subgrade on layer thickness design of low volume bituminous seal road pavements (Adams et al. 2014). Recently the GHA reported the use of geogrid reinforced asphaltic concrete overlay on a section of the Kumasi-Konongo road segment (GHA 2007), providing an opportunity to study the effectiveness of the geogrid reinforced segment and possibly to introduce it into the GHA technical specifications. This study monitored, between 2007 and 2017, the effectiveness of the geogrid reinforced road pavement by comparing it with a non-reinforced segment as well as a redesigned segment.