UTC 2022 Funding - Cycle 2 Research Projects

Project Number: CY2-TTI-01
Project Title: Assessing Wicking Geotextile for Enhanced Drainage and Stability in Highway Slopes: A Field Study in Central Texas
Performing Institution: Texas A&M Transportation Institute, Texas A&M University
Principal Investigators: Puneet Bhaskar, Darlene Goehl, Texas A&M Transportation Institute; Anand J. Puppala, Texas A&M University
Proposed Start and End Date: 10/01/2024 to 09/30/2025
Project Description: Highway slope failures are a significant geo-environmental hazard, disrupting transportation networks, causing costly repairs, delays, and endangering lives. Rainfall is a key contributor to these failures, reducing soil shear strength through infiltration. As extreme weather events intensify, there is a growing need for effective drainage solutions to enhance slope stability and ensure transportation infrastructure resilience. Multifunctional wicking geotextiles, known for their moisture redistribution capabilities, have emerged as a promising solution for improving slope stability by facilitating water drainage. This study builds on the previous SPTC project, ‘Multifunctional Geosynthetic-Based Stabilization to Increase Coastal Infrastructure Resilience’, which evaluated wicking geotextiles in laboratory settings.

The current research aims to assess the field performance of wicking geotextiles in reinforced highway slopes through full-scale tests. Test sections will be constructed in central Texas, using both conventional and wicking geotextiles. A comparative analysis will focus on drainage efficiency and slope stability, particularly under extreme weather conditions. Data on soil moisture and slope deformation will be collected using moisture sensors and remote sensing technologies, such as Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).
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