Enhanced Coastal Trafficability: Road Construction Over Sandy Soils

Abstract : This report describes field experiments conducted using Multi-Purpose (MP) mats, hexagonal plastic mats (Allround and Special), and sand-geofiber stabilization for expedient road construction over sandy soils. Field sections were constructed and trafficked to evaluate construction procedures, design parameters, and their performance over loose sand conditions. Experiment items were trafficked with 500 passes of a 41 ,600-lb, 5-ton military truck. Field experiment results indicated that MP mats and sand-geofiber stabilization are capable of providing structural support to military traffic over sandy soil conditions on straight and curved sections. The Allround and Special hexagonal plastic mats are capable of withstanding limited traffic, but they are unsuitable for supporting substantial amounts of military traffic on curved sections over the very loose sand conditions used in this experiment.