Program for Sustainable Pavement Engineering and Research

Event held on Sept. 26 in Independence, Iowa

Geosynthetics can offer a promising solution for road base stabilization. In addition, utilizing geosynthetics made from recycled materials can benefit everyone since plastic waste poses a significant environmental challenge.

An open house to demonstrate the technology and discuss research efforts into its use will be held on Tuesday, September 26, at the River’sEDGE event center at 206 2nd Avenue SW in Independence, Iowa. Details to register and about the project can be found at the open house invitation page.

The day’s full agenda includes the following events:

• 9:00 a.m. Welcome and introductions will be provided by Clayton Ohrt, Buchanan County Board of Supervisors chair.
• 9:15 a.m. Halil Ceylan, the research project principal investigator, and Iowa State University staff will offer background on the waste plastics problem and their utilization in base stabilization for unpaved roads.
• 10:45 a.m. Tensar staff will give updates on the development of their recycled materials products.
• 11:15 a.m. Light lunch will be provided.
• 12:00 p.m. Travel to 2000 Frost Avenue for an infield overview of the operations of the research efforts.

Independence’s Frost Avenue offered an ideal ground for the research project’s demonstration site because of its silty soils.

One motivation for the research was the impact of frost boils during a particularly difficult spring for the transportation industry. The frost boils made transporting livestock and grains almost impossible on rock roads during spring 2019, and the lives of many farm animals depended on the transportation of grains.

To learn more about the in-progress project sponsored by the Iowa Highway Research Board and Iowa Department of Transportation and led by the Program for Sustainable Pavement Engineering and Research (PROSPER), visit the project page.