Geocells are cellular three dimensional confinement systems, formed from perforated and textured bands (which considerable improve the characteristics of the infill material). These systems have many uses, such as: increasing weak soils bearing capacity, realizing retaining walls, slopes’ protection and erosion control, banks’ protections, etc.
The material is textured in order to ensure a good confinement with the infill material and the blanks practiced in the walls ensure an efficient drainage also permitting the vegetation’ growth.

Utilizations

1. Solutions to increase the bearing capacity

The problems which appear at roads’ structures and platforms because of the giving way of the foundation material or of the material’s instability from the road bed foundation can be eliminated using the Geo-Cellular Confinement System. This system ensures a good stabilization, diminishing the cracks from the surface layer.
The system creates a semi-rigid structure, leads to a significant reducing for the shape layer, conferring a long working life and reducing considerable the reparations and maintenance costs.

Which is the mechanism?

Cellular Confinement System improves the characteristics of the infill material adding to the cohesion of the material an apparent cohesion.
The system controls the tangential efforts and the lateral movement of the infill material.
The round peripheral resistance, the passive resistance of the adjacent cells and the interaction between the infill material and the textured walls of the cells lead to remarkable results in comparison with other solutions.

The advantages are significant, thus:
-results a solid base, with big bending strengths;
-the system acts like a semi-rigid slab through lateral distributing of the loads, reducing pressure on the road bed foundation;
-reduces the amplitude of the vertical deformations;
-controls differenced and total settlements even in the case of the weak soils;
-permits the use of the local materials like infill materials.

The researches on the confined aggregates’ behavior with this system vs. the non-confined systems show a decrease of the structural elements’ thickness and weight with 50% or more, in case of the confined systems.
Also, the results of the researches show an increase for more than 10 of the number of cyclic loads which lead to permanent deformation’s appearance in case of the confined materials vs. the non-confined materials.

Applications: foundations and causeway structures, temporary and permanent access roads, platforms, ecological parkings, earth retention systems, slab foundations, channels.

2. Innovating solution to execute earth retention systems

In the last years appeared a really explosion in using the geo-cellular system to realize retaining walls because on most cases the rehabilitations, roads’ and highways’ expanding need steep slopes which have to situate into limited spaces. Also, the development of the industrial, residential and commercial properties in the nearest neighborhood of roads obligates to special measures which are expensive. In these situations the geo-cellular system is the most efficient solution which ensures:
-road’ expanding into a determined space;
-adding one traffic band or parking band;
-stabilizing channels and water courses from neighborhood;
-executing earth retention or calming rain waters systems;
-repairs for damaged structures and repairs in case of earth sliding;
-execution of safety barriers along the roads;
-using like energy absorbents and phonic barriers.

3.Solution for channel protection

The protection system of the channels with geocells offers a large range of flexible protections for opened channels and hydraulic structures. The system assures the stability and protection for the channels exposed to erosion, from small to big debits, intermittent or continuous.

So that are significantly improved the hydraulic performances of the conventional materials for protection, such as the aggregates, riprap and vegetation through their confinement in the cellular structure.

It can also be obtained a flexible concrete structure for channels’ lining.

They can be designed for the specific conditions of the work, so they are compatible with the environment, ecological and aesthetical and corresponding with the provided debits and to the associated hydraulic loading.

The hydraulic efficiency and the roughness can be modified in order to control the debits.

Also can be discussed the drainage requirements and the potential of deformation inside the structure.

Typical application: flow and drainage channels, water deviations in case of abundant precipitations, water conducting channels, energy dissipators, drop structures, culverts, footbridges, channels with continuous or intermittent debit/ small, big debits.

4. Systems for slope protection and coastal landscaping

The cellular system for slope protection and coastal protection confines, reinforces and retains the superficial layer of soil and the filling material, controls the movements and the slides because of the hydrodynamic and gravitational forces. It results an efficient protection of the slope and confines the granular filling material: sand, gravel, stones.

Increases the stability through the tendons for steeper slopes, coastal landscaping or when a geomembrane or a hard soil doesn’t permit the anchorage with metal stakes.

Applications:  cuts-and-fills arranging, coastal protection, retention basins for pluvial and waste water, dams, geomembrane protection, waste landfills basal and capping, banks frontages, quays, bridge abutment protection.


Advantages
- The cellular systems permits obtaining of very steep slopes or even vertical faces, structural stables under own weight and vs. the imposed external factors which minimize the erosion phenomenon.

-The efficiency of the system is not only technically but also economically in comparison with the conventional solutions. Costs can be smaller with 25% till 30% in comparison with the old solutions which used the concrete. Of course this percent is various depending on the specific local situation of each work.

-Not forget the damages and dangers which appear in cases of vandalism, cellular system never being affected in these situations.

-The structures executed with geocells are remarkable through durability and resistance at physical and chemicals factors.

-This system can eliminate any cracking, exfoliating, fragmenting, grinding potential which can appear at structures executed with other materials.

-The system can be used at structures exposed at marine water, soils with high PH, salts used for thawing or chemical products.

-The infill materials can be extremely various: sand, gravel, ballast, concrete, vegetable soil.