Abstract Thawing fine-grained soils are often saturated and have extremely low bearing capacity. Geosynthetics are used to reinforce unsurfaced roads on weak, saturated soils and therefore are good candidates for use in stabilization of thawing soils. To stabilize the soil, a geotextile is placed on it, then the geotextile is covered with aggregate.
Design involves selection of aggregate thickness and geotextile.
There are two commonly used design techniques for geotextile reinforcement of low-volume roads, and the Army uses one of them. However, this alternative method appears to be unconservative with respect to stresses estimated at the subgrade surface. Thus, the current Army design technique should be used until more research is conducted. Future work should consider adopting a hybrid design method that provides realistic estimates of stresses at the subgrade and accounts for the tensile properties of geotextiles. In addition, aggregates other than the high-quality crushed rock that is inherently assumed by each design method should be accounted for in new design development.