The Semarang-Wirosari road section in Central Java, Indonesia, is located on an expansive deposit. The swelling and shrinkage nature of the subsoil were influenced by the extreme groundwater table fluctuation during the dry and wet seasons. The road experienced premature damage which cost billion rupiah annually for maintenance. Typical damage was severe longitudinal cracks, uneven deformation (humps and sags ), and embankment instability. Extensive site investigation was implemented to characterize the subsoil. Further, an empirical design of applying geomembrane as moisture barrier control was conceived. Three fully instrumented trial sections were constructed and monitored to evaluate the reliability of the design approach and to provide feedback for further extensive use. Pavement performance was evaluated by measuring pavement roughness in terms of the International Roughness Index (IRI). It was concluded that the geomembrane worked well in reducing water content fluctuation and thus the pavement deterioration. Despite this, the need of extra maintenance to seal micro-cracks on the pavement was identified. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E214938.
Samenvatting