Strength reduction factors due to installation damage of reinforcing geosynthetics

The installation may represent the hardest stress on a geosynthetic during its service life. Full-scale field installation tests have been performed on 38 different geotextiles and geogrids. The findings have been used to determine the corresponding reduction factor which must be taken into account to assess the long-term tensile strength of reinforcing geosynthetics. Based on the present study and full-scale field installation tests presented elsewhere, a matrix to assess the survivability of geosynthetics is proposed. In addition, parts of the geosynthetics have been submitted to a laboratory simulation of the damage during installation, which showed a reasonable correlation to the results of the field test.