Geosynthetics Application in Indonesia – A Case Histories

Abstract

The first application of geosynthetics technology was back in 1983, where a high strength geotextile of 200 kN/m was laid to help stabilize the highway built on swampy land toward Soekarno Hatta airport, the gateway to Indonesia. Since then, geosynthetics have been gaining popularity in solving challenging ground conditions for civil engineering development, e.g. stabilization of road development over peat deposits, accelerating consolidation of soft clay, stabilization of foundation over expansive clays, slope stabilization over clay shales formation, retaining walls, ponds lining, breakwater, shore protection and river bank stabilization, etc. This paper presents the author experiences in applying geosynthetics technology in building geotechnical construction over difficult ground condition such as peat, soft clay, expansive soils, and clay shales. It also presents the application of geosynthetics tubes (geotubes) to build containment dykes over soft marine clays.