GSE Environmental LLC has developed a road drainage aid based on extruded high density polyethylene netting.
The Houston-based company says its GSE RoaDrain provides 10 times the permeability of natural drainage stones when used under roadways, parking lots, airports, walkways, embankments and similar large outdoor areas exposed to weather conditions. GSE debuted the product Jan. 30 after successful field trials.
RoaDrain is comprised of triplanar HDPE geonet core laminated between two polypropylene geotextile filters. The PP filter layers prevent clogging of the geonet core as the core acts like a capillary wick to drain water from the road pavement base made of either asphalt or concrete.
GSE says the three-layer structure has compression strength of more than 50,000 pounds per square inch. It provides 150 times the performance of regular geotextiles under high traffic conditions.
RoaDrain is supplied as sheeting about 12.8 feet wide in rolls containing 150 feet.
The geonet layer has quarter-inch holes for rapid water flow. The product weighs about 0.4 pounds per square foot. A truckload of the product gives as much performance as 58 truckloads of #57 size natural stone, according to GSE.
