68TH AVENUE ROAD UPGRADING

In Grande Prairie, 68th Avenue has become a major east-west route. As part of the infrastructure improvement plan, the City of Grande Prairie recently completed the four-lane improvement project between Resources Road and Poplar drive. The project included widening 68th Avenue to four lanes and upgrading two significant intersections.

The existing roadway was built over an old dump with soil that consisted of a sandy, silt material. This soil provided a weak road base, decreasing the life span of the roadway and increasing maintenance costs. The City of Grande Prairie was looking for a more permanent, long-term solution, given the fact that traffic along this route would continually increase.

TriAx Geogrid was proposed in place of conventional reinforcement methods. With its unique triangular structure, TriAx Geogrid represents a revolutionary advancement in geogrid technology. Its multi-directional properties leverage the triangular geometry, one of construction’s most stable and widely utilized shapes, to provide a new level of in-plane stiffness. The geogrid interacts with aggregate to create a mechanically stabilized layer (MSL) within the base course or subgrade. Installing TriAx improves the service life of the roadway, while reducing excavation and aggregate requirements.

Nilex partnered with Tensar to provide the Project Engineer with a design/engineered/stamped alternative for their proposed road design using TriAx Geogrid.

Designing with TriAx Geogrid reduced the granular structure by 165 mm, and provided the roadway structure with a 20 year service life. The upfront cost savings installing TriAx Geogrid verses conventional materials was minimal, however the City of Grande Prairie will see a significant reduction in maintenance costs over the lifespan of the roadway. Over the next year, the roadway will be monitored for its performance throughout the four seasons. The City will notice signs of a successful structure right away.

Nilex is committed to unearthing better results. Whether it’s for a civil, resource or environmental project, we offer the latest engineered and technically superior materials and techniques to save our customers time and money, and minimize the need to move or remove earth, and reduce the need for granular materials.

With over 35 years experience, a long-standing commitment to the environment and highly qualified staff, Nilex delivers the products and technologies that give clients an economic advantage with environmental benefit.