Stability analysis and cost comparison between geofoam and ground filling alternatives on Akçakale-Ceylanpinar highway

The rapid and economical solutions that geosynthetic materials have brought in recent years increase their use in the world and are widely used in geotechnical engineering applications. Geosynthetics are used in road construction and many construction sites. It is possible to encounter geosynthetics at every stage of the road construction (infrastructure, superstructure, art structures). Geosynthetics can be used for various tasks such as drainage, filtration, separation, protection, reinforcement, impermeability in road constructions. In the first part of the thesis, an overview of the types and functions of geosynthetics is given. In the following sections of the thesis, the reason of use geosynthetical types of geofoam fillings have been mentioned in the constructions of roads. The economic benefits provided by have been mentioned in case of using geofoam synthetic material instead of soil filling material in road fillings. It has been found economically that geofoams are more economical than other soil materials. Because geofoam is very light compared to other earth filling materials, it is possible to make more upright structures and to decrease the amount of fill. In addition, since geofoams cover less space than land, the economic benefits provided by expropriation are also indicated. Geofoam material is an economically beneficial reason to be long-lasting and seriously reducing the duration of the project. In addition, geofoam filling materials and soil filling materials were compared by means of plaxis finite elements in terms of bearing capacity and deformation. In this way, the behavior of geofoam and soil filling materials under maximum load was investigated.