Providing a stabilized platform for site development in soft soil and flood-prone areas: an alternative to traditional stabilization methods

Challenge

The Knapheide Manufacturing Company expanded its Moncks Corner, South Carolina facility to support continued growth in its commercial vehicle operations. The expansion required additional parking areas for vehicle storage, but the undeveloped land presented significant geotechnical challenges.

The site consisted of wooded, low-lying ground adjacent to a FEMA floodplain, underlain by soft, moisture-sensitive soils typical of coastal environments. These conditions made conventional stabilization methods such as importing large volumes of structural fill or applying chemical treatments impractical. Both approaches would have increased costs and extended the installation schedule. The project team needed a solution that could rapidly create a stable platform while minimizing material use and construction delays.

Solution

To address these challenges, the team selected MIRAFI® RS580i, a high-strength woven geotextile designed for reinforcement, separation, and filtration in weak subgrade conditions. The geotextile was installed across the unstable areas of the parking expansion, providing a uniform stabilization layer that distributed loads, prevented aggregate contamination, and allowed water movement without soil migration.

Installation was straightforward due to the simple geometry of the parking area. Large panels of MIRAFI RS580i were rolled out efficiently with 2 ft overlaps, requiring minimal cutting. Once placed, aggregate base stone was installed directly over the geotextile, eliminating the curing time associated with chemical stabilization. This streamlined process allowed construction to proceed immediately, saving time and reducing labor requirements.

By avoiding imported fill and chemical treatments, the solution delivered measurable cost savings while reducing truck traffic and environmental impact. The geotextile’s ability to perform multiple functions simultaneously made it an ideal choice for the site’s challenging conditions. Also, the addition of the geotextile contributed to effective moisture management - a key MIRAFI performance advantage - by allowing controlled water flow through the section while preventing soil fines from migrating into the aggregate, and its wicking fibers laterally redistributed moisture along the plane of the geotextile to eliminate water pressure within the pore spaces of both the surrounding soil and the geotextile itself.

Results

The stabilized platform has performed exceptionally well. The parking expansion supports heavy traffic loading while maintaining grade uniformity, with no evidence of rutting or settlement. Both the owner and contractor expressed high satisfaction with the constructability and long-term performance of MIRAFI RS580i. The project highlighted several key benefits of using MIRAFI RS580i:

• Rapid construction: The ability to place aggregate immediately after installation eliminated curing delays needed for chemical stabilization, accelerating the installation schedule and reducing downtime.

• Ease of installation: Large panel sizes and straightforward overlaps simplified deployment, allowing crews to cover wide areas quickly and efficiently.

• Labor efficiency: While geotextile placement requires coordination, MIRAFI RS580i design makes handling manageable, and once installed, it reduces overall labor demands compared to traditional stabilization methods.

• Cost savings: By eliminating the need for imported fill and chemical treatments, the solution reduced material costs and minimized truck traffic to the site.
  

• Long-term performance: The reinforced platform has maintained grade uniformity under heavy vehicle loads, ensuring durability and reliability for ongoing operations.

Overall, the Knapheide Manufacturing Company’s Moncks Corner expansion demonstrates how MIRAFI RS580i delivers measurable advantages in challenging environments. This case underscores the value of geosynthetics as a proven solution for infrastructure projects requiring efficient ground improvement.