Webinar: The Power Behind – Designing Roadways with Geosynthetics
November 25, 2025 @ 2:00pm (EST) | FREE Admission | Registration Required
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Geosynthetics have been successfully adopted to fulfill the functions of separation, filtration, reinforcement, stiffening, infiltration barrier, and drainage. The various geosynthetic types associated with these functions have, in turn, been used to accomplish many (often significantly different) roadway applications. Such a variety can be highly beneficial to road designers … but also intimidating.
This presentation provides a framework to categorize and understand the use of geosynthetics for different roadway applications, including (i) the mitigation of reflective cracking in structural asphalt overlays, (ii) stabilization of unbound aggregate layers, (iii) reduction of layer intermixing, (iv) reduction of moisture in structural layers, (v) stabilization of soft subgrades, and (vi) mitigation of distress induced by shrink/swell subgrades. Emphasis is on the actual mechanisms that contribute to successfully achieving each application. The presentation also highlights recent promising advances for the various geosynthetic applications in roadway design.
Meet the Speakers
Dr. Zornberg, P.E., BC. GE., F. ASCE is a professor and Joe J. King Chair in Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. He has over 35 years of experience in research and practice in geotechnical, geosynthetics, transportation, and geoenvironmental engineering. He earned his B.S. (Hons.) from the National U. of Cordoba (Argentina), his M.S. from PUC-Rio (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), and his Ph.D. from the U. of California at Berkeley.
As part of his academic experience, Prof. Zornberg conducts research on geosynthetics, transportation geotechnics, soil reinforcement, unsaturated soils, liner systems, geotechnics of bridges, and numerical and physical (centrifuge) modeling of geotechnical and geoenvironmental systems. His research has been sponsored by the National Science Foundation, Federal Highway Administration, Transportation Research Board, Environmental Protection Agency, US Department of Education, Geosynthetic Institute, geosynthetic manufacturers, as well as the Departments of Transportation of Texas, Colorado, and California. Prof. Zornberg’s research in the area of soil reinforcement and transportation geotechnics includes the study of geosynthetic stabilization of roadways, failure mechanisms in earth retaining walls, soil-geosynthetic interaction, geosynthetic-reinforced bridge abutments, fiber-reinforced soil, creep of geosynthetic reinforcements, and the use of geosynthetics in asphaltic layers. Prof. Zornberg’s research in the area of environmental geotechnics includes the characterization of expansive clays, geosynthetic drainage layers, leakage through geomembrane defects, shear strength of GCLs, exposed geomembrane covers, flow through unsaturated soils, and the design of unsaturated soil covers. He teaches graduate courses on Earth Retaining Structures and Geoenvironmental Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin.
Isabel Perez is a Product Manager of Subgrade Improvement at Terrafix Geosynthetics Inc., which is a role that gives her the opportunity to be involved in the design stage up to project completion. Remarkable contributions of her role: deliver Value Engineering designs, address site challenges, and provide technical assistance, tests, and site visits, delivered more than 150 designs and involved in multiple projects in Canada. She graduated from URBE University in Venezuela in 2006 as an Industrial Engineer. She has worked for more than 16 years in civil engineering, supporting a wide variety of infrastructural projects in Venezuela, Spain, and Canada.
Organization, determination, and motivation are her core assets. She is passionate about finding innovative solutions and understand how we can boost collaboration within the transportation and construction industry.