Mumbai, Maharashtra, India | Public Works Department, Maharashtra
The Sion Panvel Expressway is a 25 km highway located entirely in the state of Maharashtra, that connects Sion in Mumbai with Panvel, via Navi Mumbai. It is one of the busiest and most important roads in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), and connects Mumbai with the city of Pune. The National Highway 4 and Mumbai Pune Expressway begin at the eastern end of the expressway, at Kalamboli junction, near Panvel. The highway is also used by vehicles traveling towards Mumbai from Konkan and Goa.
Existing road was constructed with concrete pavement and incomplete portion of pavement of 4Km length was constructed with bituminous pavement earlier. This 4 km, bituminous pavement was causing problems and had many potholes. After evaluation, we came to know due to poor drainage and weak sub grade were causing problem in the heavy rains which create the number of potholes and severely damaged the pavement.
As this is the busiest highway and due to damaged surface and big potholes the traffic movement was slow down. This slows traffic leading to massive snarls. So for this damaged incomplete portion, PWD had decided to complete construction of rigid concrete pavement with some effective ground improvement in complete portion. Here the scope was to widen the existing bituminous road (3+3 lanes) to 7 lanes for 400 m length +5 lanes for 150m length with concrete pavements.
After careful evaluation of failed pavement section, it was found that the sub grade soil is resting on marshy land or unable to support adequate traffic loads for long time duration due to heavy traffic and created the permanent deformation in the pavement.
Improvement of load carrying capacity with replacement of soil is one of the solutions but it is costly as well as impractical & time consuming solution as this is the busiest highway. So here the solution which is less time consuming, economical, durable that is soil stabilizations with the smart material – Techcell Geocell which can offer low life-cycle cost by improving structural capacity as well as reducing of deformation and thickness of pavement that are construction cost efficient, eco-friendly and easy to construct in less time.
PWD suggested contractor to use Techcell Geocell with High Strength Woven polyester geotextile for soil stabilization. A rigid pavement section was designed as per code requirement, and for subgrade stabilization, the geocell with woven geotextile was used but PWD did not opt for any thickness reduction in pavement section instead want long lived pavement.
Solution proposed in this case is using Techcell geocell and TFI woven geotextile.
it was observed that the geocell holds together and no movements of GSB occurred during compaction activity of WMM and shows very good confined base for upper layers.
A 4 km stretch of bituminous pavement was failing due to poor drainage and weak subgrade soil. Heavy monsoon rains caused potholes and severe pavement damage, slowing traffic on one of Mumbai’s busiest highways.
The subgrade rested on marshy land and could not support heavy traffic loads. Conventional soil replacement was impractical, costly, and time‑consuming for such a critical corridor.
TechFab India proposed TechCell Geocell combined with TFI Woven Geotextile. This geosynthetic system stabilized the weak subgrade, confined aggregates, and provided a strong, durable base for rigid concrete pavement.
The geocell and woven geotextile were placed at the subgrade level. During compaction of the granular and WMM layers, the geocell effectively confined the base material, preventing lateral movement and ensuring stability.
The stabilized base showed excellent performance during construction, with no movement of aggregates during compaction. The solution provided a durable foundation for the new rigid pavement, ensuring long‑term service life.
By delivering a cost‑effective, durable, and eco‑friendly solution on a high‑traffic expressway, TechFab India demonstrated its ability to solve complex geotechnical challenges and support sustainable infrastructure development.
