GEOWEB Load Support System

Project Name: Canadian Oil Company

Project Location: Alberta, Canada

The Canadian oil producer in Lloydminister, Alberta, employed the GEOWEB® system on its access roads and drilling pads to reduce expensive aggregate and operational maintenance requirements.

THE CHALLENGES:

The access roads are typically designed to handle construction, drilling, and equipment with loads exceeding 125,000 lbs (15,000 lbs. wheel loads). Access roads to oilfield sites in the Alberta oil sands region are built over very soft subgrade such as muskeg and saturated clay or in areas where suitable fill material is scarce or very expensive.

Presto Geosystems and their distributor Layfield Group designed and supervised the installation of two test access roads 7-9 m wide (23-30 ft). The road cross-section was designed for a soft clay subbase with a CBR of 0.9.

THE SOLUTION & PERFORMANCE:

The GEOWEB system and a high-strength, high-flow geotextile were supplied. To prove the performance of the GEOWEB system and its ability to save infill costs, Layfield recommended that a reject screening from crushing
operations (coarse sand <5mm (0.2 in) be used as infill instead of aggregate. The GEOWEB system
was able to reduce the cross-section of typical haul roads from 1.5m (5 ft) to less than 300mm (12 in). The GEOWEB roadways have performed to expectations and have been employed on other oil field lease roads and pads.

“We did not like the material, we loved it. The roads have been performing way above our highest expectations” Construction Procurement Manager, Canadian Oil Company, Road project.