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What Is Geocell? A Complete Guide for Beginners

Introduction

If you are in the construction of roads, slope protection or in stabilizing grounds, you would have likely encountered the word geocell.

But many new hands may not clearly know just what a geocell actually is and how does it work and when it is used instead of other geosynthetics.

A geocell (also known as cellular confinement system) is basically a three dimensional structure made of HDPE or related polymers with the aim of rendering the soil stable, preventing erosion and improving load ability.

This guide presents to you the basic principles, application and how to choose a geocell for your use.

Key Explanation

A geocell confinement system comprises cells that interlock or expand on site to form a flexible three-dimensional matrix with the following characteristics:

  • made from HDPE geocell material
  • welded through ultrasonic welding technology
  • available in various modifiable Heights and thicknesses. Filling with soil, gravel or sand, the system provides stable layer of material aiding distribution of loads somewhat evenly.

How it works

The principle is simply that:

  • The honeycomb geocell confine the infill material
  • the soil’s lateral movement is arrested
  • the load is transferred to a greater area
  • therby increasing the shear strength of the ground. This explains the application of the geocell in base and load support systems.

Applications / Use Cases

Geocells are used across civil engineering and infrastructural developments.

1. Slope Protection.

Slope protection geocell systems help to stop soil from sliding off raw embankments or hills.

Applications where Geocells are useful. They:

  • stabilise loose soil
  • reduce runoff velocity
  • support vegetation growth

Erosion control

Wherever else water flows and is susceptible to heavy rains geocell solutions are for erosion control of.

Typical uses:

  • riverbanks
  • channels
  • coastal protection

Road & Base stabilisation

For weak subgrades geocell solutions for stabilising the base are available for that is a low-cost solution.

This comes in handy for:

  • giving a better capacity of the soil
  • reducing rutting
  • extending the effective life of a given road

Typical uses:

  • access roads
  • construction roads
  • country roads

Load Support Systems

In an environment that has heavy loads/pressures, typically used where it’s:

  • parking areas
  • container yards
  • industrial area

the incorporation of a geocell load support system will disperse the pressure and decrease settlement.

Retaining walls & Driveways

Beyond the above geocells are used to form:

  • retaining wall geocell structure
  • driveway reinforcement using geocells.

Comparison or advantages

Against existing methods using concrete or loose aggregates, geocell products carry certain benefits:

1. Cost saving

The amount of product that’s used and the costs for that to maintain/services is lesser for the longterm.

2. Ease of installation

The lightweight nature of the products plus the advantage of it being that it is portable means it’s a quicker install as it is faster still than on average, concrete/rigid inflexible systems.

Flexibility

Just like the common concrete infill geocells product it will flex to the movement of the ground – it will not crack like regular concrete does.

4. Environment benefits/explanation

Geocells and vegetation work together for lesser environmental ramifications from that standpoint, especially so for project types.

Customization

You can find the following with geocells:

  • textured and perforated (for better drainage and friction)
  • non-perforated (specifically for containment)
  • different geocell heights (related to load)

How to Choose / Buy Geocell

Choosing a geocell for your project is closely related to conditions in which the geocell will be used.

For example:

1. Geocell Material

Most projects use HDPE geocell, but there are different grades, as well as density to consider.

2. Cell Height

Higher cells can lift and distribute a heavy load better across a given surface. Consequently, the cost of the geocell is higher too.

3. Surface Type

Prefer texturing → gives better friction.
Prefer perforation → gives better drainage.

4. Application Type

You may need: slope protection, road/sub-base stabilization, erosion control etc.

5. Supplier Reliability

Be sure to work with the most reliable geocell manufacturer and/or “home” geocell supplier.

You want:

  • technical support,
  • consistent product quality,
  • export experience.

Where to purchase

If you are looking to make an on-line purchase, or if you are looking to buy geocell on a larger scale (wholesale geocell for major projects – include major projects, very large projects), it is useful to adopt a process of comparison.

You should include; price per square metre, to “whom”, and on what type of geocell? “whom” factors include

  • Standards of production
  • Delivery (will they deliver to a firmly agreed schedule?)

Sunbelt would be glad to provide a consultation with respect to Specification data for selection of geocell types etc. The Geocell Product Page has some of the relevant specification details.

You could also line your geocell range from the Geocell Category Page.

Or, to know how to get product the easiest (possibility), Contact / Get Quote (we’d recommend).

FAQ

What’s this?

A Geocell is an cellular confinement system generally formed from polymer strips welded together in order to form a honeycomb structure which aids in stabilising the soil and increasing the load bearing capacity of the surface.

How’s this work?

Within the cells of the geocell is an infill material which is confined thus reducing the lateral movement of the infill, thus helping to distributed the loads across the surface.

Cost or lifespan?

Price per square meter of geocell system often relates to the height, thickness, material etc

Quality of material and production is another.

In the realm of a good quality HDPE geocell , you’re looking at 10 – 20 plus depending on the environmental conditions etc.

Best option?

Err…no “best” option as such. Depends on what you load requirements are, what soil conditions, application you need (slope, heavy load etc).

Common?

There are some common things we know;

  • insufficient knowledge and implementation of varying cell height,
  • ‘non-industrial’ grade welding (ie bad joints)
  • poor quality materials.

Thoughts on?

It’s not as complex a system as one could think, as long as one goes for the right deal of of configuration it becomes pretty simple and user friendly.

Whether incorporate for slope protection or erosion control or just a bitch slap on base stabilisation, geocells essentially provide a flexible option at the right price!

To the contractors, distributors owners buying for their project, it comes down to with respect, not “buying a product”, but “buying products/formation” as “selling / using” as apart of an application/concept.Where you’re comparing geocell options, get some sort of technical input.

Introduction

If you are in the construction of roads, slope protection or in stabilizing grounds, you would have likely encountered the word geocell.

But many new hands may not clearly know just what a geocell actually is and how does it work and when it is used instead of other geosynthetics.

A geocell (also known as cellular confinement system) is basically a three dimensional structure made of HDPE or related polymers with the aim of rendering the soil stable, preventing erosion and improving load ability.

This guide presents to you the basic principles, application and how to choose a geocell for your use.

Key Explanation

A geocell confinement system comprises cells that interlock or expand on site to form a flexible three-dimensional matrix with the following characteristics:

  • made from HDPE geocell material
  • welded through ultrasonic welding technology
  • available in various modifiable Heights and thicknesses. Filling with soil, gravel or sand, the system provides stable layer of material aiding distribution of loads somewhat evenly.

How it works

The principle is simply that:

  • The honeycomb geocell confine the infill material
  • the soil’s lateral movement is arrested
  • the load is transferred to a greater area
  • therby increasing the shear strength of the ground. This explains the application of the geocell in base and load support systems.

Applications / Use Cases

Geocells are used across civil engineering and infrastructural developments.

1. Slope Protection.

Slope protection geocell systems help to stop soil from sliding off raw embankments or hills.

Applications where Geocells are useful. They:

  • stabilise loose soil
  • reduce runoff velocity
  • support vegetation growth

Erosion control

Wherever else water flows and is susceptible to heavy rains geocell solutions are for erosion control of.

Typical uses:

  • riverbanks
  • channels
  • coastal protection

Road & Base stabilisation

For weak subgrades geocell solutions for stabilising the base are available for that is a low-cost solution.

This comes in handy for:

  • giving a better capacity of the soil
  • reducing rutting
  • extending the effective life of a given road

Typical uses:

  • access roads
  • construction roads
  • country roads

Load Support Systems

In an environment that has heavy loads/pressures, typically used where it’s:

  • parking areas
  • container yards
  • industrial area

the incorporation of a geocell load support system will disperse the pressure and decrease settlement.

Retaining walls & Driveways

Beyond the above geocells are used to form:

  • retaining wall geocell structure
  • driveway reinforcement using geocells.

Comparison or advantages

Against existing methods using concrete or loose aggregates, geocell products carry certain benefits:

1. Cost saving

The amount of product that’s used and the costs for that to maintain/services is lesser for the longterm.

2. Ease of installation

The lightweight nature of the products plus the advantage of it being that it is portable means it’s a quicker install as it is faster still than on average, concrete/rigid inflexible systems.

Flexibility

Just like the common concrete infill geocells product it will flex to the movement of the ground – it will not crack like regular concrete does.

4. Environment benefits/explanation

Geocells and vegetation work together for lesser environmental ramifications from that standpoint, especially so for project types.

Customization

You can find the following with geocells:

  • textured and perforated (for better drainage and friction)
  • non-perforated (specifically for containment)
  • different geocell heights (related to load)

How to Choose / Buy Geocell

Choosing a geocell for your project is closely related to conditions in which the geocell will be used.

For example:

1. Geocell Material

Most projects use HDPE geocell, but there are different grades, as well as density to consider.

2. Cell Height

Higher cells can lift and distribute a heavy load better across a given surface. Consequently, the cost of the geocell is higher too.

3. Surface Type

Prefer texturing → gives better friction.
Prefer perforation → gives better drainage.

4. Application Type

You may need: slope protection, road/sub-base stabilization, erosion control etc.

5. Supplier Reliability

Be sure to work with the most reliable geocell manufacturer and/or “home” geocell supplier.

You want:

  • technical support,
  • consistent product quality,
  • export experience.

Where to purchase

If you are looking to make an on-line purchase, or if you are looking to buy geocell on a larger scale (wholesale geocell for major projects – include major projects, very large projects), it is useful to adopt a process of comparison.

You should include; price per square metre, to “whom”, and on what type of geocell? “whom” factors include

  • Standards of production
  • Delivery (will they deliver to a firmly agreed schedule?)

Sunbelt would be glad to provide a consultation with respect to Specification data for selection of geocell types etc. The Geocell Product Page has some of the relevant specification details.

You could also line your geocell range from the Geocell Category Page.

Or, to know how to get product the easiest (possibility), Contact / Get Quote (we’d recommend).

FAQ

What’s this?

A Geocell is an cellular confinement system generally formed from polymer strips welded together in order to form a honeycomb structure which aids in stabilising the soil and increasing the load bearing capacity of the surface.

How’s this work?

Within the cells of the geocell is an infill material which is confined thus reducing the lateral movement of the infill, thus helping to distributed the loads across the surface.

Cost or lifespan?

Price per square meter of geocell system often relates to the height, thickness, material etc

Quality of material and production is another.

In the realm of a good quality HDPE geocell , you’re looking at 10 – 20 plus depending on the environmental conditions etc.

Best option?

Err…no “best” option as such. Depends on what you load requirements are, what soil conditions, application you need (slope, heavy load etc).

Common?

There are some common things we know;

  • insufficient knowledge and implementation of varying cell height,
  • ‘non-industrial’ grade welding (ie bad joints)
  • poor quality materials.

Thoughts on?

It’s not as complex a system as one could think, as long as one goes for the right deal of of configuration it becomes pretty simple and user friendly.

Whether incorporate for slope protection or erosion control or just a bitch slap on base stabilisation, geocells essentially provide a flexible option at the right price!

To the contractors, distributors owners buying for their project, it comes down to with respect, not “buying a product”, but “buying products/formation” as “selling / using” as apart of an application/concept.Where you’re comparing geocell options, get some sort of technical input.

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