History of Geocell

The history of geocell (Cellular Confinement System), commonly known as geocell, covers a material used for erosion control, soil stabilization, channel protection and retaining walls. A typical cellular confinement system used today consists of HDPE geosynthetic sheets that form a honeycomb structure and are filled with sand, soil, stone or concrete.

Some people may not know the history of the geocell or the development of the “cellular confinement system” in detail. The black geocell available in the geosynthetics market evolved through a process of improvement based on user experience. During early trials, the grid confinement systems used included wax-coated craft paper; plastic pipes joined with staples; thin paper glued into a hexagonal shape; recycled low- to medium-density material; polyethylene material without UV stabilization; and square boxes resembling egg trays.

In 1970, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) began developing a confinement system strong enough to carry military vehicles. With experts from several related fields involved, a method was developed for welding polyethylene material into a cellular structure. It was known at the time as the “Sand Grid.” This structure was used for military access roads.

Early research (Bathurst and Jarrett, 1988) concluded that a base course structure reinforced with geocell was equivalent to twice the thickness of an unreinforced base course structure. The study also found that geocell performed better than 2D reinforcement (a single sheet) because it was more effective at reducing lateral spreading of the infill material.

As technology advanced, tests of several material compositions showed that high-density polyethylene (HDPE) was the best material for consistent welds and structural strength. Since its development by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), geocell has been widely applied to various soil stabilization problems, slope erosion prevention and retaining walls since the early 1990s.