ABSTRACT
Geogrids are used to reinforce ballasted railway embankments thanks to their high tensile strength and strong mechanical interlock with the granular material encountered in railway substructures. Railway tracks built in seasonally cold regions must also be designed to withstand harsh environmental conditions such as freezing and thawing cycles and the corresponding frost heave and thaw softening. In that context, it is crucial to understand how extreme temperature variations affect the performance of geogrids and their ability to fulfil their functions within a railway embankment. To do so, an experimental campaign is devised to assess how temperature changes in the range of -30°C to 20°C affect the tensile strength of a polymeric geogrid and a geogrid composite designed for use in ballasted railway tracks.
