Most road embankments in northern Canada are being built on permafrost terrain on thaw sensitive foundations. Permafrost degradation and thawing of ice wedges (polygonal ground) can cause excessive differential deformations and embankment failures caused by sinkholes resulting in significant maintenance efforts and safety hazards. The flexural properties of a composite geofoam-geogrid material known as Reinforced Polymer Base® (RPB) were investigated in the laboratory by performing bending tests. Results from laboratory tests will help assess the effectiveness of the composite material as rein-forcement of road or railway embankments on polygonal ground and how the design and construction of embankments with RPB can be designed in the future.
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