Import of engineered filling materials and weak runway subgradedeposits weretwo of the major concernsat the ongoing developmentsin Balesin Island, Quezon, Philippines. Albeit it is known for load support and ground improvement applications, 3D geosynthetic cellular confinement systems (geocells) have not been used widely in the Philippines due to itsbeing a new technology and thus unfamiliar to most consulting engineers. In here, the design concept of MacCell™ geocell for the subgrade improvement of Balesin Island’s airport runway is discussed together with the existing site conditionsand the installation processes involved.With Maccaferri’s 3D cellular confinement system (MacCell™), the shear resistance of infill materials is increased allowing the use of selected and qualified in situ materials to carry designed loads that would otherwise require imported resources for load support applications. MacCell™’s cellular structure also distributes concentrated loads to adjoining cells thus reducing the stress on the subgrade, increases subgrade modulus and consequently decreases the required total thickness of the runway base structure. Moreover, the potential use of MacCell™ geocell for runway construction is presented.
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