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Test procedure for the estimation of the service life of PVC-P-based geosynthetic barriers (GBR-P) in road tunnel sealing systems

This paper deals with the determination of test criteria for the durability assessment of PVCbased GBR-P products in tunnel sealing systems. In a completed research study different products for road tunnel application were investigated by systematic long time storage in hot water using an accelerated test procedure based on SIA V 280 standard (test no. 13) and EN 14415 (leaching test). The objective of this research study was to derive suitable exposure conditions and criteria for a practical test procedure with regard to service lifetimes of more than 100 years. To achieve this, test temperature and time as well as the best suitable test medium were investigated in a structured way. To compare the results of the new test procedure the material properties of in situ aged GBR-P samples removed from older road tunnels were investigated. Finally the derived new test procedure including the obtained optimum test criteria was incorporated in the update of the German regulations for road tunnel sealing systems (TL/TP KDB) which will be published in 2017.