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An Overview of Geosynthetics Chap. 1 <br />L. <br />per square yard, thicknesses from 15 to 200 mils. iSntc: 1 mil = 0.001 in. is the unit <br />often used by the industiy to measure fabric thickness.) Typical end uses are blankets, <br />filter media, coated fabric backings, carpeting and carpet backings, automobile landau <br />top substrates, apparel interlinings. auto trunk liners, and geotextiles. <br />A major point to be made in this section is that the textile industr>- is a veiy ma­ <br />ture and sophisticated one that can produce a tremendously wide varien- of fabrics. In­ <br />deed, tailor-making a fabnc for a specific purpose or propert\’ is well within the state of <br />the art Examples of current manufacturers ’ products used in civil engineering (i.e., geo- <br />textiles) are given in .Appendix 6.4. <br />1.2.3 Current Uses <br />In Chapter 2 the thrust on geotextile design will be through a recognition of the primary <br />function that the fabric is performing. As already mentioned, the choice is among sepa ­ <br />ration, reinforcement, filtration, and drainage and (when impregnated) moisture barrier. <br />Within these functions, however, there are a large number of application or use areas. <br />These use areas are listed in Table 1.2 (obviously it is not an all-inclusive list, and it is <br />constantly growing) for die purpose of giving an idea of the size and scope of the geo­ <br />textile market. .Actual sales by use area are given in the next section. <br />1.2.4 Sales <br />The use of geotextiles has experienced growth that has probably never been equaled by <br />any other system in civil engineering and heavy construction. Estimated sales in North <br />America are as follows: <br />Year Sales (million vd*) <br />m <br />1976 6 <br />1977 15 <br />1978 75 <br />1980 102 <br />1983 13S <br />(Although no data are available to the author. European sales of geotextiles are thought <br />to be about equivalent to those listed above.) <br />Distribution of geotextiles to the ultimate user is handled (1 ) from the mill directly, <br />(2) by means of Cvmr’ssioned agents, and (3) through individual distributors. Gener­ <br />ally, but certainly not always, direct mill sales are focused toward unusually large jobs <br />where competition is very intense. Commissioned agents (who are often very well <br />versed in geotextile uses, functions, propenies. and design) work well with professional <br />engineers and consultants and generally sei^^ice the “engineered” job applications. Indi­ <br />vidual distributors serx'ice the standard applications and are often “wired-into” certain <br />segments of the industry le.g.. road work or erosion control applications, etc.).