Geotextiles: Their rationale and future

Over the last decade there has been much interest shown in the use of textiles in civil engineering construction, particularly in geotechnical engineering where geotextiles are associated with soil. Is this a fad, or something more profound and durable? In attempting to rationalize this dramatic development it is concluded that geotextiles do offer many technical and economic advantages. However, at present geotextiles are commonly used as a replacement for traditional building materials using traditional construction methods rather than more innovative techniques that could only be employed using geotextiles. It is concluded that the development of these techniques is the real future of geotextiles and that this future can only be secured by the close cooperation of both textile and civil engineers.