National Symposium on Geosynthetics for Highways and Railways Inaugurated at CSIR-CRRI
The two-day National Symposium on 'Geosynthetics for Performance Enhancement and Distress Mitigation in Highways and Railways' commenced on September 7, 2026, at the CSIR-Central Road Research Institute Auditorium in New Delhi. The event is jointly organized by CSIR-CRRI and the Geosynthetics Society, Pune, convening leading policymakers, infrastructure authorities, geotechnical specialists, and industry experts to address critical engineering solutions for national highway networks, high-speed rail lines, and strategic mountain corridors.
During the inaugural session, Ms. Minimol Korulla, Vice President of Geosynthetics Society, emphasized the necessity of standardizing field practices and adopting advanced geosynthetic materials to improve durability of geotechnical structures. Dr. Chalumuri Ravi Sekhar, Director of CSIR-CRRI, stated that geosynthetics have emerged as core design imperatives for sustainable, resilient, and high-performance transportation corridors in India's multimodal infrastructure growth story.
Shri Amarendra Kumar, Director of NHIDCL, elaborated on the deployment of geosynthetic ground engineering solutions in challenging terrains, particularly their application in the construction and stabilization of retaining structures. Shri Vivek Bhushan Sood, Executive Director of Railway Board, addressed Indian Railways' modernization initiatives, considering geosynthetics as efficient reinforcing material for infrastructure advancement.
Technical Themes and Deliberations
Day 1 technical sessions focused on mainstreaming reinforced soil walls in India through policy, codes, and best practices. A panel discussion moderated by Prof. Ashish Juneja from IIT Bombay included senior experts from NHAI (Mr. L.M. Padhy), MoRTH (Mr. Bidur Kant Jha), IIT Gandhinagar (Prof. Amit Prashant), CSIR-CRRI (Dr. Kanwar Singh), and G Cube consulting engineers LLP (Ms. Dola Roychowdhury). The session addressed diagnostic evaluations, forensic investigations, and repair methodologies for reinforced soil retaining structures.
Additional technical sessions featured case studies and best practices in geogrid-reinforced walls presented by experts from IIT Bombay, CSIR-CRRI, B&S Engineering Consultants, and G R Infraprojects Ltd. The railway infrastructure session, chaired by Mr. Vivek Kapadia from IIT Gandhinagar, focused on geosynthetic design in high-speed rail systems and vibration isolation using closed-cell polymeric foams.
Day 2 Agenda and Future Directions
The second day of the symposium will continue with sessions on resilient rail infrastructure featuring case studies from industry experts including Dr. Apoorva Aggarwal (Geoquest India Pvt. Ltd.), Dr. Ratnakar Mahajan (Maccaferri Environmental Solutions Pvt. Ltd.), Mr. Shailesh Garg (TechFab India Industries Ltd.), and Mr. Suraj Vedpathak (Strata Geosystems India Pvt. Ltd.).
Technical sessions will also cover sustainable pavement stabilization and performance enhancement, including granular and bituminous layer reinforcement, geogrid-reinforced asphalt overlays, end-of-life plastic geocells for green pavements, and subsurface drainage solutions. Prof. David Frost, President of the Geosynthetics Institute and Professor at Georgia Institute of Technology, will deliver an online lecture on 'Cradle to Grave Considerations for the Resilient Performance of Geosynthetics in Transportation Infrastructure'.
A panel discussion on ground improvement challenges, innovations, and field applications will be moderated by Mr. Atanu Adhikari from Geoquest, featuring experts from academia, research, testing, and industry including Dr. Anil Dixit (LRL), Dr. Prashanth Vangla (IITD), Prof. G.L Sivakumar Babu (IGS), Sandeep Sahu (SAS), and Himanshu Kotak (CPhi). The symposium will conclude with industry presentations highlighting the critical role of different industry partners in geosynthetic applications.