Soft Ground Solutions
Working over wet clay, spongy fill, or a subgrade that pumps under load? Geogrid locks the aggregate above it into a stiff platform so your driveway, lane, or work pad stops sinking. Ohio distributor. Free on-site DCP testing.
What Soft Ground Actually Costs You
Every dollar you spend on gravel over a weak subgrade is a dollar the ground is trying to eat. Wet clay pumps up between the stones. Silt migrates down into your base. A year later the driveway ruts, the corner collapses, and you re-grade — which is the same money spent twice.
The permanent fix isn't more gravel. It's a mechanically stabilized layer: one roll of geogrid at the subgrade interface that turns your aggregate into a stiff, load-spreading platform. Done right, you build once.
The Two Layers That Fix It
1. Geogrid — locks the aggregate
Tensar InterAx® or TriAx® geogrid rolls out flat over the prepared subgrade. Aggregate placed on top interlocks with the geogrid's apertures, forming a stiff composite layer that spreads wheel load over a much wider area of the soft soil beneath.
See geogrid options →2. Woven Geotextile — separation
Below the geogrid on very soft ground (CBR under 3), a woven geotextile like Mirafi 500X or 600X prevents the soft clay from squeezing up into your aggregate base. Two-layer systems are how you build over ground you couldn't walk across.
See woven fabrics →How We Size It
Every soft-ground fix comes down to one number: subgrade strength. On the industry scale that's CBR — California Bearing Ratio. A CBR of 5–8 is typical everyday soil. Under 3 is soft. Under 1 is essentially mud.
We use a Dynamic Cone Penetrometer (DCP) on-site to measure your actual subgrade CBR — no guessing. From there Tensar's engineering team runs the design in Tensar+ software and tells you the exact geogrid, aggregate thickness, and separation-fabric spec for the loads you're building for.
This is a free service for anyone buying material from us. Homeowners, residential contractors, site crews — same design support.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is "soft ground" and why does it matter?
Soft ground is soil that can't reliably carry a load — wet clay, silt, spongy organic fill, or freshly graded low-CBR subgrade. Drive over it repeatedly with a loaded truck or a compactor and it will rut, pump, and cause the base above it to fail. Every pavement structure sits on the subgrade — if the subgrade moves, the pavement moves.
Can geogrid actually fix soft ground?
Geogrid doesn't make the soil stronger — it locks the aggregate above it into a stiff mechanically stabilized layer that spreads load over a wider area. That means the soft soil sees a much lower stress at the same wheel load, so it stops rutting and pumping. On very weak subgrades (CBR under 3) you'll typically pair a Tensar InterAx geogrid with a Mirafi 500X or 600X woven geotextile beneath to keep the soft clay from squeezing up into the base.
How much geogrid do I need for a soft-ground fix?
For a driveway or private lane on soft ground you'll typically install one layer directly on top of the subgrade, then build 6–12 inches of #57 or #304 aggregate on top. For truly soft ground (CBR under 2) engineers sometimes call for two layers separated by aggregate. Free DCP testing at your site tells us the actual subgrade strength so we can size it right — not guess.
Won't just adding more gravel do the same thing?
Adding gravel without geogrid is the most common failure mode we see. Without a stabilization layer the aggregate migrates down into the soft soil, the soft soil pumps up between the stones, and within a season or two you're back where you started. Geogrid keeps the aggregate confined so the money you spent on stone stays where you put it.
Do you install this or just sell the material?
BuyGeogrid is a distributor — we sell the material and provide free design support from Tensar's engineering team. Most residential contractors and site crews install geogrid themselves; it rolls out flat, overlaps a foot at the seams, and gets buried under aggregate. If you need a paving-fabric installation done as a service (crack seal, chip seal, non-peel-and-stick overlay fabric), our sister company Asphalt Fabrics & Specialties handles that separately.
How fast can I get material?
Standard SKUs — Tensar TX190L, NX650, Mirafi 500X, 135N — are typically in stock at our Solon, OH warehouse. Local pickup same-day or next-day, delivery throughout Cleveland, Akron, Toledo, Youngstown, and Canton within a few days. Call (440) 368-1420 for current stock.
Not sure what soil you have?
Free on-site DCP testing throughout Northern Ohio. We tell you the subgrade CBR, spec the design, and quote the material.