Geosynthetic materials are generally less costly to purchase, transport and install than soils and aggregates.

Geosynthetics can be installed quickly, providing the flexibility to construct during short construction seasons, or without the need to demobilize and remobilize the earthwork contractor.

Geosynthetics are manufactured and often factory "prefabricated" into large sheets. This minimizes the required number of field connections, or seams. Both factory and field seams are made and tested by trained technicians. Conversely, soil and aggregate layers are constructed in place and are subject to variations caused by weather, handling and placement.

Soil and aggregate are generally heterogeneous materials that may vary significantly across a site or borrow area. Geosynthetics on the other hand are relatively homogeneous because they are manufactured under tightly controlled conditions in a factory. They undergo rigorous quality control to minimize material variation.

Layers of geosynthetics are deployed sequentially, but with a minimum of stagger between layers, allowing a single crew to efficiently deploy multiple geosynthetic layers.