Geotextiles are placed between the subbase and subgrade in order to enhance the bearing capacity of soft subgrades. The concentrated forces perpendicular to the plane of geotextile as a result of subgrade surface irregularities can impart axi-symmetric loading to the geotextile. In this study, a simple model of axi-symmetric tensile strength for anisotropic hybrid needlepunched nonwoven geotextiles has been proposed by relating to its in-plane tensile properties obtained from wide-width tensile tests in the weaker direction. A range of hybrid geotextiles has been produced from a blend of polypropylene/viscose fibers in defined weight proportions to validate the model of axi-symmetric tensile strength. In general, a good correlation has been observed between the theoretical and experimental results of axi-symmetric tensile strength of hybrid needlepunched nonwoven geotextiles. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.