Pavement Design

The road pavement is the actual surface on which the vehicles will travel. It's
purpose is two fold, to provide friction for the vehicles and to transfer normal
stresses to the underlying soils. The procedure described in this page is that in
the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges, Volume 7 (Available on-line at
http://www.archive.official-documents.co.uk/document/ha/dmrb/index.htm.)
The design Process can be split up into different areas. These are as follows:

Foundation Design - That is the design of the Sub-grade and sub-base

Thickness Design - That is the design of the actual road surface

Unfortunately to include both of the areas on this page would cripple your
browser so they have been split up and this page contains only the introduction
and links to the different areas.

Introduction
There are four types of pavement currently in use in the United Kingdom at
present:

Flexible - pavements with a bitumen bonded surfacing and road base.

Flexible Composite - The surfacing and upper road base are bituminous
on a lower road base of cement bound material
Rigid - Pavements with a concrete surface slab which can be unreinforced, joint reinforced or continuously reinforced.
Rigid Composite - continuously reinforced concrete slab with a
bituminous overlay.

Although there has been considerable advance in the theoretical design of

pavements, most of the current work is based on empirical methods and design
charts. For this reason only these methods will be covered in these pages.
Normally a design is carried out for each of the alternatives and then the most
economical chosen. However, if for environmental or technical reasons one is
impractical then it may be omitted.
The general form of the different types of pavement is shown below. It can be
seen that common to all types of construction is the Sub-base and sub-grade. It
is this aspect of the design which is treated first. However, it is first necessary to
decide on a failure criteria on which to base the design.

Failure Criteria
This has been the subject of extensive research and is the result not of theory
but of full scale tests and observations of real life situations. Croney states that
permanent deformation in the near side wheel tracks of a flexible pavement of
20mm, when measured from a 1.8m straight rule, was normally accepted as the
point at which reconstruction was considered necessary.
1

It was also noted that at this point the surface was beginning to crack. This led to
water ingress and subsequently rapid deterioration.
The critical condition was much harder to define although it was found generally
that overlays were being provided between deformations of 10 and 20mm.
Cracking at these points was generally limited to longitudinal cracks in the wheel
tracks.
The advantage of this method is that it is easily measured by visual inspection
and a straight edge.
Methods used in the United States including asking passing motorists to rate the
traffic ability between 0 and 5 and a slope variance device. Salter contains more
information on both these methods as well as other relevant ones.
2

Flexible

Rigid

Rigid Composite

Figure 1 - Pavement Types

The road base and sub-base are generally only divided into upper and lower for
highly trafficked roads.
The nest step is the foundation design.

Pavement Design - Foundation Design

The Purpose of the foundation is to transfer the loading from the road to the soil
or sub-grade. The foundation for the purpose of these pages is defined as the
sub-base and any associated strengthening materials used. The procedure
described in this page is that in the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges,
Volume
7
(Available
on-line
at
http://www.archive.officialdocuments.co.uk/document/ha/dmrb/index.htm).
The map alongside can be used as a
guide to the process of Foundation
Design.
Clicking on the desired area of the map
will take you to the desired section.
When you have finished a particular
section, if you wish to return to the map
then use the back button on the browser
or
click
on
the
map
link.
It is highly recommended that you follow
the logical progression of the map

Figure 1
Foundation Design Process

Introduction
The main purpose of the foundation is to distribute the applied loads to the
underlying sub-grade, without causing distress to either the foundations, the
overlying layers or the sub-grade.
The critical condition for a pavement foundation is whilst carrying the construction
traffic as, whilst the repetitions are low, the stresses are applied direct to the

foundation. Standard foundation design is thus to design for the construction

traffic. That is the method described below.

Assessment Methods
The first step in the design of the foundations depends on the situation that is
causing the design.
If the road is new then the first step is the assessment of the subgrade on which
the road is to be built. This is described in the next section and is essential to the
design. If this is not carried out correctly then the information on which the
designs are based may be incorrect.
If the road is a not a new road then the first step is the assessment of the existing
foundations. This is described later on in the chapter and is the same procedure
as the compliance testing for a new road.

Subgrade Strength
The strength of the subgrade (soil below the pavement) is asssesed using a test
known as the California Bearing Ratio test. This was developed in California in
the 1930's and makes no attemp to determine any of the standard soil properties
such as density. It is merely a value and it is integral to the process of road
design. Nearly all design charts for the road foundations are based on the CBR
value for the subgrade.

California Bearing Ratio (CBR)

The California Bearing Ratio (CBR) is a measure of the supporting value of the
sub-grade. It is not unique and other tests such as the R-Value test and the
Triaxial are used occasionally. It is however by far the most commonly used in
Pavement Design. The CBR test should be used with soil at the calculated
equilibrium moisture content (see below) although in the United States it is usual
for samples to be soaked for 4 days prior to testing.
To determine the CBR for a soil the designer has two options, they can either use
the California Bearing Ratio (CBR) test if equipment is available or they can use
the table below to estimate the CBR.

Type
of soil

Plasticity
(%)

Heavy clay

Silty clay

CBR (%)
Depth of formation below water
index
table
More
than
600mm or less
600mm

70
60
50
40
30

Sandy clay

2
2
2.5
3

1*
1.5*
2
2

5
20
10

3
6
7

4
5

Silt

1*

Sand (poorly graded)

non-plastic

20

10

Sand (well graded)

non-plastic

40

15

Well graded sandy gravel

non-plastic

60

20

Table 1
Estimation of CBR values
The CBR should be carried out in accordance with BS 1377

The test involves the equipment shown below. The plunger is then seated into
the soil using a force of 50N for an expected CBR below 30% or 250N for greater
than 30%. The plunger is then penetrated into the soil at a constant rate of
1mm/min and the forces recorded at penetration intervals of 0.25mm. The total
penetration should not exceed 7.5mm. These results are then compared to a
standard curve for a value of 100% CBR. The forces on the standard curve are
13.2kN at 2.5mm penetration and 20.0kN at 5.0mm penetration. The CBR is then
a simple ratio of the corresponding values and where a difference between the
value at 2.5mm and 5mm occurs, the higher value is taken. Annular weights are
sometimes used to represent a surcharge.

Figure 2
California Bearing Ratio Equipment
The first factor affecting the performance of the sub-grade is the moisture
content. Unfortunately this is normally extremely variable as water can come
from many sources such as rainfall, capillary action, seasonal movement of the
water table and ingress.
The importance of the moisture content is demonstrated by the variation of the
CBR values as shown below. This is a plot of a typical soil sample values of CBR
against moisture content. Thus the soil sample should have the moisture content
re assessed after the test is performed and compared to the desired value.
Figure 2 shows how the CBR value of a soil varies with the moisture content.

Figure 3
California Bearing Ratio Vs Moisture content
Croney and Bulman used thermodynamic principles to define three categories
into which the sub-grade moisture conditions can be placed. These allow the
relevant value of moisture content to be used when assessing the soils under
laboratory conditions.
1

1. Under conditions of rainfall and evaporation such that the water table
forms within 5m of the surface. Edge effects are small and the situation is
achieved by a combination of drainage and capillary effects. This allowed
the estimation of the water content for different water table levels. This is
typical of a temperate climate with moderate evaporation or on the flood
pains of rivers. The United Kingdom generally falls into this category.
2. The water table is greater than 5m but for several months of the year
rainfall exceeds moisture loss by evaporation and transpiration. The
moisture content is thus cyclical and depends on the permeability of the
soil. This is typical of a hot climate with high seasonal rainfall.
3. Dry climates where the rainfall has little effect on the water table and the
moisture content may be assumed to be close to that in the surrounding
uncovered soil.
This is however a subjective method and not widely used. In America, the
standard practice is to assume a saturated sample and test as such. As can be
seen from Figure 3, this has a tendency to underestimate the CBR and thus to
over design the foundation.
Standard practice in the United Kingdom is to assess the soil at the optimum
moisture content. This is done using the procedure below.

Plot the dry density of the soil against moisture content.

This will give you the optimum moisture content, that is the peak of the
curve.
Plot the CBR against moisture content graph
The CBR value carried forward to the design is that at the optimum
moisture content.

An example of this can be found in the problems page below.

Capping & Sub-base Design

Once the CBR value has been determined, it is then possible to design the actual
capping and Sub-base layers. Capping is used to protect weak subgrades by
using a relatively cheap material between the subgrade and sub-base
It is not practical to build on a layer whose CBR value is less than 15%. It is
therefore necessary to improve this value either by capping or increasing the
thickness of the sub-base. The chart below shows the two alternatives, each of
which are equally effective and which is used depends on cost and construction
restrictions.

Figure 3
Capping and Sub-base Thickness Design

In exceptional circumstances where the CBR value falls below 2%, a value below
which the sub-grade would deform under construction traffic, there are several
options open to the designer:

The material can be removed and replaced with a more suitable material.
The thickness replaced is typically between 0.5m and 1.0m. Irrespective of
the quality of the new material a CBR value of just under 2% should be
assumed for the sub-grade.
For cohesive soils, it may be possible to treat the soils using lime. The
sub-base and capping is again designed assuming a sub-grade CBR of
just under 2%.
For a reasonably permeable soil the drainage system may be lowered and
the results monitored. The main foundation should then be designed
assuming the achievable conditions.

For sub-grades with CBR values of 15% and above the sub-base should have a
standard thickness of 150mm, a value determined as the minimum practical for
spreading and compaction.
For sub-grades with CBR values in excess of 30% and a low water table or hard
rock sub-grades then the sub-base may be omitted.
When designing a road of some length, it is not advisable to frequently vary the
foundation thickness but rather select an appropriate value for each significant
change in the su-bgrade properties.

Drainage and Frost Protection

It is vitally important to keep moisture out of the sub-base, capping and subgrade
both during the construction and during the life of the pavement. This is achieved
by excluding incoming water and providing a drainage path for water already in
the foundation.
This is achieved by placing a granular aggregate drain or drainage blanket.
Where a drain is used, it should be below the bottom of the capping. The finished
design should always slope towards the drain. There are circumstances where
drains are not necessary and reference should be made to the Design Manual for
Roads and Bridges if this is a possibility
All materials used should be non frost-susceptible. More information on the
susceptibility to frost can come from the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges
and from the Meteorological Office.

Pavement Design - Thickness Design

The thickness design of the pavement is the determination of the overall
thickness of the road and the thickness of the individual layers. This is of course
dependant on the type of material chosen for the road. This is explained in more
detail below. The procedure described in this page is that in the Design Manual
for Roads and Bridges, Volume 7.
The map alongside can be used as a
guide to the process of Thickness
Design.
Clicking on the desired area of the map
will take you to the desired section.
When you have finished a particular
section, if you wish to return to the map
then use the back button on the browser
or
click
on
the
map
link.
It is highly recommended that you follow
the logical progression of the map

Figure 1 - Foundation Design Process

As has been previously discussed, there are many methods of thickness design
and nearly every country has adopted different methods. A review of several of
these methods has been carried out by the Permanent International Association
of Road Congress . The method discussed in these pages is that commonly
used in the United Kingdom.
1

At this point, it is necessary to have ascertained the vehicle loading on the road
surface. This is not an indication of the total traffic flow nor is it intended to design
the road layout. It is solely relevant to the engineer and used to design the
pavement thickness. This is covered in more detail and hopefully somewhat
better explained on the traffic loading page. Thus you should now have two

pieces of information, the CBR value and a vehicle loading in the left hand lane
(right hand lane outside the UK) in millions of standard axles (msa).

Design Implementation
As has been previously discussed, there are four standard designs in common
use in the United Kingdom at present:

Flexible
Rigid
Flexible Composite
Rigid Composite.

The design procedure for each type of pavement is essentially quite similar and it
is standard to produce alternative designs for each of the types.
An explanation of the different materials that are used in road design is contained
in the Materials section of this page. If you are unsure as to the meaning of any
acronyms then holding the mouse over the highlighted text will produce an
explanation in the dialogue box at the bottom of the page.

Flexible Pavement
A flexible pavement is constructed of several layers as shown below:

Figure 2
Flexible Pavement Layout
The sub-base has already been designed on the foundation page, a link to which
is at the bottom of this page.
The total thickness of the combined bituminous layer is then determined from
Figure 2.1 - Design Thickness for Flexible Pavements.

Figure 2.1
Design Thickness for Flexible Pavements

DBM = Dense Bitumen Macadam HRA = Hot Rolled Asphalt DTM = Dense Tar Macadam
DBM50 = DBM+50 penetration bitumen HDM = Heavy Duty Macadam

This is on a separate page so as to reduce the page download time. It may take
a few seconds for the page to download but please be patient. It is essential that
you look at the chart before progressing any further.
The final design of the pavement is then dependent on the material chosen for
the wearing course. It is standard to use a wearing course consisting of either

45mm or 50mm of Hot Rolled Asphalt (HRA)

50mm of Porous Asphalt (PA).

If PA (Porous Asphalt) is used then its contribution to the bituminous design

thickness is 20mm. A 60mm base course of either HRA (Hot Rolled Asphalt),
Dense Bitumen Macadam (DBM), or High Density Macadam (HDM) is required
below a PA wearing course.

If HRA is used then a base course is optional. If used it may be of any permitted
material and should be at least 50mm thick.
Base courses over HDM (High Density Macadam) should also be HDM

Example
Design traffic
Road base
Design Thickness

75 msa
HDM
320mm

Design Options given that HDM is the chosen material and thus from the design
chart the total thickness is 320mm
1. 45mm HRA wearing course
55mm HDM base course
220mm HDM roadbase
Choosing a HRA wearing course with a standard thickness of 45mm.
assuming the use of a HDM road base and an optional base course, the
base course should be at least 50mm thick and must be of the same
material as the road base. The remainder is made up of the HDM road
base.
2. 45mm HRA w/c
275mm HDM r/b
Choosing a HRA wearing course with a standard thickness of 45mm.
assuming the use of a HDM road base and no optional base course, the
remainder is made up of the HDM road base.
3. 50mm Porous asphalt w/c
60mm HDM b/c
240mm HDM road base
Choosing a PA wearing course with a standard thickness of 50mm.
assuming the use of a HDM road base then a 60mm base course is
required. The contribution of the PA wearing course is 20mm and the
remainder is made up of the HDM road base.

Rigid Pavement Design

A flexible pavement is constructed of several layers as shown below:

Figure 3
Rigid Pavement Layout
Again the sub-base has already been designed on the foundation page, a link to
which is at the bottom of this page.
The total thickness of the combined bituminous layer is then determined from
Figure 2.2 - Design Thickness for Rigid Pavements.

Figure 2
Design Thickness for Rigid Pavements

Reinforcement Design
As can be seen from the design chart the thickness of the concrete slab is
dependent on the area of reinforcement used. Normal design procedure is to
produce a design for each of the four curves shown, that is the different areas of
reinforcement. The area of reinforcement is generally 0.3% of the total cross
sectional area. However if cracking is to be prevented then the area is increased
to 0.6%. This is known as a continuously reinforced pavement.

Joint Design
There are three types of joint, expansion contraction and warping. Typical
designs are shown in Figure 4 below. Contraction and expansion joints are called
Transverse joints and the warping joint is a longitudinal joint.
Contraction joints allow the slab to shorten as it's temperature drops.
Expansion joints allow the slab to expand as it's temperature increases above
that
at
which
it
was
cast.
Warping joints tie the slabs together and can be thought of as hinges in the slab.

Figure 4
Pavement Joint Types
At the contraction joint, there is a crack inducer so that if cracking does occur
then it is in the area of reinforcement.
Joint Spacing- The spacing of the joints depends on the type of pavement you
wish to design.

Un-Reinforced Concrete (URC) For a URC pavement, the joint spacing

is dependent on the slab thickness. For slabs thicker than 230mm
contraction joints should be every 5m. For slabs under 230mm thick
contraction joints should be every 4m. Expansion joints should replace
every third contraction joint, i.e. at a spacing of 12m or 15m.
Jointed Reinforced Concrete For contraction joints this is generally at a
standard distance of 25m, unless there is 500mm 2/m of reinforcement
when the spacing is taken from the design chart. For expansion joints,
replace every third contraction joint with a expansion joint. For example a
pavement with contraction joint spacing of 25m has an expansion joint
spacing of 75m.

Flexible Composite Pavement Design

Flexible Composite pavements also have a similar design procedure to the other
forms of pavement. Design charts however have not been included but can be
found in the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges, Volume 7, Section2, Part3,
and Chapter3.
This design consists of a standard flexible pavement with a Cement bound road
base. The thicknesses are dependent on the materials chosen but can be read
directly from the design manual.

Rigid Composite Pavement Design

Rigid Composite pavements have a similar design procedure to the other forms
of pavement. The layout of the pavement is shown below. Design charts however
have not been included but can be found in the Design Manual for Roads and
Bridges, Volume 7, Section2, Part3, Chapter3.

Figure 4
Rigid Composite
Pavement Layout
This design consists of a standard rigid pavement with a bituminous overlay. The
thicknesses are dependent on the materials chosen but can be read directly from
the design manual.

Materials
As has already become obvious, there are many different alternatives when it
comes to choosing the materials to use in the pavement design. The material
chosen depends on many factors, including availability, cost, and feasibility of
design.

It is standard practice to design the road using each of the available options and
then to compare them using the above criteria.

Roadbase Materials
Flexible
Flexible Pavements are constructed of the following materials, details of which
can be found in British Standards2,3.

Dense Bitumen Macadam (DBM) is a continuously graded material of

relatively low binder content (100 penetrations). It has less resistance to
fatigue cracking than other materials.
Hot Rolled Asphalt (HRA) is a gap graded material with a high binder
concentration (50 Penetration). It is easy to lay and has good fatigue
resistance but is susceptible to slow moving heavy traffic (eg uphill).
High Density Macadam (HDM) is a continuously graded material with a
greater percentage of finer material than DBM. It is less easy to lay but
has high resistance to cracking and deformation and has the highest
stiffness.
DBM50 is DBM with a 50 penetration binder. It is marginally inferior to
HDM but is superior to ordinary DBM.
Dense Tar Macadam is similar to DBM but uses a tar binder. This
improves performance but is more temperature susceptible.

Rigid
All rigid and rigid composite should be constructed using Pavement Quality
Concrete, manufactured, cured and laid in accordance with the Specification for
Highway Works (MCHW1)4 series 1000. The use of joints is discussed in the
pavement design section above.

Surfacing Materials
This is also known as the wearing course and is described as such in the design
charts.
There are three possibilities for the wearing course, Hot Rolled Asphalt (HRA),
Porous Asphalt (PA) or concrete. The use of concrete has been described above
should be used as described.

Hot Rolled Asphalt (HRA) is a gap graded material with a high binder
concentration (50 Penetration). It is easy to lay and has good fatigue

resistance but is susceptible to slow moving heavy traffic (eg uphill). The
surface texture is formed by rolling pre coated chippings into an asphalt
mat. This technique requires careful judgment to achieve the desired
result. HRA is sufficiently string to be considered structurally as part of the
combined bituminous layer thickness as given by the design charts.
Porous Asphalt (PA) is an open graded material designed to facilitate
rapid drainage of surface water from the road, reducing spray. It also has
the added bonus of reducing traffic noise. The material is less stiff and a
50mm layer makes only a 20mm contribution to the combined bituminous
layer.

Design Criteria
The designs discussed above are based on the Design Manual for Roads and
bridges, which in turn is based on the work of the Transport Research
Laboratory. This design manual is only applicable to roads to be built in the
United Kingdom and only for trunk roads, Motorways and other multi-laned
roads.
When comparing the relative benefits of the types of road, it is necessary to
compare both over a similar time period. This is normally the design life, which is
typically 20 years for flexible and flexible composite pavements and 40 years for
rigid and rigid composite pavements. As such, it is necessary to include all
maintenance costs and residual values of the road.

Analytical Design
The design charts presented above are based mainly on empirical results and full
scale experiments. Some work however has included an analytical approach to
the design. This is based on the stresses and strains induced in the pavement by
an applied wheel loading. It is however very complicated and rarely used and as
such is not covered in these pages.

Problems
Using the same example as in the traffic analysis page, that is a design loading
of 5.13 millions of standard axles (msa), calculate the following:
1. Given the following soil test data suggest appropriate capping and subbase layers for the road:
Moisture Content (%)
Bulk Density (Mg/m3)
CBR (%)
5.0

1.575

23.0

7.5

1.844

20.0

10.0

2.189

5.2

12.5

2.132

2.1

15.0
2.082
1.0
2. If the road were to be constructed using a flexible pavement design,
suggest appropriate thicknesses for the wearing course, base course and
road base layers.
3. If the road were to be constructed using a rigid pavement design, suggest
appropriate thicknesses for the concrete slab. Comment on the amount of
reinforcement and the spacing of the expansion and contraction joints.

Pavement Design - Worked Solutions

Sub-grade Assessment
The first step is to determine the California Bearing Ratio at the optimum
moisture content. To find the optimum moisture content, it is necessary to plot the
dry density against moisture content. This is done in the table below:

Moisture Content - Given in the question

Bulk density - Given in the question
Dry Density - Given by Bulk Density/(1+moisture content)
CBR - Given in the question

Moisture Bulk Density Dry Density

CBR (%)
Content (Mg/m3)
(Mg/m3)
5

1.575

1.500

23

7.5

1.844

1.715

20

10

2.189

1.990

5.2

12.5

2.132

1.895

2.1

15

2.082

1.810

1.0

Plot of Dry density Vs Moisture Content - here soon!

From the plot, it can be seen that the optimum moisture content is approximately
10.3%.
Plot of CBR vs moisture content - here soon!
From the plot, it can be seen that the CBR at the optimum moisture content is
approximately 4.5%. This value is then carried forward to the capping and sub
base design.
CBR design value = 4.5%

Capping and Sub Base Design

From the design chart for Capping and Sub-base design, Figure 3 on the
Foundation design page, it can be seen that there are 2 design options: (see a
copy of the chart)
1. Use a standard Sub-base of 150mm and thus use a 280mm capping
thickness.
2. Use no capping and have a Sub-base thickness of 250mm

Flexible Pavement Design

Using the design traffic of 5.1 millions of standard axles (msa) and Figure 3 in the
Thickness design page, the following solution is obtained assuming a Dense
Bitumen Macadam (DBM) roadbase.(See a copy of the chart)

Combined thickness - 260mm. This comes straight from the design

chart.
Choose a Hot Rolled Asphalt (HRA) wearing course (arbitrarily). Standard
thickness - 50mm
If using a HRA wearing course, a base coarse is not necessary
The wearing course contributes fully to the total thickness, so the road
base thickness = 210mm (260 total - 50mm wearing course). Using the
assumed DBM.

There are also other designs using different materials. If a Porous Asphalt road
base is used, it should be remembered that this contributes only 20mm to the
overall thickness!

Rigid Pavement Design

Using the design traffic of 5.1 msa and Figure 5 in the Thickness design page,
the following result is obtained.(See a copy of the chart)
Use a minimum design thickness of 150 mm. Assume a reinforced pavement
with minimum area of reinforcement = 500mm/m.
Use the maximum joint spacing available. Contraction joints = 25m
Replace every third contraction joint with an expansion joint. Expansion joint
spacing = 75m.
These are the design charts used in the model solutions with the lines of
interpolation added.

Figure 1 - Capping and Sub-base Design