2CL312 Transportation engineering - II

Pavement Design
Requirements of Pavements
Types of Pavements
 Pavement Design
Functions of Pavement Components:
Soil Subgrade and its evaluation
Top 50cm layer of the subgrade soil well compacted
Treated or stabilized
California bearing ratio test
Triaxial compression test
Plate bearing test
Sub-base and base courses and their evaluation
Wearing course and its evaluation
 Pavement Design
Design Factors:
Pavement design consists of two parts:
mix design of materials to be used in each pavement component layer
Thickness design of the pavement and the component layers
Various factors to be considered for the design of pavements are given below:
Design wheel load
Subgrade soil
Climatic factors
Pavement component materials
Environmental factors
Special factors in the design of different types of pavements
 Pavement Design
Design wheel load:
The various load factors to be considered in pavement design are:
Maximum wheel load
Contact pressure
Dual or multiple loads and equivalent single wheel load
Repetition of loads
 Pavement Design
Maximum wheel load:
The wheel load configurations are important to know the way in which the loads
of a given vehicle are applied on the pavement surface
For highways the maximum legal axle load as specified by IRC is 8170 kg with a
maximum equivalent single wheel load of 4085 kg
U.K. 10.17 T
U.S.A. 8.2 10.9 T
AASHTO 9.1 T
Belgium, France, Luxembourg 13T
 Pavement Design
Total load influences the thickness requirements of pavements
Tyre pressure influences the quality of surface(wearing) course
Magnitude of the vertical pressure at any depth of soil subgrade mass depends
upon the surface as well as on the total load
The equation for vertical stress computations under a uniformly distributed
circular load based on Boussineqs theory is given by:
3
= 1 2 /2
+ 2 3

= vertical stress at depth z

p = surface pressure
z = depth
a = radius of loaded area
 Pavement Design
The influence of tyre pressure is predominating in the upper layers

At a greater depth the effect of tyre pressure diminishes and total load
exhibits a considerable influence on the vertical stress magnitudes

Tyre pressure of high magnitudes demand high quality of materials in

upper layers in pavements

The total depth of pavement is not influenced by the tyre pressure

 Pavement Design
With constant tyre pressure, the total load governs the stress on the top
of subgrade within allowable limits

The stresses on the pavement surface under steel tyres wheels of

bullock carts are very high

This demands use of very strong and hard aggregates for the wearing
surface of the pavement

In single wheel assembly, the wheel load is taken to be half the axle
load
 Pavement Design
In a commercial vehicle, the wheel load will normally be applied through a dual
wheel assembly

For iron-tyred bullock carts, the wheel load is generally 0.75 T, but it is
concentrated on a areas of 20 50 sq.m

Generally, the wheel load is assumed to be distributed over a circular area

But by measurement of the imprints of tyres with different load and inflation
pressures, it is seen that contact area in many cases are elliptical in shape
 Pavement Design
Three important terms:
Tyre Pressure
Inflation pressure
Contact pressure

Tyre pressure and inflation pressure mean exactly same

The contact pressure is found to be more than tyre pressure when the
tyre pressure is less than 7kg/cm2
 Pavement Design
Contact pressure can be measured by the relationship

The ration of contact pressure to tyre pressure is defined as Rigidity Factor

Rigidity factor value = 1 for an average tyre pressure of 7kg/cm2
>1 for lower tyre pressures
<1 for tyre pressures higher than 7kg/cm2
 Pavement Design
Equivalent single wheel load (ESWL):
To maintain the maximum wheel load within the specified limit and to carry
greater load it is necessary to provide dual wheel assembly to the rear axles of the
road vehicles

In doing so the effect on the pavement through a dual wheel assembly is obviously
not equal to two times the load on any one wheel

In other words, the pressure at a certain depth below the pavement surface cannot
be obtained by numerically adding the pressure caused by one wheel load
 Pavement Design
Equivalent single wheel load (ESWL):
The effect is in between the single load and two times load carried by any one
wheel

In order to simplify the analysis, the load dispersion is assumed to be at an angle

of 45

In the dual wheel load assembly, let d be the clear gap between the two wheels, S
be the spacing between the centres of the wheels and a be the radius of the circular
contact area of each wheel
S = (d + 2a)
 Pavement Design
Equivalent single wheel load (ESWL):
 Pavement Design
Equivalent single wheel load (ESWL):
Upto depth d/2 each wheel load P acts independently and after this point the
stresses induced due to each load begins to overlap

At depth 2S and above, the stresses induced are due to effect of both wheels as the
area of overlap is considerable

So the total stresses due to the dual wheels at any depth greater than 2S is
considered to be equivalent to a single wheel load of magnitude 2P, through this
stresses is likely to be slightly greater than the stresses due to the dual wheels
 Pavement Design
Equivalent single wheel load (ESWL):
Equivalent Single Wheel Load may be determined based on either equivalent
deflection or equivalent stress criterion

Multiple wheel loads are converted to ESWL and this value is used in pavement
design

Suppose a dual wheel load assembly causes a certain value of maximum

deflection at a particular depth Z ( depth equal to the thickness of the pavement)
 Pavement Design
Equivalent single wheel load (ESWL):
As per deflection criterion the ESWL is that single wheel load having the same
contact pressure which produces the same value of maximum deflection at the
depth Z

Similarly by stress criterion, the ESWL is the single wheel load producing the
same value of maximum stress at the desired depth Z as the dual

The ESWL is usually determined by the equivalent stress criterion using a simple
graphical method
 Pavement Design
Equivalent single wheel load (ESWL):
The procedure of finding the ESWL for equal stress criteria

This is a semi-rational method, known as Boyd and Foster method, based on the
following assumptions:

equalancy concept is based on equal stress

contact area is circular
influence angle is 45
soil medium is elastic, homogeneous, and isotropic half space
 Pavement Design
Equivalent single wheel load (ESWL):

Where P is the wheel load, S is the center to center distance between the two
wheels, d is the clear distance between two wheels, and z is the desired depth
 Pavement Design
Equivalent single axle load:
Vehicles can have many axles which will distribute the load into different axles,
and in turn to the pavement through the wheels

A standard truck has two axles, front axle with two wheels and rear axle with four
wheels

To carry large loads multiple axles are provided

 Pavement Design
Equivalent single axle load:
Since the design of flexible pavements is by layered theory, only the wheels on
one side needed to be considered

On the other hand, the design of rigid pavement is by plate theory and hence the
wheel load on both sides of axle need to be considered

Legal axle load: The maximum allowed axle load on the roads is called legal axle
load

For highways the maximum legal axle load in India, specified by IRC is 10 tonnes
 Pavement Design
Equivalent single axle load:
Standard axle load: It is a single axle load with dual wheel carrying 80 KN load
and the design of pavement is based on the standard axle load
 Pavement Design
Repetition of loads:
The deformation of the pavement or subgrade due to a single application of wheel
load may be small

Due to repeated application of the load there would be increased magnitude of

plastic and elastic deformations and the accumulated unrecovered or permanent
deformations may even result in pavement failure

It required to carry out traffic surveys for accounting the factor of repetitions for
wheel loads in the design of pavement
 Pavement Design
Repetition of loads:
Such data collected are converted to some constant equivalent wheel loads

Traffic composition in India is of mixed type and it is essential for design purpose
to convert the various wheel loads to one single standard wheel load

Equivalent wheel load is a single load equivalent to the repeated applications of

any particular wheel load on a pavement which requires the same thickness and
strength of pavements
 Pavement Design
Repetition of loads:
McLeod has given a procedure for evolving equivalent load factors for designing
flexible pavements

McLeod assumes that the pavement thickness which are designed for a given
wheel load would support one million repetition of such load during the life of
pavement

For one load application, the pavement thickness so required is only one fourth the
pavement thickness designed for 106 load repetitions
 Pavement Design
Repetition of loads:
For computing equivalent load factors, the plot was considered by McLeod as
below
 Pavement Design
Repetition of loads:
One fourth the design thickness were plotted for various wheel loads on vertical
axis against one load application and total thickness were plotted on vertical axis
drawn at 106 repetitions

The respective repetitions are then read from the figure for different loads at a
pavement thickness of 25cm (which is an average thickness for highway pavement
on an ordinary soil subgrade)
 Pavement Design
Repetition of loads:
Wheel load kg Repetitions to Equivalent Equivalent load
failure, number to2268kg factors
2268 1,05,000 1.0 1
2722 50,000 2.0 2
3175 22,500 4.7 4
3629 13,000 8.2 8
4082 6,500 16.3 16
4536 3,300 32.0 32
4990 1,700 62.0 64
5443 1,000 105.0 128
 Pavement Design
Repetition of loads :
Equivalent axle load factor: An equivalent axle load factor (EALF) defines the
damage per pass to a pavement by the ith type of axle relative to the damage per
pass of a standard axle load

While finding the EALF, the failure criterion is important

Two types of failure criterias are commonly adopted: fatigue cracking and ruttings
 Pavement Design
Repetition of loads :
 Pavement Design
Repetition of loads :
If we consider fatigue cracking as failure criteria, and a typical value of 4 for f2,

where, i indicate ith vehicle, and std indicate the standard axle
If we assume that the strain is proportional to the wheel load
 Pavement Design
Repetition of loads :

where Nd is the permissible design rut depth (say 20mm), cis the compressive
strain at the top of the subgrade and f4, f5 are constants
 Pavement Design
Repetition of loads:
 Pavement Design
Bituminous Mix Design:
The bituminous mix design aims to determine the proportion of bitumen, filler,
fine aggregates and coarse aggregates to produce a mix which is workable, strong,
durable and economical
 Pavement Design
Objectives of mix design:
sufficient bitumen to ensure a durable pavement,
sufficient strength to resist shear deformation under traffic at higher temperature
sufficient air voids in the compacted bitumen to allow for additional compaction
by traffic
sufficient workability to permit easy placement without segregation
sufficient flexibility to avoid premature cracking due to repeated bending by
traffic
sufficient flexibility at low temperature to prevent shrinkage cracks
 Pavement Design
Constituents of a mix:
Coarse aggregates: Offer compressive and shear strength and shows good
interlocking properties. E.g. Granite

Fine aggregates: Fills the voids in the coarse aggregate and stiffens the binder. E.g.
Sand, Rock dust

Filler: Fills the voids, stiffens the binder and offers permeability. E.g. Rock dust,
cement, lime

Binder: Fills the voids, cause particle adhesion and gluing and offers
impermeability. E.g. Bitumen, Asphalt, Tar
 Pavement Design
Types of mix:
Well-graded mix:- Dense mix, bituminous concrete has good proportion of all
constituents and are called dense bituminous macadam, offers good compressive
strength and some tensile strength

Gap-graded mix:- Some large coarse aggregates are missing and has good fatigue and
tensile strength

Open-graded mix:- Fine aggregate and filler are missing, it is porous and offers good
friction, low strength and for high speed

Unbounded:- Binder is absent and behaves under loads as if its components were not
linked together, though good interlocking exists. Very low tensile strength and needs
kerb protection
 Pavement Design
Different layers in a pavement:
Bituminous base course: Consist of mineral aggregate such as stone, gravel, or
sand bonded together by a bituminous material and used as a foundation upon
which to place a binder or surface course
Bituminous binder course: A bituminous-aggregate mixture used as an
intermediate coarse between the base and surface courses or as the first
bituminous layer in a two-layer bituminous resurfacing. It is sometimes called a
leveling course
Asphaltic/Bituminous concrete: Bituminous concrete consists of a mixture of
aggregates continuously graded from maximum size , typically less than 25 mm,
through fine filler that is smaller than 0.075 mm. Sufficient bitumen is added to
the mix so that the compacted mix is effectively impervious and will have
acceptable dissipative and elastic properties
 Pavement Design
Aggregate Gradation for BC:
 Pavement Design
Requirements of Bituminous mixes:
Stability:
Stability is defined as the resistance of the paving mix to deformation under traffic load
Durability:
Durability is defined as the resistance of the mix against weathering and abrasive actions
Flexibility:
Flexibility is a measure of the level of bending strength needed to counteract traffic load and
prevent cracking of surface
Skid resistance:
It is the resistance of the finished pavement against skidding which depends on the surface
texture and bitumen content
Workability:
Workability is the ease with which the mix can be laid and compacted, and formed to the
required condition and shape
 Pavement Design
Desirable properties:
Stability to meet traffic demand

Bitumen content to ensure proper binding and water proofing

Voids to accommodate compaction due to traffic

Flexibility to meet traffic loads, especially in cold season

Sufficient workability for construction

Economical mix
 Pavement Design
Dry Mix Design:

The objective of dry mix design is to determine the amount of various sizes of
mineral aggregates to use to get a mix of maximum density

The dry mix design involves three important steps, viz. selection of aggregates,
aggregates gradation, and proportion of aggregates
 Pavement Design
Selection of aggregates:
The desirable qualities of a bituminous paving mixture are dependent to
a considerable degree on the nature of the aggregates used

Aggregates are classified as coarse, fine, and filler

The function of the coarse aggregates in contributing to the stability of a

bituminous paving mixture is largely due to interlocking and frictional
resistance of adjacent particles
 Pavement Design
Selection of aggregates:
Similarly, fines or sand contributes to stability failure function in filling
the voids between coarse aggregates

Mineral filler is largely visualized as a void filling agent

Crushed aggregates and sharp sands produce higher stability of the mix
when compared with gravel and rounded sands
 Pavement Design
Aggregate gradation:
A dense mixture may be obtained when this particle size distribution follows
Fuller law which is expressed as

p = the percent by weight of the total mixture passing any given sieve sized
D = the size of the largest particle in that mixture
n = the parameter depending on the shape of the aggregate
 Pavement Design
Aggregate gradation:
Based on this law Fuller-Thompson gradation charts were developed by adjusting
the parameter n for fineness or coarseness of aggregates
 Pavement Design
Proportioning of aggregates:
Trial and error procedure
Graphical Methods
Analytical Method
 Pavement Design
Marshall Mix Design:
The Marshall stability and flow test provides the performance prediction measure
for the Marshall mix design method
The stability portion of the test measures the maximum load supported by the test
specimen at a loading rate of 50.8 mm/minute
Load is applied to the specimen till failure, and the maximum load is designated as
stability
During the loading, an attached dial gauge measures the specimen's plastic flow
(deformation) due to the loading
The flow value is recorded in 0.25 mm (0.01 inch) increments at the same time
when the maximum load is recorded
 Pavement Design
Marshall Mix Design :
At
 Pavement Design
Determine Marshall stability and flow:

Marshall stability of a test specimen is the maximum load required to produce

failure when the specimen is preheated to a prescribed temperature placed in a
special test head and the load is applied at a constant strain(5 cm per minute)
While the stability test is in progress dial gauge is used to measure the vertical
deformation of the specimen
The deformation at the failure point expressed in units of 0.25 mm is called the
Marshall flow value of the specimen
 Pavement Design
Design of Flexible Pavement:
Various approaches of flexible pavement design may be classified into three broad
groups:

(a) Empirical methods

(b) Semi-empirical or semi theoretical methods
(c) Theoretical methods
 Pavement Design
Flexible Pavement Design Methods:
1) Group index method
2) California Bearing Ratio Method
3) California R value or stabilometer method
4) Triaxial test method
5) McLeod method
6) Burmister method
 Pavement Design
Group Index method:
The group index value is an arbitrary index assigned to the soil types in numerical
equations based on the percent fines, liquid limit and plasticity index
GI value of soils vary in the range of 0 to 20

G.I. = 0.2*a + 0.005*a*c + 0.01*b*d

a = that portion of material passing 0.074mm sieve, greater than 35 and not exceeding 75
percent (expressed as a whole number from 0 to 40)
b = that portion of material passing 0.074mm sieve greater than 15 and not exceeding 35
percent (expressed as a whole number from 0 to 40)
c = that value of liquid limit in excess of 40 and less than 60 (expressed as a whole
number from 0 to 20)
d = that value of plasticity index exceeding 10 and not more than 30 (expressed as a whole
number from 0 to 20)
 Pavement Design
Group Index method:
The design chart for Group Index method for determining the pavement thickness
is:
Traffic Volume (commercial Number of vehicles per
vehicles) day
Light Less than 50
Medium 50 to 300
Heavy Over 300
To design the pavement thickness by this method, first the GI value of the soil is
found
The anticipated traffic is estimated and is designated as light, medium or heavy
The anticipated design curve is chosen and total pavement thickness is found out
from the Group Index design chart
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California Bearing Ratio Method:
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California Bearing Ratio Method:
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California Bearing Ratio Method:
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California Bearing Ratio Method:
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California Bearing Ratio Method:
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California Bearing Ratio Method:
IRC Recommendations:
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California Bearing Ratio Method:
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California Bearing Ratio Method:
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California Bearing Ratio Method:
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California Bearing Ratio Method:
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California Bearing Ratio Method:
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CBR Method of Pavement Design by Cumulative Standard Axle Load:
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CBR Method of Pavement Design by Cumulative Standard Axle Load:
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CBR Method of Pavement Design by Cumulative Standard Axle Load:
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California Resistance Value Method:
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California Resistance Value Method:
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California Resistance Value Method:
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California Resistance Value Method:
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California Resistance Value Method:
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California Resistance Value Method:
At
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California Resistance Value Method:
At
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Triaxial Method:
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Triaxial Method:
At
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Triaxial Method:
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Triaxial Method:
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Triaxial Method:
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Triaxial Method:
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McLeod Method:
 Pavement Design
McLeod Method: