� Growth rate of commercial vehicles has been reduced from 7.

5% to 5%, if
specified data is not available or less than 5%. (Cl. 4.2.2)

� Instead of only sub-grade CBR, effective sub-grade CBR has o be considered.

(with embankment soil of lower CBR, effective sub-grade CBR comes somewhat less
than CBR of sub-grade
only) (Cl. 5.2 and Fig. 5.1 Page : 11). This is an important concept incorporated
in this version of the guideline by which not only the subgrade CBR has to be
checked but also the CBR
value of the soil below 500mm of the subgrade (which is supposed to be embankment)
has to be checked.

� Design life of NH and SH is minimum 15 yrs., for Expressways and Urban Roads
it is minimum 20 yrs. For any other category of roads the design life is
recommended to be considered
for 10 yrs to 15 years. (Cl. 4.3.2)

� Resilient Modulus of Bituminous mixes at different temperature and with

different grade of bitumen and even with modified bitumen has been specified as per
table 7.1. It is useful
for finding out equivalent thickness using the formula E1H13/12(1 � ?12) =
E2H23/12(1 � ?22) as given in Annex-III (Page : 65). [Table 7.1 (Page : 23) is much
detailed than the earlier
version]. However, there are some questions for the MR values of mixes with
different binders as mentioned in table 7.1. No reference research back-up has also
been mentioned against this
table.

� Up to 30 msa, 80% design reliability and beyond 30 msa, 90% design

reliability has been considered. (Cl. 6.2.2 and Cl. 6.3, Page : 13, 15)

� Beyond 30 msa, higher grade of bitumen i.e., VG-40 has been recommended both
for DBM and BC layers (Cl. 10.1) and up to 30 msa VG-30 grade bitumen has been
recommended. Cl. 6.2.2.
[last paragraph (Page : 14) ] and Annex-I. (Page : 49)

� For traffic below 2 msa, IRC:SP:72 (2007) (Guidelines for design of flexible
pavements for low volume rural roads) should be used. (Note (a) page 25, Cl.10.)

� Pavement thickness design for traffic between 2 and 30 msa is exactly same as
IRC:37 (2001) [Note (b) page 25 Cl.-10]. For traffic above 30 msa, new design
charts have been
provided (Plate 1 � Plate 24). But it is better to follow 2012 version of IRC:37
for pavement composition, because some pavement composition like premix carpet etc.
have been dropped.

� There is no provision of Premix Carpet and Seal Coat. For traffic 2 msa to 5
msa, provision of SDBC has been recommended and beyond 5 msa, only BC has been
recommended as the top
wearing course. (Plate 1-24)

� IRC:37 (2012) has provided 5 (five) different options of choosing base and
sub-base with introduction of cementitious base and cementitious sub-base and
foamed bitumen/bitumen
emulsion treated Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) material. This has given the
scope of reduction of thickness of bituminous layer by providing newer alternatives
of base and sub-base,
different from the conventional idea of granular base and sub-bases as well as
recycling of natural resources. (Cl. 10, Page : 24). This is one of the major new
incorporations in the
latest version.

� In eleven annexes, many important topics like drainage layer design,

chemically stabilized base and sub-base, cementitious base and sub-base, mix-design
with RAP material, choice
of grade of bitumen, choice of bituminous wearing courses etc. have been discussed
in details. The aspects of Bituminous Mix Design has been discussed in details and
described as an
integral part of pavement design. In the choice of wearing courses, Mastic Asphalt
should have also been incorporated, however it is not there.

� The equations for rutting and fatigue has been provided and explained in this
version. From these equations, allowable horizontal tensile strain in bituminous
layers, allowable
vertical compressive strain on sub-grade, allowable tensile strain in cementitious
layer or on any other critical locations can be calculated. The actual strains
whatever are coming on
different critical locations after provision of different composition and thickness
as designed as per Plate-1 to Plate-24, can be cross-checked with the help of a
software � IITPAVE.
If the actual strains are found to be more than the allowable strains, the
thickness of the pavement has to be modified accordingly. Thus the design of
pavement now requires much better
and detailed understanding than it was before.

� The design of pavement for very high volume traffic (300 msa) has been
provided in Annex-II (design example). (Page : 62)

� In Indian Context, comparatively newer concept of Perpetual Pavement (with

very long life � 50 yrs. or more) has been incorporated in this version (Cl. 8 and
design example in
Annex-II) (Page : 23 and 63)

� Actual determination of vehicle damage factor (VDF) is very important in view

of overloading. As code can not be formulated for illegal activity like
overloading, the default
values of VDF has been retained unchanged in this version of code (Table 4.2). But
for medium to large projects (say for Rs.10 crores and more), axle load survey
should be must for
actual determination of VDF which is often omitted during preparation of DPR,
otherwise the early damage of road due to overloading can not be taken into
account. As per a recent study
on VDF on a State Highway, the VDF after proper axle load survey was found to be
as high as 22. The present guideline has recommended for actual determination of
VDF by proper axle
load survey, however, in absence of that general values are tabled, quite naturally
which did not take care of the illegal activity like overloading.

� Lane-distribution factor for Two-lane single carriageway roads, has been

modified to 50% from 75% (earlier version) but the higher VDF out of either
direction has been
recommended for design. (Cl. 4.5.1-ii, page-8).

� A newer concept about placement of upper and lower GSB layers has been
introduced. As per Cl. No.- 7.2.1.3 the lower GSB layer should act as a
separation / filter layer
to prevent intrusion of Sub-Grade soil into the pavement, thus should be close
graded and the upper GSB should act as drainage layer to drain away any water that
may enter through
surface cracks, thus, should be open graded. It is made even clearer in the design
example in page 63 of the 2012 version of the code. In general, it is usual
practice that upper
the pavement layers, closer and denser they are. But in case of GSB, the coarser
layer should come on upper layer, however, it may be denser than the lower closer
graded GSB.

� While in IRC:37(2012), it is recommended to do the GSB in two layers, in 5th.

Revision, it is said no layer of GSB should be done in thickness lower than 150mm.
In many
combinations of pavement design composition as per IRC:37(2012), GSB thickness is
coming as 200mm only. Thus, in that case GSB can not be done in two layers. Here
provision as laid
down in cl.11.4 of IRC:37(2012) has to be followed which states about the
requirement of the permeability of the filter layer and also preventing the entry
of the soil particles in
the drainage layer.

� The concept of bottom rich bituminous layer has also been introduced. Since
the critical location of tensile strain is located at the bottom of bituminous
layer [reference
Fig. 10.1 page : 25], lower DBM layer is compacted to an air void of 3% after
rolling (instead of generally 7% to 8 % for upper DBM and BC layer after rolling)
with volume of bitumen
close to 13% (Bitumen content of bottom DBM layer may be 0.5 to 0.6% higher than
the optimum bitumen content) and thereby making the lower DBM layer more ductile to
withstand greater
tensile strain. As this layer is located below the BC layer and top DBM layer,
around 80 to 100 mm below the top surface of pavement, by effect of higher
temperature and heavy traffic,
chances of rutting or plastic deformation in bitumen rich bottom DBM layer is
remote.

Therefore, it is called bottom rich bituminous layer. [reference Cl. 10.1 page 25
and also design example vide page 63]

� A new concept of 90 percentile CBR is recommended in the new guideline as per

Annex-IV page : 67. The CBR values of the sub-grade soil vary along a highway
alignment even on
a homogeneous section. Therefore, sub-grade CBR likely to be applicable for a
considerable length of stretch based on statistical calculation is more rational
approach than dealing
with varied CBR values from section to section.

The method of determination of 90 percentile CBR has been described in Fig. IV.1
page 67. This guideline recommends 90 percentile CBR which is a bit on conservative
side (i.e., the
CBR value comes a bit lesser) than Asphalt Institute�s recommendation of 87.5
percentile sub-grade modules for design traffic greater than one msa.