Construction and Building Materials 218 (2019) 99–107

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Flexible pavement drainage system effectiveness

Masoud Seyed Mohammad Ghavami, Maryam Sadat Hosseini ⇑, Pablo D. Zavattieri,
John E. Haddock
Lyle School of Civil Engineering, Purdue University, 550 W Stadium Ave, West Lafayette 47907, IN, USA

h i g h l i g h t s

The drainage layer is still needed in the flexible pavements.

Drainage layers do effectively lower the subgrade moisture content.

The granular filter shows a better performance than the dense graded asphalt filter.

The materials’ hydraulic properties required for the FEA are obtained in the lab.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Moisture can significantly affect flexible (asphalt) pavement performance. As such, it is important to
Received 6 December 2018 remove moisture as quickly as possible from such pavements, especially to avoid allowing moisture into
Received in revised form 13 April 2019 the pavement subgrade. Using an appropriate drainage system is one method to remove moisture from
Accepted 13 May 2019
pavement structures. The objective of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of flexible pavement
Available online 22 May 2019
drainage systems using currently specified materials to determine if, and when, the drainage system can
be safely excluded from the pavements. Moreover, the effects of filter layer and edge drains are also
Keywords:
examined.
Drainage
Asphalt pavement
Laboratory experiments were performed to obtain the hydraulic properties of asphalt materials and
Unsaturated flow used in the numerical modeling of pavement sections. The results indicate that drainage layers do effec-
Finite element analysis tively lower the subgrade moisture content. Also, while the results show that either a dense-graded
Permeability aggregate or a dense-graded asphalt mixture can be used as a filter layer between the subgrade and
the open-graded drainage layer, the subgrade tends to have lower moisture when a granular filter layer
is used. Finally, the results indicate edge drains have a positive effect on flexible pavements, especially on
pavements that do not contain a drainage layer.
Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The longer moisture remains in a flexible (asphalt) pavement
structure the more likely pavement failure will occur. In particular,
the continuous presence of moisture in a pavement subgrade can
significantly affect the subgrade’s modulus and reduce pavement
performance. Work by Ji and Nantung [8] found that at 2% above
optimum moisture content, a pavement’s subgrade resilient mod-
ulus can be reduced by as much as 25 percent. Arika et al. [2] found
pavement subgrades with moisture contents of 8% above optimum
could result in a 50% decrease in asphalt pavement life or could
increase construction costs by 32 percent. Conversely, Zaghloul
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: mseyedmo@purdue.edu (M.S.M. Ghavami), mhossei@purdue.
edu (M.S. Hosseini), zavattie@purdue.edu (P.D. Zavattieri), Jhaddock@purdue.edu
(J.E. Haddock).
et al. [18] found that reducing the moisture content in an asphalt
pavement base course from 45 to 16% can increase the pavement’s
service life from 7 to 13 years.
In an attempt to increase asphalt pavement life, the Indiana
Department of Transportation (INDOT) has used a drainage system
in their pavement design since 1993. This system includes an
open-graded asphalt drainage layer over a dense-graded asphalt
layer (filter) placed immediately on the subgrade, with the drai-
nage layer connected to a pavement edge-drain. The filter layer
serves as a barrier, thus reducing moisture migration both from
the pavement into the subgrade and from the subgrade into the
pavement. As a result, moisture moving into the pavement is
quickly transported to the edge-drains and removed from the
pavement, thus preventing moisture from damaging the pavement
system.
Over the intervening two decades, since first implementing this
drainage system, INDOT has updated its asphalt pavement design

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.05.088
0950-0618/Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
100 M.S.M. Ghavami et al. / Construction and Building Materials 218 (2019) 99–107
specifications and construction practices. Today, asphalt mixtures
are typically designed using the Superpave mixture design method
and have higher in-place densities than those designed in the early
1990s using the Marshall mixture design method, making them
less susceptible to moisture intrusion. Under the old specification,
Marshall-designed asphalt mixtures could be placed with accept-
able densities as low as 88% of the maximum theoretical density
(88% of maximum theoretical specific gravity (Gmm)). In contrast,
with the new specifications, Superpave-designed asphalt mixtures
typically meet in-place density specifications at 93% of Gmm or
higher.
Although the INDOT has had success with drainage layers in
asphalt pavements, such layers are not without some disadvan-
tages. The construction of the open-graded asphalt layer can be
challenging, as such mixtures can be difficult to handle and com-
pact. Also, current INDOT specifications require a PG 76-22 asphalt
binder be used in open-graded asphalt mixtures. Typically, this is a
modified binder that can cost substantially more than an unmodi-
fied binder, thus increasing the cost of the drainage layer and the
overall cost of the pavement.
Given the importance of drainage systems in asphalt pave-
ments, the potential challenges involved with the open-graded
asphalt mixtures used for drainage layers, their possibly increased
costs, and the recent changes to the INDOT pavement design spec-
ifications and construction methods, the objective of this research
was to evaluate the effectiveness of the pavement drainage layer in
INDOT’s as-currently-designed-and-constructed asphalt pave-
ments to determine if such a layer can be safely eliminated.
To meet the study objective, the hydraulic properties of as-
constructed asphalt mixtures meeting current specification were
determined in the laboratory and used in a finite element model
of unsaturated moisture flow through asphalt pavements. The
moisture conditions of drained and un-drained asphalt pavements
and their underlying subgrades were determined and compared to
see what, if any difference, the drainage system makes.
2. Finite element method and governing equations
Previous studies have indicated finite element (FE) methods can
be a helpful tool in analyzing water flow (seepage) through pave-
ments in either saturated or unsaturated conditions [7,12,9,10,6]
and [5]. ABAQUS is an FE software package that can be used in
the analysis of fully or partially saturated porous medium. The gen-
eral governing equations used by the ABAQUS program are given
by Eqs. (1) and (2) and can apply to the x-p system (x and p refer
to the displacement and pore water pressure respectively) in the
truncated space. The equations are derived based on the stress
equilibrium law for the solid phase and the continuity law for
the fluid phase. It should be noted that the stress tensor is in Voigt
notation and the subscript I refers to the nodal space truncation
index [1,13].
Z the asphalt pavement. This flow condition is more realistic than
F ext ¼ ½BI T r0 dt  CpI ;
t Unsaturated hydraulic conductivity describes an asphalt mix-
qI ¼ HpI þ C x_ I þ W p_ I ;
ext
where F is the external mechanical force vector matrix, qI is the
external volumetric flux vector, [B] is the strain displacement
matrix given by ½B ¼ ½@ ½NT , r is the Bishop effective stress tensor
0
that describes the stress state in the partially saturated medium
given by r ¼ r þ avmp, r is the total stress tensor; a is the Biot’s
0
coefficient (unity for incompressible soil particles) and v is Bishop’s
parameter that equals to the degree of saturation, H is hydraulic
conductivity matrix, C is fluid–solid coupling matrix, and W is
hydraulic capacity matrix. H, C, and W are defined by Eqs. (3)–(5).
Z  h iT h i
k ½r NPI dt;
e
H¼ ½r NPI ð3Þ
t
Z h iT
C¼ ð½BI ÞT ½m NPI dt; ð4Þ
t
Z   h iT
1
W¼ N PI dt; ð5Þ
t Q
where ½N and ½NP  are the shape function matrices used to truncate
the x and p fields respectively, [m] is the Voigt representation of the
e
Kronecker delta tensor m, k is the effective hydraulic conductivity
matrix given by k ¼ k=qw g, k is the permeability matrix, g is the
e
gravitational acceleration, qw is the mass density of the water, Q
is the hydraulic capacity of the partially saturated mixture given
for incompressible fluid and soil particles by ð1=Q Þ  nð@S=@pÞ, n
is the porosity of the medium, and S is the degree of saturation.
The ABAQUS program is used because it can perform seepage
analyses for pavement sections that include several layers, with
each layer having different hydraulic properties, water characteris-
tic curves, and hydraulic conductivity functions. However, the
uncoupled (purely diffusion) pore pressure elements are not avail-
able in the ABAQUS program. Therefore, in the case when only the
seepage part of the problem is of interest, the coupled deforma-
tion/pore pressure element can be used and the displacement
degrees of freedom are constrained to be computationally ineffec-
tive [1].
3. Asphalt mixture hydraulic properties
Hydraulic properties including water characteristic curves
(WCC) and hydraulic conductivity functions for the pavement lay-
ers are required in the numerical analyses. Hydraulic conductivity,
or permeability, is a key asphalt mixture property and is the rate at
which a porous material will convey or transport water under a
hydraulic gradient. Low or non-existent permeability is expected
for dense-graded mixtures compacted to 92% density (92% of
Gmm) or higher (8% or less air voids content) [17]. However, higher
hydraulic conductivities are anticipated for the asphalt pavement
layers that have lower densities (higher air voids content).
Permeability is characterized as either a saturated or unsatu-
rated condition. Saturated hydraulic conductivity describes the
permeability occurring when all asphalt mixture pores are filled
with water, or fully saturated, a condition easily measured in the
laboratory. In contrast, unsaturated hydraulic conductivity, or par-
tially saturated, refers to a condition in which the asphalt mixture
pores are only partially filled with water, a more difficult labora-
tory measurement [15]. In the field, an unsaturated flow condition
occurs when one or more pavement layers become fully saturated
while others remain partially saturated, such as near the surface in
ð1Þ the fully saturated condition.
ture’s permeability-suction variation and can be estimated using
ð2Þ WCC. The WCC for a given asphalt mixture indicates the amount
of water remaining in the mixture’s pores as a function of the
pore-water pressure (suction). WCCs can also be expressed in vol-
umetric form, the volumetric water content (VWC) as a function of
suction, VWC being the ratio of water volume to soil volume. The
WCCs of granular materials can be measured in the laboratory by
various methods. The filter paper method is a simple, low-cost,
experimental test method used to indirectly determine VWC in
the laboratory. It can be used when materials have a suction in
the range of 0 to 1500 kPa (218 psi) [11]and can be performed on
any number of asphalt specimens simultaneously.
 M.S.M. Ghavami et al. / Construction and Building Materials 218 (2019) 99–107 101

4. Materials and experimental test methods
4.1. Materials
Laboratory testing was performed on three different asphalt
mixtures (9.5-mm and 19.0-mm dense-graded asphalt mixtures
and a 19.0-mm open-graded asphalt mixture) to obtain their satu-
rated permeabilities and VWCs; the aggregate gradations of the
mixtures are shown in Table 1. Two cores were extracted from
an existing flexible pavement section and the cores taken to the
laboratory where the various pavement layers were separated by
sawing. This resulted in two, 100 mm (4-in.) diameter asphalt mix-
ture specimens for each of the three mixture types. First, the bulk
specific gravity (Gmb) and the Gmm were determined for each
asphalt mixture specimen according to AASHTO T331, ‘‘Standard
Method of Test for Bulk Specific Gravity (Gmb) and Density of Com-
pacted Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) Using Automatic Vacuum Sealing
Method” and AASHTO T209, ‘‘Theoretical Maximum Specific Grav-
ity and Density of Hot Mix Asphalt,” respectively and the mixtures’
air voids contents calculated.
4.2. Experimental test methods
Saturated permeability testing was performed using the falling
head permeability test developed by the Florida Department of
Transportation [4] in 2002. The standard test method used was
the Virginia Test Method-120, ‘‘Method of Test for Measurement
of Permeability of Bituminous Paving Mixtures Using a Flexible
Wall Permeameter.” In accordance with this method the cylindrical
asphalt specimens were vacuum-saturated at a residual pressure of
90 ± 2 mm (28 in.) of Hg for 15 min with each specimen remaining
under water until the testing begins. When a specimen was ready
for testing it was removed from the water and a thin layer of pet-
roleum jelly was applied to outside (excepting the top and bottom)
to fill the voids and achieve a seal between the specimen and the
testing apparatus. Next, the specimen was placed in the perme-
ameter with a confining pressure of 68.9 ± 3.4 kPa (10 ± 0.5 psi)
and water was placed in the graduated cylinder. The time required
for water to fall from the specified upper mark on the graduated
cylinder to the lower mark was recorded to the nearest second.
The test was repeated at least three times for each specimen and
the percent difference between the first and third tests was limited
to less than 4% to ensure the specimens were actually in a satu-
rated condition. All tests were performed at 25 °C (77°F); a temper-
ature correction factor of 0.89 was used to adjust the water
viscosity. The coefficient of permeability, k, was determined using
Eq. (6) based on Darcy’s law. Initial head (h1) and final head (h2) are
shown in Fig. 1.
aL h1
K¼  ln  tc
At h2
Table 1
Asphalt mixture gradations.
where K is the coefficient of permeability (cm/s), Lthe average spec-
imen thickness (cm), Ais the average cross-sectional area of the test
specimen (cm2), t the elapsed time between h1 and h2 (s), ais the
inside cross-sectional area of the burette (cm2), h1 the initial head
across the test specimen (cm), h2 the final head across the test spec-
imen (cm), and t c the temperature correction for viscosity of water.
Asphalt mixture WCCs were obtained using the methodology
recommended by Kim et al. [11] to measure matric suction of com-
pacted subgrade soils using the test method ASTM D5298, ‘‘Stan-
dard Test Method for Measurement of Soil Potential (Suction)
Using Filter Paper.” The filter paper technique is a simple and
low-cost experimental method and can be used for the measure-
ment of suction in the range of 0–1500 kPa (0–218 psi) [11]. The
test method evaluates the soil matric and suction by measuring
the free energy of the pore-water or tension stress applied on the
pore-water by the soil matric. In using this test methodology, the
filter paper is in direct contact with the asphalt mixture test spec-
imen, which is in a tightly sealed plastic bag. The water content of
the filter paper is measured when it reaches equilibrium with the
partial pressure of the water vapor inside the sealed plastic bag.
Whatman No. 42 filter paper (Table 2) and a minimum equilibra-
tion time of seven days are suggested for clay subgrade [11] and
as clay is likely a worst case scenario, seven days was used in this
experiment on asphalt mixture specimens. Once the seven days
equilibrium time period is reached, the water content of the filter
paper can be obtained by oven drying the paper. This value is used
to determine the matric suction of the test specimen by reference
to the ASTM D5298 suggested calibration curve [3], as shown in
Fig. 2; this figure relates filter paper water content and matric suc-
tion. This test can be repeated at various saturation levels to pro-
duce the VWC-suction curve for a material.
In accordance with this method the mass of each fully saturated
asphalt specimens was measured, and a Whatman No. 42 filter
paper was placed on the top and bottom of the specimen. Each
specimen was then quickly covered by two layers of plastic cling
film as shown in Fig. 3 to prevent evaporation. Since the surface
of each specimen and the filter papers must be in good contact
to get the best result, a small contact stress caused by the weight
of extra core was applied by placing it on top of each specimen dur-
ing the equilibration time. During equilibration, the specimens
were stored in a dark, confined space (Fig. 4a). After the seven days
equilibrium period, each specimen was unwrapped (Fig. 4b), and
the filter papers were removed and weighed. Filter papers were
quickly placed in separate containers, which were weighed after
the filter papers were placed inside. Then filter papers were
oven-dried for 16 h.
The experimental points were used to develop the matric
suction-saturation curve for each specimen. Each experimental
point represents a percent saturation of the specimen with the
ð6Þ average water content of filter papers. The calibration suction-
water content curve from ASTM D5298 was used to estimate the
matric suction from the moisture content of the filter papers. From
the calibration curve, using the filter paper ‘‘Whatman No. 42”, Eqs.
(7a) and (7b) were suggested to determine the amount of suction:

Sieve Size, mm 9.5-mm 19.0-mm 19.0-mm h ¼ 5:327  0:0779Wf; Wf < 45:2640 ð7aÞ
dense-graded open-graded dense-graded
Percent Passing h ¼ 2:412  0:0135Wf; Wf > 45:2640 ð7bÞ
25 100.0 100.0 100.0
19 100.0 92.7 95.8 where h is the suction (log kPa), and Wf is the filter paper water
12.5 100.0 64.3 81.5 content (%).
9.5 90.0 43.2 73.5
4.75 61.1 21.9 50.9
2.37 40.1 16.2 33.8 5. Laboratory test results
0.6 19.5 9.6 15.4
0.3 11.0 5.8 10.2
The saturated permeability coefficient (K) was calculated using
0.075 4.4 2.2 5.2
Darcy’s equation (Eq. (6)) and the results were shown in Tables 3–
102 M.S.M. Ghavami et al. / Construction and Building Materials 218 (2019) 99–107

Fig. 1. Permeability testing apparatus (Left Fig. adapted from [4]).

Table 2
Characteristics of filter paper (after [11]).

Grade Diameter (mm) Basis weighta (g/m2) Nominal particle retention in liquidb (lm) Ash contentc (%) Nominal thickness (lm)
42 42.5–320 91–109 2.5 <0.007 200
a
The unit weight of the filter paper produced in Lot No. J11368905 was 95 g/m2 according to the certificate of analysis provided by GE Healthcare Co. Thus, the nominal
weight of a 90-mm-diameter filter paper should be 0.6044 g; however, the average measured weight of three filter papers stored in a sealable plastic bag was 0.6089 g.
b
Particle retention rating at 98% efficiency.
c
Ash content determined by ignition of the cellulose filter at 900 °C in air.

5. Additionally, Tables 3–5 include the results from the filter paper
method, including matric suction over saturation and VWC, for all
the mixtures. The results from the filter paper method represent
only a few data points, including the measured values of suction
at corresponding asphalt mixture VWC values. Therefore, it is
important to determine the values of suction at other VWC values.
WCC data resulting from the filter paper tests were fitted into the
closed form model [16] using the SWRC Fit program [14] and are
shown in Table 6 (See Eq. (8)).

6. Flexible pavement drainage system effectiveness

In order to evaluate the currently specified pavement drainage

system, 2D FE Models 1–4 were developed. These models are
shown in Fig. 5. Model 1 and 3 include a drainage layer, while
Model 2 and 4 do not. Model 3 has the #53 granular aggregate
as a filter layer instead of the dense graded asphalt layer in Model
1, and the drainage layer and the edge drain are not considered in
Model 4. Due to symmetry, one-half the pavement cross-section,
consisting of a 3.65 m (12 ft) pavement lane with a 0.60 m (2 ft)
paved shoulder covering a trench and collector pipe, was modeled.
Fig. 2. Suction-water content calibration curves for Whatman No. 42 paper after Material properties assigned to each layer shown in Fig. 5 are pre-
[19]. sented in Table 7. The materials’ permeability functions and WCCs
 M.S.M. Ghavami et al. / Construction and Building Materials 218 (2019) 99–107 103

Filter Papers, one on top, and the other on the bottom of sample.

Fig. 3. Filter-paper test sample preparation.

Fig. 4. Filter-paper test a) stored samples with extra core on top, b) opening samples after seven days equilibrium period.

Table 3
Test results for the 9.5-mm dense-graded asphalt mixture.

Test 9.5-mm dense-graded

Sample 1 Sample 2
Gmm 2.756
Gmb 2.571 2.601
Air Voids (%) 6.7 5.6
K (cm/s) 9.30E05 7.80E05
Saturation 100 71 66 63 57 52 48 45 43 100 88 84 76 69 63 55 52 50
(%)
VWC 0.067 0.048 0.044 0.042 0.038 0.035 0.032 0.030 0.029 0.056 0.049 0.047 0.043 0.039 0.035 0.031 0.029 0.028
Suction (kPa) 0.0 2.7 7.1 12.4 39.4 106.2 288.9 694.0 1022.3 0.0 1.9 3.3 10.6 31.2 94.3 534.3 900.0 1416.2

Table 4
Test results for 19.0-mm open-graded asphalt mixture.

Test 19.0-mm open-graded

Sample 3 Sample 4
Gmm 2.574
Gmb 2.25 2.22
Air Voids (%) 12.6 13.8
K (cm/s) 3.60E02 6.90E02
Saturation (%) 100 77 65 55 37 23 17 15 100 78 62 49 32 21 16 10
VWC 0.126 0.098 0.082 0.069 0.047 0.029 0.022 0.019 0.138 0.107 0.085 0.067 0.044 0.029 0.022 0.014
Suction (kPa) 0 0.84 1.16 1.50 2.34 3.80 4.90 5.70 0 0.67 0.98 1.30 1.96 2.84 3.57 5.10
104 M.S.M. Ghavami et al. / Construction and Building Materials 218 (2019) 99–107

Table 5
Test results for 19.0-mm dense-graded asphalt mixture.

Test 19.0-mm dense-graded

Sample 5 Sample 6
Gmm 2.512
Gmb 2.35 2.327
Air Voids (%) 6.4 7.4
K (cm/s) 8.78E04 6.50E04
Saturation (%) 100 62 59 54 50 44 39 35 33 100 65 59 52 45 41 38 34 32
VWC 0.064 0.040 0.038 0.035 0.032 0.028 0.025 0.022 0.021 0.074 0.048 0.043 0.039 0.034 0.030 0.028 0.025 0.024
Suction (kPa) 0 0.78 1.3 3.4 7.9 37.2 114.1 382.6 800 0 0.58 1.82 6.3 29.8 97.2 211.4 790 1332

Table 6
Fitting parameters for Van Genuchten model.

Mixture Type Sample hs a (1/cm) nvg m Van Genuchten Parametric Model, 1980
9.5-mm dense-graded 1 0.067 1.89 1.09 0.083 h ¼ hr þ ðhs  hr Þ: 1
nvg m (8)
ð1þ½a:h Þ
2 0.056 1.35 1.09 0.08
h = volumetric moisture content (cm3/cm3),
19.0-mm, open-graded 3 0.126 0.09 2.12 0.528
hr = 0 (residual moisture content),
4 0.138 0.12 2.27 0.559
hs = saturated moisture content,
19.0-mm, dense graded 5 0.064 18.31 1.09 0.086
a and nvg are curve fitting parameters, m = 1–1/nvg , and h = pressure head (cm H2O)
6 0.074 20.61 1.09 0.083

Fig. 5. Finite element geometries of Models 1, 2, 3, and 4.

Table 7
Flexible pavements material types and hydraulic properties.

Layer Number Material Type WCC Fitting Parameters for Van Genuchten3 Ksat (cm/s)
hs a (1/cm) n m
1 9.5-mm, dense-graded asphalt mixture1 0.056 1.35 1.09 0.08 8.55E05
2, 3, 5 19.0-mm, dense graded asphalt mixture1 0.074 20.61 1.09 0.08 7.64E04
4 19.0-mm, open-graded asphalt mixture1 0.138 0.12 2.27 0.56 5.25E02
6 Clay soil subgrade2 0.426 14.50 1.05 0.05 7.70E8
7 #8 Coarse aggregate-trench2 0.558 104.64 1.29 0.22 1.18
8 #53 Granular aggregate2 0.274 0.84 1.26 0.21 2.73E02

1 – Lab experiments, 2 – Hassan and White [7], 3 – Residual moisture content hr = 0.

used in the analyses were estimated from [16] model. A rainfall
event, as reported by Hassan and White [7], was applied in four
successive steps: 6 h of simultaneous raining and draining, 9 h of
draining only, 2 h of simultaneous raining and draining, and a final
51 h of continuous draining. The outer edges of the pavement
cross-sections were assumed impermeable, and a constant, zero-
pore pressure was assumed around the pipe. During a rainfall
event, surface infiltration was modeled by assigning a zero-pore
pressure to the pavement surface. All the FE models contain 8-
noded biquadratic displacement, bilinear pore-pressure (CPE8P)
element types.
One method to determine the need for, or effectiveness of a
pavement drainage system is to establish the degree of subgrade
saturation that occurs during a rainfall event [5,20]. The degrees
of saturation in the various flexible pavement layers at the end
of the rainfall event for Models 1 and 2 are shown in Fig. 6. The
 M.S.M. Ghavami et al. / Construction and Building Materials 218 (2019) 99–107 105

Fig. 6. Degrees of saturation at the end of the rainfall event for models 1, 2.

results also exhibit the overall degree of saturations of all layers at

the end step of rainfall event (51 h draining) in Model 1 are lower Fig. 7. Subgrade saturation comparison of Models 1, 2 and 3.
in comparison to the Model 2. Therefore, one concludes is that a
drainage system needed to be installed to effectively lower the
moisture content throughout the pavement and subgrade. This
conclusion is consistent with the findings of [7].
The variation in subgrade saturation during the rainfall event
for Models 1, 2, and 3 are shown in Fig. 7. The results indicate that
subgrades in pavements without a drainage layer become fully sat-
urated immediately following the initiation of the rainfall and tend
to stay near full saturation level by the end of the rainfall event.
However, the subgrades in Models 1 and 3, the pavement models
that include a drainage layer, quickly begin to lose moisture during
drainage periods and reaches approximately 77% saturation by the
end of the rainfall event. This indicates that flexible pavements
with a drainage layer serve to more effectively reduce moisture
contents in the subgrade than do pavements without such a layer,
thus lowering moisture in the subgrade, resulting in higher sub-
grade moduli and increased pavement bearing capacity.
The results shown in Fig. 7 also illustrate the difference in sub-
grade saturation depending on which filter layer material is used in
the pavement section. For both the granular and dense-graded
asphalt filter materials, the subgrade saturation levels increase as
the rainfall begins, but the pavement with the dense-graded
asphalt filter reaches a higher subgrade saturation level (98% satu-
ration) than does the subgrade in the granular filter layer pave- Fig. 8. Subgrade saturation comparison of Models 2 and 4.
ment. Indeed, the subgrade saturation levels in the pavement
with the granular filter layer always remain below that of the pave-
ment with dense-graded asphalt filter layer. However, both pave- are shown in Figs. 9 and 10. These results are consistent with the
ments successfully drain the excess moisture from the system at subgrade saturation results, in that the degree of saturation for
the end of the rainfall event. all pavement layers appears to be lower for Models 1 and 3 than
Additionally, the final drainage time was extended to help eval- for Models 2 and 4. The results also confirm that by removing a
uate the effect of edge drains. The resulting degrees of subgrade drainage layer the whole pavements may remain fully saturated
saturation were determined and compared for Models 2 and 4, as during all the raining steps, and moistures are held for a more
shown in Fig. 8. The results indicate that subgrades in both pave- extended period. Accordingly, at the end of 51 h draining step,
ments without a drainage layer become fully saturated immedi- the saturation of the base layer in the section without both drai-
ately following the initiation of the rainfall and tend to stay near nage layer and edge drain reduces to 97% while it can reach
full saturation for a long period of time. However, the pavement approximately to 72% when drainage layer is included. Similarly,
with no drainage layer, but with an edge drain begins to lose mois- for the top surface layer in Models 1–3, for the pavements with a
ture sooner (around 168 h after rainfall initiation) than does the drainage layer, develops approximately 80% of saturation after
similar pavement section without an edge drain (around 286 h the 51 h draining while the value of saturation increases to 85%
after rainfall initiation). This phenomenon likely represents the and 87% for the model 2 and 4, for the pavements without a drai-
effectiveness of the edge drains in flexible pavements that do not nage layer respectively. It is therefore concluded that the currently
contain drainage layers. designed drainage layer and edge drain systems do effectively
Moreover, the degree of saturation in the various pavement lay- lower the moisture content throughout the pavement and sub-
ers at the end of each step of rainfall event (6 h raining, 9 h drain- grade, an effect that should produce increased pavement life. This
ing, 2 h raining, 51 h draining, and 300 h draining), for all Models conclusion is consistent with the findings of Hassan and White [7].
106 M.S.M. Ghavami et al. / Construction and Building Materials 218 (2019) 99–107
Model 1: Drainage layer, edge drain,
dense-graded asphalt filter
1
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0 0
Fig. 9. Layers saturation results for Models 1 and 3, pavements with a drainage layer.
Fig. 10. Layers saturation results for Models 2 and 4, pavements without a drainage layer.
Finally, by comparing Model 1 and 3, it can be seen that by
replacing a dense graded asphalt mixture with the #53 granular
material in a filter layer, the overall amount of moisture through-
out the pavement section is reduced in every step of the rainfall
event. This shows the better performance of the granular filter
layer.
7. Summary and conclusion
The objectives of the study were to evaluate the effectiveness of
the flexible pavement drainage system based on the current spec-
ification (Superpave mixture design) as used by INDOT, and to then
determine if such systems are necessary for current flexible pave-
ment cross-sections, given contemporary materials and construc-
tion specifications. This objective was addressed by first
determining the hydraulic properties of the asphalt mixture sam-
ples in the laboratory, including saturated permeability and water
characteristic curves. These properties were then used in finite ele-
ment modeling of flexible pavement sections with and without
drainage layers.
The results of the finite element analyses suggest that even with
improvements in materials and construction methods, the pave-
ment drainage layer based on current flexible pavement specifica-
tion (Superpave) serves to more effectively reduce moisture
Model 3: Drainage layer, edge drain, #53
1 granular filter
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
contents in the subgrade than do flexible pavements without such
a layer, thus providing improved moisture protection to pavement
systems. Additionally, the use of a dense-graded granular filter
layer beneath the open-graded drainage layer more effectively pre-
vents the pavement subgrade from reaching fully saturated levels
than does a dense-graded asphalt filter layer. Therefore, in areas
with a higher rainfall or high water tables, the use of a dense-
graded granular filter layer is recommended. Finally, results indi-
cate the positive effect of using edge drains in flexible pavements,
especially when no drainage layer is included in the pavement.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors confirm that there are no known conflicts of interest
associated with this publication and there has been no significant
financial support for this work that could have influenced its
outcome.
Acknowledgments
This research work was supported by the Indiana Department
of Transportation (INDOT) and Joint Transportation Research Pro-
gram (JTRP). The contents of this paper reflect the views of the
authors, who are responsible for the facts and the accuracy of the
 M.S.M. Ghavami et al. / Construction and Building Materials 218 (2019) 99–107
data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the
official views or policies of the sponsors. These contents do not
constitute a standard, specification, or regulation.
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