• WBM – Water Bound Macadam

• Definition – Water bound macadam base refers to the pavement base

course made of crushed or broken aggregates mechanically interlocked
by rolling and the voids filled by screenings and binding material with
the help of water.
• Thickness range : 8cm to 30 cm
• Surface is better than earthen road but rough compared to bituminous
and concrete roads
• WBM can be used as base course or sub-base course and even surface
course for low volume roads
MATERIALS

The materials used in WBM construction consist of;

1. Coarse aggregates
2. Screenings
3. Binding materials
1. COARSE AGGREGATES

• Consists of crushed aggregates or broken stones

• Crushable materials or soft aggregates (such as over burnt or Jhama
brick, kankar and laterite) may only be used in the lower layer
• Crushed slag which is obtained from blast furnace (with density >122
kg/m^3 ) can also be used for lower layer
IRC specification for physical requirements of coarse aggregates ;
• For sub-base course - AVV < 50 % or AIV < 40 %
• For base course - AAV < 40 % or AIV < 30 %
• For surfacing course - AVV < 40 % or Flakiness index < 15 %

Depending on the thickness of WBM layer , different size and grade of

coarse aggregates are required for WBM construction.
• Grading 1 – sub-base course only
• Grading 2 and grading 3 – either in sub-base or base course
• Grading 3 can also be used as a surface course of low-volume roads
2. SCREENINGS

• Used to fill up the voids in the compacted layer of coarse aggregates

• Consist of same constituents as the coarse aggregates, but of smaller
size
• Are classified as Type-A and Type-B
- Type-A – used with grading 1
- Type-B – used with grading 3
- For grading 2, either Type-A or Type-B can be used
# No need to use screening in case of crushable type of coarse aggregates
3. BINDING MATERIALS

• are the materials which are laid after the compaction of coarse
aggregates and screenings
• Consist of fine grained materials passing 0.425 mm sieve
• For surface course plasticity index value of 4 - 8 is used
• For base and sub-base course or if WBM is provided with bituminous
surfacing – plasticity index value < 6.0

# If screenings used consist of crushable material, no use of binding

material unless plasticity index is so low (i.e. >4 )
QUANTITY OF MATERIALS REQUIRED
CONSTRUCTION STEPS FOR WBM

1. Preparation of foundation for WBM road

2. Provision foe lateral confinement
3. Spreading of coarse aggregates
4. Rolling operation
5. Application of screenings
6. Sprinkling of water and grouting
7. Application of binding materials
8. Setting and drying of surface
9. Preparation of shoulders
10. Open for traffic
RECTIFICATION OF DEFECTS

• Surface evenness of longitudinal direction , i.e. longitudinal profile is

checked by a 3.0m straight edge at the middle of each traffic lane
• Transverse profile shall be checked with a series of three camber
templates at interval of 10 m
• Where the surface irregularity exceeds the specified limits, the
defective area is scarified, reshaped with additional materials as
required and re-compacted properly
ADVANTAGES OF WBM ROAD

• The initial construction cost of WBM road is low

• No skilled labors are required for construction of WBM
• They can be constructed from locally available materials
DISADVANTAGES OF WBM ROAD

• The overall life span of WBM roads is very short

• WBM road surface become unserviceable during monsoon season
• This road surface gets destroyed rapidly under mixed traffic condition
• WBM provides inferior riding surface compared to bituminous and
cement concrete road
• The traffic capacity of WBM road is less
References;
1. Khana,S.K, Justo,C.E.G, Highway Engineering
2. IRC:19-2005

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