SURFACES

Surfaces provide support for vehicles travelling on transportation facilities Roadway surface types include treated soil, gravel or other aggregate surfaces, and asphalt concrete and portland cement concrete pavements

CE 421 - Transportation Engineering

Pavements
Is the material laid over the base coarse consisting of Asphalt Concrete or Portland Cement Concrete Usually consist of a surface course (of asphalt concrete or Portland cement concrete), a base course and a sub base constructed on top of prepared sub grade material. Serve structural, functional, and safety purposes Are necessary not only for roadways but also for parking lots, airports, industrial sites, ports and so forth. Structural performance of a pavement is aimed at distributing the loads under the wheels of vehicles over larger areas to prevent stressing, beyond its load-bearing capacity, the native soil (sub grade) on which the pavement system is constructed.

CE 421 - Transportation Engineering

The load at the interface between the wheel and the pavement surface is applied over a relatively small area, causing high stresses at that point, but these stresses decrease with depth as the load is spread over larger areas.

Surface Layer (Pavement) Base Subbase Subgrade (roadbed)

CE 421 - Transportation Engineering

The primary functions of a pavement are to:

a. PROVIDE A REASONABLY SMOOTH RIDING SURFACE: A smooth riding surface (Low Roughness) is essential for riding comfort, and over the years it has become the measure of how road users perceive a road. - Roughness can arise from a number of causes, most often however it is from pavement distress due to structural deformation PROVIDE ADEQUATE SURFACE FRICTION (SKID RESISTANCE): In addition to a riding comfort, the other road user requirement is that of safety. Safety, especially during wet conditions can be linked to a loss of surface friction between the tire and the pavement surface. A pavement must therefore provide sufficient surface friction and texture to ensure road user safety under all conditions.

b.

CE 421 - Transportation Engineering

The primary functions of a pavement are to:

c. PROTECT THE SUBGRADE: subgrade, should it be over-stressed by the applied axle loads it will deform and lose its ability to properly support these axle loads. Therefore, the pavement must have sufficient structural capacity (strength and thickness) to adequately reduce the actual stresses so that they do not exceed the strength of the subgrade. PROVIDE WATERPROOFING: The pavement surfacing acts as a waterproofing surface that prevent the underlaying support layers including the subgrade from becoming saturated through moisture ingress. When saturated, soil loses its ability to adequately support the applied axle loads, which will lead to premature failure of the pavement.

d.

CE 421 - Transportation Engineering

Highway Pavements
Asphalt Concrete Pavement
Asphalt cement and aggregate Usually refers to a high quality premixed material used in paving high-type roadways. Are flexible pavements which reflect the deformation of subgrade and the subsequent layers to the surface. Is usually constructed of bituminous materials such that they remain in contact with the underlying material even when minor irregularities occur.

Portland Cement Concrete

Consists of Portland cement and aggregate, usually sand and gravel or crushed stone. May either be unreinforced or continuously reinforced with conventional rebar. Rigid characteristic of the pavement are associated with rigidity or flexural strength or slab action so the load is distributed over a wide area of subgrade soil. Is usually constructed such that it acts like a beam over any irregularities in the underlying supporting material.
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CE 421 - Transportation Engineering

Both types of pavement tend to deform under the applied loads

CE 421 - Transportation Engineering

Highway Pavements
Components: 1. Surface Courses usually consist of asphalt or Portland cement concrete 2. Base Courses consist of aggregates such as gravel and crushed rock - may be simply compacted or stabilized by means of lime, portland cement or asphalt.

Stabilization the process of treating soils to improve their engineering properties

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CE 421 - Transportation Engineering

Highway Pavements
Components: 3. Subbases usually local aggregate materials - either unstabilized compacted aggregate or stabilized materials. 4. Subgrade prepared road bed - natural material located along the horizontal alignment of the pavement

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Design of Pavements
Mix Design Refers to the proportioning of the materials in the asphalt concrete or Portland Cement concrete used for pavement Materials specifications and the test procedures used to define the mix design Structural Design
Refers to determination of the types and thickness of the various layers. Goal is to specify the most economical pavement which will perform satisfactorily over some predetermined design life Design considerations include traffic loads, the effects of environmental conditions such as temperature and moisture, an evaluation of the load-bearing capacity of the subgrade material, and the availability of materials.

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Failure Mechanism
Asphalt Pavements
Plastic Deformation or Rutting material from under the wheel paths is displaced to the side by the load Treated as multilayer structures, in which the function of each layer is to spread the load so as to stay within the bearing capacity of the next lowest layer

CE 421 - Transportation Engineering

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Failure Mechanism
Portland Cement Pavement Fatigue caused by repetitions of a significant load pavements are considered to be rigid, so that the slab rebounds after deflections due to the load

CE 421 - Transportation Engineering

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Failure Mechanism
Pumping
Failure mechanism for both types of pavement Fine materials in a saturated base form a slurry with the water in the base. As wheel loads pass over the pavement, some of this slurry is force out through cracks in the surface of the pavement, some of this slurry is forced out through cracks in the surface of the pavement repeated application of wheel loads eventually pump out enough material to undermine the support of the pavement surface, leading to more cracking and progressive failure
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Types of Distress or Failure in Asphalt Concrete Pavements

Alligator Cracking
A series of interconnected or interlaced cracks caused by fatigue failure of the asphalt concrete surface under repeated traffic loading

Block Cracking
Cracks forming large interconnected polygons usually with sharp corners or angles Generally caused by hardening and shrinkage of the asphalt
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Types of Distress or Failure in Asphalt Concrete Pavements

Transverse Cracking
Cracks approximately at right angles to the pavement centerline. These may be caused by shrinkage or differential thermal stress of the asphalt concrete.

Longitudinal Cracking
Cracks approximately parallel to the pavement centerline Caused by poorly constructed construction joints and shrinkage of the asphalt concrete surfaces
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Types of Distress or Failure in Asphalt Concrete Pavements

Raveling
Wearing away of the pavement surface caused by the dislodging of aggregate particles and binder Result of insufficient asphalt binder in the mix or stripping of asphalt from particles of aggregates

Drip Track Raveling

Progressive disintegration of the surface between the wheel paths caused by dripping of gasoline or oil from vehicles
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Types of Distress or Failure in Asphalt Concrete Pavements

Bleeding or Flushing
The exuding of bitumen onto the pavement surface, causing a reduction in skid resistance Generally caused by excessive amount of asphalt in the mix

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Types of Distress or Failure in Portland Cement Concrete (PCC)

Faulting
Elevation differences between adjacent slabs at transverse joints Usually the result of pumping and is a major source of PCC failure

Settlement
Local sagging in the pavement caused by differential settlement, consolidation, or movement of the underlying earth mass
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Types of Distress or Failure in Portland Cement Concrete (PCC)

Blowups
Localized upward buckling and shattering of the slabs at transverse joints or cracks, often accompanied by shattering of the concrete in that area

Joint or Crack Spalling

The breakdown or disintegration of slab edges at joints or cracks, usually resulting in the loss of sound concrete and the progressive widening of the joint or crack
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Types of Distress or Failure in Portland Cement Concrete (PCC)

Surface Attrition or surface abrasion

Abnormal surface wear, usually resulting from poorquality surface mortar or coarse aggregate Surface Polish Loss of the original surface texture due to traffic action

CE 421 - Transportation Engineering

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