The ASCE Port and Intermodal Yard Pavement Design Guide

Mark Smallridge1 and Ashebir Jacob2

1
President, Nigel Nixon and Partners, Inc., 3308 Preston Road, #350-225, Plano, Texas 75093,
Telephone 972 624 8817, Fax 972 624 8818, e-mail nnpimark@cs.com, (Member ASCE)
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA on 09/29/15. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

2
Senior Civil Planner, Moffatt and Nichol Engineers, 320 Golden Shore, Suite 300, Long Beach,
California 90802, Telephone 562 590 6500, Fax 562 590 6512, e-mail
ajacob@moffattnichol.com, (Member ASCE)

Abstract

The ASCE Ports and Harbors Committee has embarked upon the development of a pavement design
guide tailored for the intensive loading conditions encountered in container terminals and intermodal
yards. The guide is intended to provide a comprehensive reference of alternative design procedures
and material options available to the engineer undertaking the design of the pavements for such a
facility. This paper will present a synopsis of the design guide, including the rational for the
application of existing tools available to the user.

The paper will include a description of the sections in the guide. These include container handling
equipment and operations, flexible pavement design, rigid pavement design and subgrade
improvement. The section on container handling equipment and terminal operations will discuss
the various types of equipment and their mode of operation, including the development of the design
wheel load and determination of the design repetitions. It will clarify the position that the maximum
wheel load is rarely appropriate for design, as it hardly ever occurs in practice. The section on
flexible pavements will describe the use of layered elastic design methods and provide a description
of potential materials and their properties. The rigid pavement section will be similar, but considers
finite element design techniques. Both of these sections will include details of the response of the
materials to the imposed loadings and other operational factors. In addition to providing default
values for the elastic properties of materials, guidance will be given for more project specific
determination. The final section on subgrade improvement will describe shallow modification of
subgrade and fill materials for use in the lower layers of the pavement structure, and describe deep-
seated improvement as it affects the performance of the pavements.

The guide will be targeted at a United States audience, but with an international appeal. It will
concentrate on recent practice in the United States, but will also include pavement systems that have
not been used extensively in US applications, although they have found success elsewhere. It will
draw on the expertise of a panel of eminently qualified pavement engineers, with national and
international experience. Contributors include representatives from consultants, academia and trade
organizations, as well as equipment manufacturers and port authorities. As such, the guide will
enable the pavement designer to develop a number of appropriate solutions for economic analysis,
with the confidence that they have a proven track record.

Copyright ASCE 2004 Ports 2001

Ports '01
 Background

Each designer undertakes the design of port and intermodal yard pavements in various ways. For
many, this involves extrapolation of highway design methods, and the conversion of the
container handling equipment’s wheel loads into an equivalent number of standard axles (8,100
kg) or a Traffic Index. This analogy is flawed in that the heavier and slower moving wheel loads
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA on 09/29/15. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

affect the materials in a different manner, and to a deeper level. Others use airport design charts
or the design methods produced by trade associations such as the Portland Cement Association
and the Asphalt Institute. These methods consider the heavy wheel loads, but involve limited
options for comparison of different pavement sections.

Over the last twenty years pavement analysis software has become available for both rigid and
flexible pavement design, which can consider a wide range of pavement materials and
thicknesses. These generally associate layered elastic analysis for flexible pavements and finite
element analysis for rigid pavements. The ASCE design guide will be prepared around the use of
these techniques, and will provide comparison with the other design methods outlined above,
except for the extrapolation of highway designs, as this method is considered inappropriate. It is
the intention of the ASCE Ports and Harbors Committee that this document will provide a
common practice for design that is based upon the experience of pavement engineers from all
branches of the industry. However, it is not the intention that the guide will be a substitute the
appropriate experience necessary to undertake such designs. A sound understanding of terminal
operations and pavement material performance is considered essential in the development of
appropriate design options.

Terminal Operations

Each operational area within a container terminal or intermodal yard may be subjected to a particular
trafficking regime. This is dependent upon the method of handling the containers or chassis that is
selected by the facility operator. There are several different methods available, and selection may
be based upon the speed of handling the containers, the land available for storage, the nature of the
cargo or upon other factors. At lower throughput rates or where dwell times are limited, and where
sufficient land is available, the containers will generally be stored on chassis that are parked in the
storage area. In an intermodal yard, trailers are also stored in this manner. When throughput is
higher, or dwell times are longer, and land is more restricted, containers will be stored on the ground
in stacks. Typically, as the throughput of a facility increases, the operation will change from being
predominantly wheeled to substantially grounded.

The ASCE manual will describe each of these areas in detail and provide guidance on determination
of the number of passes of each type of vehicle. Factors involved in these calculations include the
throughput of the terminal, the type of operation, the dwell time of the containers and chassis. The
stowage configurations, traffic routing and the widths of drive lanes also affect the number of
repetitions.

Copyright ASCE 2004 Ports 2001

Ports '01
 Wheeled Operations: When containers are maintained on chassis, or when the cargo is transported
in trailers, the operations are known as “wheeled”. Trailers are permanently fixed to their chassis,
and although they are frequently transported on rail cars, they are rarely used for long haul marine
journeys. Wheeled operations involve coupling to, and towing the containers on chassis or trailers
using highway tractor units or yard tractor units. The latter are frequently known as hostlers, and
have a hydraulic coupling device and one rear axle such that they are not road legal. Typical layouts
include parking the chassis in stalls, perpendicular to an access aisle.
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA on 09/29/15. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

Grounded Operations: This mode of operation applies to containers that are separated from their
chassis, unlike trailers that are permanently fixed. The containers are stored on the ground and are
stacked on top of each other to optimize the capacity of the yard. There are several items of
specialized equipment available for lifting the containers between the chassis and the stacks. The
containers may be stored in rows or blocks dependent on the type of container handling equipment
used at the facility. Typical stacking heights vary between two and five containers high, although
empty containers can be stacked considerably higher.

Intermodal Operations: This term generally refers to the transfer of containers and trailers between
rail and marine or road transportation. There are several items of specialized lifting equipment to
transfer the containers and trailers between the rail cars and the ground, and these can also be used
for handling the containers between the rail cars and chassis.

Gate Operations: All facilities will require a gate facility ranging from a guard booth to multiple
gate complexes with computerized communications and record keeping. These areas are generally
only trafficked by highway tractor units and trailers or containers on chassis.

Container and Trailer Handling Equipment

There are many different types of container and trailer handling equipment, manufactured by a large
number of companies. Some of this equipment operates by spanning the transfer area, be it rail
tracks and drive lanes, container stacks and drive lanes, or simply the chassis. These items include
rail mounted gantry cranes, rubber tired gantry cranes and straddle carriers. Other equipment
operates in a cantilever fashion, lifting from the side or the end of the container. These items include
top-picks and reach stackers. In addition, there are several types of tractor unit and chassis systems
specifically developed for non-highway use. Hostlers, extendable chassis, bombcarts, roll-trailers
and cassettes are typical examples.

In order to undertake the design of a pavement it is important to have information on the type of
equipment that will operate in the area. If the exact manufacturer and model number is not available,
then the heaviest item of equipment with the intended capacity should be used. Specification
information should be obtained from the manufacturers. This should include details of the number
and spacing of wheels (front & rear); the tire and/or ground contact pressures; the load center and
center of gravity, machine weight and wheel loads, both laden and unladen; and the lifting capacity.
Some manufacturers have this data readily available, but for others, it may be necessary to substitute

Copyright ASCE 2004 Ports 2001

Ports '01
 data from a similar machine. To assist in this process the ASCE guide will provide tables where
typical values are established, that may be used if more accurate data is not available.

Once this information has been obtained it will be possible to calculate the wheel loads for a variety
of container weights. This is necessary as the maximum capacity load is a rarity, and in many cases
is sufficient to exceed highway legal loading for the trucks. The most onerous load condition, in
terms of frequency and damage caused, is generally ten to fifteen tonnes less than the handling
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA on 09/29/15. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

equipment’s maximum capacity. These container weights will include; no container; empty
containers of various types; a design container weight; and an average container weight. These will
be set out in the guide based upon typical container weights common in the United States. However,
they are not intended to replace local data if it is available. Once the spectrum of wheel loads is
established, the next step is to undertake the traffic analysis and development of the design wheel
load.

Traffic Analysis

The traffic analysis will develop the number of passes of each type of equipment. This will be based
upon the type of operation, the throughput and the dwell time. Dynamic factors will be apportioned
to the number of passes dependent upon perceived operating characteristics and pavement condition.
The analysis will determine the design wheel load that is to be used in the pavement analysis.

Pavement Analysis

The ASCE design guide does not set out to provide a specific method of analyzing the pavement
structures under consideration. The suggested methods described in this guideline are layered elastic
analysis for flexible pavements and finite element analysis for rigid pavements. There is a multitude
of computer programs available on the market today that are able to carry out these complex analysis
methods with relative ease. It is up to the designer to select the methods that are available, and to
use them with the appropriate level of engineering experience. It is important to realize that
pavement design relies considerably on the experience of the designer in selecting the appropriate
values, and the advice presented in the guideline is not intended to replace such experience.

Flexible Pavement Design: Flexible pavements can be reasonably well modeled using layered
elastic theory. It is necessary to input data on the modulus of the materials, the Poisson’s ratio and
the thickness. Each layer of material is considered to be infinite in extent so that no edge effects or
discontinuities are considered. The layers are also considered to be bonded together, but some
programs allow frictional properties to apply. The ASCE guideline will provide some guidance on
input values, as well as presenting considerations for varying some of this data to suit particular
materials or conditions. Many of the computer programs allow the effects of temperature and
freeze/thaw conditions to be included in the analysis. This enables the effect of asphalt softening
in higher temperatures and subgrade softening in wetter conditions to be considered. This is
accomplished by entering the modulus values on a seasonal basis.

Copyright ASCE 2004 Ports 2001

Ports '01
 Rigid Pavement Design: Rigid pavements can be designed either by applying factors to the values
developed from layered elastic analysis to reflect corner and edge conditions, or by finite element
analysis. The latter methodology also allows for inclusion of load transfer at the joints and the
effects of stresses developed during curing of the concrete and thermal stresses.

When the analysis has been undertaken it will have developed a range of stress and strain values at
different points within the pavement structure. For flexible pavements, critical values occur at the
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA on 09/29/15. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

top of the subgrade and the bottom of any bound layer. The strains at the top of softer underlying
layers may also need to be verified. These values are compared with limiting values for the different
materials. For rigid pavements the critical values are the limiting stress at the top surface of
concrete.

Materials

Asphalt Concrete: The most common material used in surfacing port pavements in the United
States is asphalt concrete. It is used as a surfacing material over another material that serves as a
base and also for full-depth pavement construction. It has gained this position by being an
economical material that has provided good service under the traffic experienced in industrial
situations. Milling and overlaying have proven successful procedures for extending the pavements
serviceability life. Typically pavement design lives are fifteen or twenty years with resurfacing often
occurring after ten years.

Asphalt concrete comprises a mixture of asphalt cement and aggregates. Conventional highway
mixtures have performed well in the past with the exception of surface performance. The quality
of the constituent materials, their gradations and proportions can greatly affect the properties of the
installed pavement course. Frequently, other materials are added in small percentages to enhance
the performance of the asphalt concrete. These include polymers and natural asphalts. Alternatively,
different gradations are used to provide a stronger skeleton to the mixture, as is the case with stone
matrix asphalt.

For port and intermodal pavements the properties of all these materials is of great importance, owing
to the high contact pressures, high wheel loads and the slow maneuvering characteristics of the
container and trailer handling equipment. Container corner castings and chassis and trailer legs
apply exceptional contact stresses that can lead to indentation and local disintegration of the asphalt
concrete. Rutting is also a common problem under highly channelized operations. For many new
port pavements, enhancements are frequently being made to the asphalt concrete mixtures and
materials to produce better performance.

The ASCE guide will describe the asphalt concrete materials, mixture design and manufacturing
methods and construction considerations. It will outline the requirements for an adequate quality
control plan. The material properties that relate to design will also be presented, along with details
of how they are affected by environmental conditions. Failure modes will be described and the
process of calculating the limiting values of tensile strain will be presented. It will also provide brief
details of successful projects and design examples.

Copyright ASCE 2004 Ports 2001

Ports '01
 Concrete Pavers: Interlocking precast concrete pavers have been used for pavements in the port and
railroad industry for more than twenty years, but predominantly away from the United States. Over
the course of the last five years, their acceptance has greatly increased following successful port
pavement projects in Oakland, New Orleans and Tampa among several. Their use in intermodal
yards is still limited, however. The installation process is mechanized with the sand screeded using
asphalt paving machines, and the pavers laid by machine in clusters approximately 0.8 m2 at a time.
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA on 09/29/15. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

Concrete pavers are manufactured in a factory, allowing high standards of quality control to be
achieved. They are made using semi-dry concrete that is compacted under pressure and vibration
to form the pavers. Compressive strengths are required to be a minimum of 50 MPa and water
absorption is required to be no greater than 5 percent. As such, they provide a durable frost resistant
surface course. The pavers have traditionally been manufactured with a modular size of 100 mm by
200 mm and are either 80 mm or 100 mm thick. In recent years there has been a trend to add
additional 100 mm by 100 mm modules to form “L”, “T” and “X” shapes.

The pavers are installed onto a 25 mm (1”) thick sand bed that wedges into the joints between the
pavers when the surface is vibrated. This provides a high degree of load transfer so that the pavers
perform as a composite layer rather than as a collection of individual units. Pavers can develop load
spreading properties that are equal or greater than an equivalent thickness of asphalt concrete. The
pavers are laid in a herringbone pattern in a manner that avoids continuous alignment of the joints
so that horizontal loads are distributed throughout the pavement. The quality of the sand is of great
concern if a durable pavement is to be achieved. The gradation and hardness of the particles must
be adequate to form a compact layer that is not affected by moisture, or attrition over the pavement
life.

The guide will provide detailed information in regard to the material and construction requirements
for paver installations. Typical input values for material properties will be presented, but the failure
parameters are not determined in a numerical fashion.

Base Materials: Asphalt concrete and concrete pavers are frequently used as the surface course over
the top of other structural pavement materials. These base materials can be bound with some form
of cementing agent, or they can be in an unbound condition. Portland cement and asphalt cement
are typical binding agents. Unbound aggregates can include virgin aggregates and recycled
materials. They are frequently reinforced with geosynthetic materials.

The guide will provide comprehensive coverage of the various materials, their production and
construction methods. The material properties that relate to design will also be presented, along with
details of how they are affected by environmental conditions. Failure modes will be described and
the process of calculating the limiting values of tensile or compressive strain will be presented.

Portland Cement Concrete: Portland cement concrete pavements are used in many intermodal yards
and at several ports. The surface is capable of withstanding the high wheel loads and contact stresses
that are imposed in these environments. Several forms of pavement are adopted, dependent on local

Copyright ASCE 2004 Ports 2001

Ports '01
 practice. These include jointed plain concrete pavement, jointed reinforced concrete pavement and
continuously reinforced concrete pavement. Joints may have load transfer devices, or may rely on
aggregate interlock dependent upon the type of pavement used.

Portland cement concrete is a mixture of portland cement, aggregates and water. Additives may be
used as partial cement replacement and for handling enhancements. The ASCE guide will describe
the materials, mixture design and production methods for the portland cement concrete. It will also
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA on 09/29/15. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

cover reinforcing material, joint devices and curing compounds. The guide will also outline
construction details and other considerations for its placement. It will describe the requirements for
an adequate quality control plan. The material properties that relate to design will also be presented,
along with details of how they are affected by environmental conditions. Failure modes will be
described and the process of calculating the limiting stress values will be presented. It will also
provide brief details of successful projects and design examples.

Roller Compacted Concrete: Roller compacted concrete is a semi dry portland cement concrete that
is placed using asphalt paving machines and rollers. There is no reinforcement used in the pavement
course. It has been used successfully for many years in the logging industry to provide durable
pavements. There have also been several port and military projects constructed in the United States.

The material property requirements are very similar to those for portland cement concrete, but
construction methods have more in common with those used for asphalt concrete placement.
Compaction is of vital importance in producing a durable pavement course. The ASCE guide will
describe the material properties, the mix design methods, and the manufacture and placement of the
material. It will also cover the methods of dealing with curing shrinkage, thermal movement and
freeze and thaw conditions.

Subgrade Investigation

It is very common for the subgrade properties to be unavailable at an early stage in the design, as
filling operations at the site may not have been completed. However, this should not be a reason for
not undertaking sufficient investigation and testing. The testing costs only represent a very small
percentage of the pavement cost.

Fieldwork can include regular spacing of borings, either at the terminal location or on the fill
material at its present site. Test pits and cone penetration tests carried out after filling can provide
widespread evaluation of subgrade properties in the top 2 m of the subgrade. Non-destructive testing
and plate bearing tests can also be used in areas where the ground is already at grade.

Laboratory work can include several test procedures to determine strength properties and material
characterization. R-value tests, Texas triaxial tests, resilient modulus tests and Atterberg limits may
be carried out on the samples recovered. Three point CBR testing and Proctor density testing may
be the most valuable data to predict the properties of the soils at their final in place density. In
addition, these values can be readily verified in the field as construction of the pavement proceeds.

Copyright ASCE 2004 Ports 2001

Ports '01
 Shallow Subgrade Improvements

Subgrade failure is a primary concern of the pavement designer. The properties of the subgrade materials
will have been established and the design will limit the stresses and strains in the subgrade to allowable
values. In many situations the site will be rough graded and the top of the subgrade will be compacted to
a target relative density. The design will be based upon the subgrade properties at this relative density.
However, there are many economical methods of providing additional enhancements to the upper layers
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA on 09/29/15. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

of the subgrade so as to improve construction quality of the pavement and to provide some economy in the
actual pavement section. These methods can also be of great benefit in expediting construction, if they
enable the contractor to achieve greater access and less deterioration of the subgrade. It may also be
appropriate to improve soils with a swelling or frost susceptibility problem. The guide will discuss several
of these methods and provide a rational for their use.

The strength properties of soils improve with increasing density. It is therefore important that an appropriate
relative density of the soil is achieved within the zone of influence of the wheel loads of the terminal
equipment. This can be up to 2 m below the pavement. Subgrade stresses/strains reduce with depth, and
the limiting condition is generally at the top of the subgrade. Where the subgrade has a low relative density,
as is the case with many fill situations, this location may change if the underlying conditions are not
adequately improved. The designer must therefore determine the potential for improving the compaction
of the subgrade at the affected depths, or must undertake the design to protect against failure in these lower
level materials. Improving the properties of the top of the subgrade is one way of achieving this. Various
rolling methods are available to densify the near surface materials.

The moisture content of the soils has a large effect on their strength properties. Generally, the wetter a soil
is, the lower its strength will be. The strength properties of soils are typically determined at saturation. In
service, equilibrium moisture content will establish under the pavement, which may be slightly lower. For
most port pavements the groundwater table is at a similar elevation to that at the berth. However, for the
rare occasions where there is high groundwater table or some other source of excess moisture in the
subgrade affected by the wheel loads, it is prudent to consider a sub-surface drainage system.

The selection of the appropriate method of improvement will depend upon the nature of the soils to be
improved, the locally available materials and the locally available expertise. On some occasions it may be
appropriate to utilize materials and experience that are not available locally, and the guide provides a
background for each general methodology. These fall into two main categories, which are additives to
improve material handling and strength properties and reinforcing elements to confine or maintain the
materials in good condition.

Additives: There are many additives that can be mixed with the soils to gain an improvement in their
properties. These include the traditional options of cement, lime, asphalt emulsions and calcium chloride.
There are also several new products that do not yet have a long term performance history. These include
organic and polymer modifiers that are blended with the soils. The guide will cover the traditional additives
in detail, with some limited discussion of the new products.

Copyright ASCE 2004 Ports 2001

Ports '01
 Cement has been used to improve soils for over 50 years. Soil cement can include the addition of low
quantities of cement to improve the handling characteristics of a soil, or slightly higher percentages to
improve the strength. In the latter case the material will be analyzed in the laboratory to develop an
appropriate cement content. Dependent upon the soil type, cement addition of 3 to 5 percent can achieve
compressive strengths of 300 psi and above at seven days. The cement is added to moist soil in a
powdered or slurry form, and is mixed in place and compacted. Mixing depths as great as 300 mm can
be achieved. A cure coat is applied and the surface can be trafficked the following day
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA on 09/29/15. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

Lime has also been in use for many years to provide a working platform and/or sub-base layer. It is
predominantly used with plastic materials having a Plasticity Index above 10. It is spread and mixed in a
similar manner to the cement option, but an additional mixing process is undertaken one to two days later,
immediately before compaction. Dependent upon the soil type, lime addition of 3 to 5 percent can achieve
compressive strengths of 200 psi and above at seven days. Stabilization using liquid asphalt emulsion can
also be undertaken, and has the benefit of producing a low permeability layer on top of the subgrade.

Geosynthetics: Geosynthetics include geotextiles and geogrids, which are supplied in rolls. Geotextiles
are sheets of polymer fabrics that are woven, knitted or spun bonded. Geogrids include woven or stretched
polymer sheets, with openings of approximately 25 mm. A third system that is less commonly used is a
geocells product that comprises a series of pockets when the material is stretched out.

Geotextiles are used to provide separation and reinforcing functions in a pavement structure. They can
maintain the quality of a granular layer by preventing the intrusion of subgrade materials into it. They can
also be used to enhance the strength of the subgrade or sub-base during construction, but they do not
contribute significantly to the strength of the pavement. Geogrids are used to reinforce the overlying
material. They function by interlocking with the soil or aggregate particles so that a confining action
develops, preventing lateral displacement. This action makes a contribution to load distribution, so that it
increases the strength of the pavement.

Deep Soil Improvement

Ports have historically been developed at locations that have provided deep water access and sheltered
moorings, close to the shore line. As a result many ports were developed in river estuaries and bays where
ground conditions were marginal. The growth of many ports has been seawards, towards the deeper water.
The ease of maintaining channel access, as ships’ drafts have increased, was also a factor in the growth of
a port, and much of the dredged material was considered as an economic fill material. Many ports have
several terminals located on reclaimed land, where the depth of fill can be significant, and the underlying soils
are geologically young. In many cases the fill is loose or soft, having been placed with high water contents.
Consolidation of these materials can lead to considerable settlement. The guideline will describe a number
of different approaches that are used to undertake deep-seated improvement of these fill materials and other
unsatisfactory subgrades. While the planned effects of these treatments may not be to improve the
properties of the subgrade for the pavement design, they do affect the selection of pavement system and
some of the input values that are selected by the designer. Deep soil improvement is most commonly

Copyright ASCE 2004 Ports 2001

Ports '01
 adopted to reduce the potential for later consolidation settlement or earthquake susceptibility, and these
aspects will not be covered in the guide.

One of the most common deep soil improvement techniques is that of pre-consolidating the soils so that
settlement can be achieved prior to undertaking the site development. This process squeezes the water out
of the interstices of the soil and packs the particles more closely together. The resulting densification has
the effect of improving the strength properties of the soils. It is achieved by stockpiling soil or other
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA on 09/29/15. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

materials uniformly over the site so that the imposed loading is greater than that that will exist in service.
This accelerates the early consolidation so that the majority of the predicted settlement has occurred prior
to opening the terminal. The consolidation is instrumented and carefully monitored so that removal of the
surcharge can be undertaken at the appropriate time. The process can take many months or even years to
complete. Where soils have low permeability, consolidation is assisted by installing vertical drains or by
carrying out electro-osmosis or vacuum moisture extraction techniques. The general consequence to the
pavement design is a denser near surface subgrade that has higher strength properties than determined
during the geotechnical investigation.

Where the long duration of surcharging is unacceptable degree, other methods are frequently adopted.
Several vibratory techniques are available to increase the density of the soils. Vibro-flotation and vibro-
displacement are two of the more common names for a range of treatments where a large vibratory devise,
known as a vibroflot, is worked vertically into the soils and the hole is backfilled with a granular material
as it is withdrawn. This has the effect of densifying the soil laterally and/or providing a series of stiff elements
within the soil that help to transmit the load to lower levels. So that the pavement section is able to
accommodate this without any undue distortion, it is common practice to terminate the columns at a certain
depth below the bottom of the pavement structure and to have a capping layer over the treated area.

Other effective methods of densifying the soils include dynamic compaction where a heavy weight is
dropped in a predetermined sequence to impart high levels of energy into the soils. This rearranges the soil
particles and drives out the moisture. Weights were originally cubes of concrete or similar objects, but more
recently specially shaped weights are manufactures on site. With these most recent developments in the
process, the generation of shock waves is controlled to focus the energy and to prevent disturbing adjacent
property. The process often involves two or more passes over the site. The resulting craters left in the
surface are filled with granular material after each treatment. It is important that the spaces between the
craters are addressed so that softer soils are not used under the pavement.

Conclusion

The guide is intended to provide a comprehensive document on the design of port and intermodal
pavements. Work is ongoing on the preparation of the document, but publication is not envisaged until early
2002.

10

Copyright ASCE 2004 Ports 2001

Ports '01