PAVEMENT

DISTRESSES
 Group Six
GROUP SIX

Alamai Marion 10/U/9985/PS

Buluma Melinda Nyangu 10/U/662
Babirye Ritah 10/U/9949/PSA
Ssegawa Richard Joel 10/U/9974/PSA
Buyinza Abbey 10/U/663
Angura Gabriel 10/U/9946/PSA
Ariyo Eugene 10/U/658
Kiyingi Richard Lumu 09/U/17079/PSA
Masinde Marvin 10/U/9961/PSA
Otim Gerald Innocent 10/U/684
Ssekiranda Gerald 10/U/9976/PSA

Lecturer: Mr. Kaddu David

 Introduction
 Different types of distress can occur in paved and unpaved
roads.
◦ Mainly due to: Traffic load repetitions, Temperature variation,
construction practice, aging, poor mix design, Moisture, etc.

 Two Types of distresses:

◦ Structural distresses eg. rutting, fatigue cracking, etc.
- occur when the pavement can no longer carry out
its intended function safely
◦ Functional distresses:
 - pavement can no longer carry out its intended
function without causing discomfort to the road users
 Introduction (cont’d)

 Common distresses
◦ Cracking
 Fatigue/alligator cracking, Longitudinal cracking, Transverse
cracking, Block cracking, etc

◦ Potholes
◦ Rutting
◦ Bleeding
◦ Shoving and corrugations
◦ Stripping
 A)CRACKING
 occur in both rigid and flexible pavements
 In rigid pavements
A.1) Transverse cracking
◦ Occurs in jointed rigid pavements
◦ Severity varies from hairline cracks to cracks
sufficiently wide to completely separate the slab
into two distinct pieces
 A) CRACKING (cont’d)
A.1) Transverse Cracking Cont’d
 Possible causes  Repair
◦ Failure of dowel bars ◦ Removal and
 Dowel bars fail due to replacement followed
Corrosion, by full depth patch
Misalignment
 Effects
◦ No effect for RCP, sign
of future problems for
PCP
 A) CRACKING (cont’d)
A.2) Longitudinal cracking
◦ Causes  Repair
 excessive lane widths • Removal of affected area
 longitudinal joints that and fully patching
were not saved properly
 the increase of the stress
level along the pavement
◦ Effects
 It’s a safety hazard if it
occurs in the wheel path
 A) CRACKING (cont’d)
A.3) Corner breaks
Cause Repair
◦ loss of support under ◦ Full depth patch
the corner of the slab
Effects
◦ moisture infiltration,
◦ roughness
◦ severe corner breaks
will fault, spall and
disintegrate
 A) CRACKING (cont’d)
A.4) Punch outs
Possible causes Repair
◦ Inadequate consolidation • Full depth patch
◦ can be caused by
steel corrosion
◦ inadequate amount of
steel
Effects
◦ Roughness
◦ moisture infiltration.
◦ Cracks will spall and
disintegrate.
 A) CRACKING (cont’d)
A.5) Alligator Cracking
Severity of alligator cracks
a) Low:
Cracks occur from a variety o Branched, longitudinal,
of causes including; discontinuous thin cracks are
o stresses from axle loads beginning to interconnect
otemperature changes o No spalling.

(b) Medium :
o Cracking is completely
interconnected
o > ¼ inch wide

(c) High:
o cracking is well developed.
Alligator crack on Pool road, o Spalling.
Makerere University
 A) CRACKING (cont’d)
Possible Causes
- Decrease in pavement load
supporting characteristics
- Increase in loading
- Inadequate pavement thickness

Effects
 Moisture infiltration into the sub-
base layers of the pavement.
 Roughness of the pavement surface
 Development of potholes
 A) CRACKING (cont’d)
Measurement
Method 1
Related to the length of wheel paths.
Recommended ranges for estimated extent are:
 1% to 9%
 10% to 24%
Of both wheel paths
 25 % to 49 %
 50% to 100%
Method 2
Related to the entire survey area.
 measured in square feet.
 measure and record different severity levels separately.
 If the different levels of severity cannot be divided easily, the entire
area should be rated at the highest severity level present.
 A) CRACKING (cont’d)

Repair
- Small, localized fatigue cracking indicative of a loss of
subgrade support; Patch over the repaired subgrade.

- Large fatigue cracked areas indicative of general structural

failure; Place an HMA overlay over the entire pavement
surface.
 A) CRACKING (cont’d)
A.6) Longitudinal cracking
Severity levels
Longitudinal cracks are individual
cracks that basically run parallel to
the centerline of the roadway. a) Low;
< ¼ inch in width

b) Medium;
> ¼ inch in width

Longitudinal crack in front Livingstone c) High;

hall, Makerere University
- spalling
 A) CRACKING (cont’d)
Causes
- Improper placement and compaction during construction.
- Poor joint construction or location.
- Heavy loads or high tire pressures applied in the wheel path.
- Cracks in an underlying layer that reflect up through the
pavement.
- Shrinkage of the asphalt layer.

Effects

−Cracks allow water to penetrate into the underlying layers

 A) CRACKING (cont’d)
Measurement
Method 1

The extent of longitudinal cracking is recorded as a percentage of the length

of the surveyed segment.

Recommended ranges for estimated extent are:

 1% to 99%
 100% to 199% Of length of segment

 200% or more
Method 2

The extent of longitudinal cracking is related to the entire survey area.

Longitudinal cracks are measured in linear feet.

The length and severity of each crack is recorded after identification.

 A) CRACKING (cont’d)

Repair
a) Low severity cracks (< ½ inch wide and infrequent cracks).

b) High severity cracks (> ½ inch wide and numerous cracks).

 A) CRACKING (cont’d)
A.7) Transverse (thermal) cracking
Severity levels
These cracks generally run Low;
perpendicular to the roadway centerline
• little or no spalling
and are often approximately equally
spaced. • <1/4-inch in width

Medium;
• little or no spalling
• > 1/4-inch in width.

High;
Transverse cracking • Cracks are spalled
• several randomly
spaced cracks
 A) CRACKING (cont’d)
Possible Causes
 when the temperature at the surface drops sufficiently

 by cracks in underlying pavement layers

 asphalt binder hardening

Effects
−They allow moisture infiltration
 A) CRACKING (cont’d)
Measurement of transverse cracking
Method 1

The extent of transverse cracking is quantified as a frequency of

occurrence expressed as a count per 100 feet of lane length.

Recommended ranges for estimated extent are:

 1 to 4
 5 to 9
Cracks per 100 feet
 10 or more
Method 2

The extent of transverse cracking is related to the entire survey area.

Transverse cracks are measured in linear feet.

The length and severity of each crack is recorded after identification

 A) CRACKING (cont’d)

Controlling and repair of transverse cracking

a) Low severity cracks (< ½ inch wide and infrequent cracks);

sealed with liquid asphalt or other type of sealing material

b) High severity cracks (> ½ inch wide and numerous

cracks); the pavement may have to be overlaid with
adequate thickness of HMA to resist reflective cracking
 A) CRACKING (cont’d)
A.8) Block cracking Severity levels
Low;
• 99 feet or greater.
• Less than ¼ inch

Medium;
• 55 feet to 88 feet blocks.
• Over ¼ inch

Block cracking on Pool road,

Makerere University High;
• 44 feet blocks or less.
• Spalled
 A) CRACKING (cont’d)
Causes of block cracking
 Asphalt binder hardening
 poor choice of asphalt binder in the mix design
Effects of block cracking
Allows moisture infiltration
Causes roughness of the pavement surface.
Measurement of block cracking
− The extent is assumed to be square feet or percent of length.
−Measure the size of the block and get the square feet for each severity
level
Repair of block cracking
− For low severity cracks (< ½ inch wide); seal the crack
− For High severity cracks (> ½ inch wide and cracks with raveled edges);
remove and replace the cracked pavement layer with an overlay.
 A) CRACKING (cont’d)
A.9) Reflective cracking
These occur in a flexible overlay of a pavement over an unstable base
and/or subgrade layer.
Causes
 movement of the concrete slab beneath the asphalt surface

 shrinkage cracking in the subgrade

 reflection up through the surface layers,
 transverse cracks, block cracks, longitudinal cracks or fatigue cracks in
the old HMA surface
 cracks or joints in an underlying concrete pavement.

Effects
 allow moisture infiltration into the underlying layers
 They can cause roughness in the pavement ride
 A) CRACKING (cont’d)
Prevention
 Rubblizing the concrete slab before overlaying with HMA.

 Saw cut through the HMA overlay directly over the existing joints in
the concrete
Repair
a)Low severity cracks(< ½-inch wide and infrequent cracks); a crack
sealant CRS-2 is used

b)Medium severity cracks (> ½-inch wide and higher frequency of

cracks); use crack sealant CRS-2

c) High severity cracks (> ½-inch wide and numerous cracks, severe
spalling around cracks);
− these may require partial depth repairs
− and/or removing and replacing the cracked pavement layer.
 A) CRACKING (cont’d)
A.10) Slippage cracking
Slippage cracks are crescent-shaped or Causes of slippage cracking
horse shoe-shaped cracks which have • Lack of Bond
the open end of the horse shoe pointed • Excessive Deflection

in the direction of traffic travel.

Repair of slippage cracking
• For lack of bond related slippage;
remove the surface course and
replace it.
• For deflection or fatigue related
slippage cracks, complete
pavement removal and replacement
Slippage cracking is needed.
 B) POTHOLES

Potholes are bowl-shaped holes of various sizes on the pavement surface.

Causes of potholes
I) For asphalt roads

a) Cracking of asphalt surfacing

b) Water penetration into the asphalt

c) Traffic loading Potholes filled with water

II) For Thin bituminous-surfacing seals

a) Loss of surfacing
b) Cracking
c) Poor repairs
d) Poor adhesion between base and seal
 B) POTHOLES (Cont’d)
Effects of potholes
a) Pavement roughness

b) moisture infiltration

c) Vehicle operating costs increase.

d) Travel times increase.
e) Accidents increase
Measurement of potholes.

Measuring pothole depth on pool

An illustration showing the depth of the pothole measured road, MUK
 B) POTHOLES (Cont’d)
Quantification of potholes
Showing Quantification of potholes

Defect Type and Unit of Defined Severity Level

Description Measure Low Moderate High
(a) Paved Highways
Potholes. Bowl- Number and Less than 25 mm 25 mm to 50 More than 50
shaped holes > square meters deep mm deep mm deep
150 mm
(a) Un Paved Highways
Potholes Number/100 m < 20 mm in depth 20 – 40 mm in >40 mm in
(under depth depth
straightedge)
 B) POTHOLES (Cont’d)
Corrections
quantification corrections
potholes Fewer than 10 holes/100m Patch

10 – 20 holes/100m Patch and overlay

More than 20 holes/100m Reconstruction

Preventions
 Sealing of cracks before they develop into potholes.

 Overloading control to prevent potholes caused due to traffic loading.

 Routine preventive maintenance such as timeous resealing.

 Use appropriate filling material.

 C) RUTTING
A rut is a longitudinal surface depression in the wheel path of a
pavement.

Possible Causes of Rutting

Improper mix design Rutting due to unstable HMA

 C) RUTTING (Cont’d)
 Insufficient compaction

Rutting due to densification of HMA

 Deep settlement in the subgrade

Rutting due to deep settlement in the subgrade

Measurement of Ruts

 Severity 1 h < 2 cm
 Severity 2 2 cm < h < 4 cm
 Severity 3 h > 4 cm
 C) RUTTING (Cont’d)
 Prevention

 Use of angular, rough-textured aggregates

 Use of stiffer asphalt cement.
 Proper compaction

 Repair

 investigate to determine the root cause of failure

 Slight ruts (< 1/3 inch deep) can generally be left untreated.
 Pavement with deeper ruts should be leveled and overlaid.

 Problems associated with rutting

 Ruts filled with water can cause vehicle hydroplaning.

 Rutting are hazardous
 D) BLEEDING

Causes of Bleeding
 Excessive asphalt binder in the HMA

 Excessive application of asphalt binder

 Low HMA air void content

 Increased compaction under traffic.

 The upward migration of binder from lower layers and /or too soft binder.

 Too small size of chippings for traffic consideration.

 D) BLEEDING (Cont’d)

Possible effects

Loss of skid resistance when wet which leads to higher incidences

of skid related accidents.

Severity Levels

Not applicable.

How to Measure bleeding

 Record square meters of surface area affected and record

as either existing or not existing
 D) BLEEDING (Cont’d)

shows Distress—Discoloration Loss of Texture Aggregate Obscured

Corrective measures
 Slight to moderate bleeding can be repaired by blotting with
sand or porous aggregates.

 Addition of a thin overlay for large areas will

 Removal of the offending material and replace it with a

mixture having suitably lower binder content.
E) CORRUGATIONS AND SHOVING

 Corrugations are a series of transverse ridges and valleys (or

ripples) occurring at regular intervals along the pavement.

 Shoving: is the plastic movement that results in a localized bulge

in the pavement.
shoving corrugations

Showing the formation of corrugations and shoving low severity corrugation and shoving
along pool road in MUK.
E) CORRUGATIONS AND SHOVING (Cont’d)
Causes of corrugation and shoving
 An unstable HMA layer; Excessive moisture in the sub-grade.
 Unstable underlying layers
 Defective rolling during compaction
 Poor sub-grade conditions

Severity levels
Low: Noticeable effect on ride, but no significant reduction in comfort.
Medium: Moderate ride discomfort is noticeable, driver able to maintain
vehicle control easily.
High: Vehicle vibration is severe, speed reduction is necessary for comfort
and to maintain vehicle control.
E) CORRUGATIONS AND SHOVING (Cont’d)
Mechanism for Corrugation Formation on Gravel Roads
E) CORRUGATIONS AND SHOVING (Cont’d)
 Measurement and quantification
 Corrugation is measured in square feet (square meters) of
 surface area.

 Effects of corrugations
 Roughness
 Extremely unsafe driving conditions.
 It promotes erosion
 The bouncing effect of the road

Repair of corrugations and shovings

 For small, localized areas of corrugation or shoving, remove the distorted pavement and
patch.
 For a large corrugated or shoved areas indicative of general HMA failure. Remove the
damaged pavement and overlay
E) CORRUGATIONS AND SHOVING (Cont’d)

 Causes of failure and their possible remedies

 If failure is due to weak sub-grade soil, then stabilization of sub-grade soil should be
done.
 If failure is owing to extensive moisture content, sub-surface drainage is provided to
remove the defect permanently.
 If the failure is due to improper compaction of the lower layers, then complete
reconstruction is needed to remove the defect.

 Other measures;
 In countries with soil stabilized roads

 routine preventative maintenance measures such as the use of stabilized gravel, dust
retaining agents, watering and more frequent grading can be applied.

 Corrective maintenance which involves scarifying the road surface to an appropriate

depth, pulverizing the scarified material, admixing suitable stabilizing materials (if
required), shaping to the desired crown and compacting to a dense surfacing.
 F) STRIPPING
Stripping is the loss of aggregate from the surface,
resulting in exposed binder and/or pavement. Each 10m
section of road is given a score in the range 0-4.
EXTENT

Score Area subject to stripping

0 no stripping

1 less than 5%

2 5% to 10%

3 10% to 20%

4 more than 20%

shows Stripping on Sample roads

 F) STRIPPING (Cont’d)

 Causes
 Stripping occurs through the action of water, chemical and
mechanical forces.
 Poor construction
 Asphalt hardening due to ageing

 Prevention
 Protect pavement surfaces from the environment
 Corrections/Repair of stripping
a) Extent of area to be treated.
b) Surface preparation.
c) Application of binder.
 g) Dust Loss in gravel roads
Dust in the air is a loss of fine, binder
aggregates from road surfaces.
It occurs on unpaved/ gravel roads
Causes
Weather conditions

Over speeding of the traffic

Amount of traffic on the road
types of aggregate

Mitigation measures

Mechanically adding water

Applying chemical additives/ stabilizers

which draw moisture from the air .
 REFERENCES
1. “Cracking In Asphalt Pavements” presented by Anh Tu Do, December
2010
2. http://classes.engr.oregonstate.edu/cce/winter2012/ce492/Modules/09_p
avement_evaluation/09-7_body.htm
3. http://www.asphaltinstitute.org/public/engineering/maintenance_rehab/a
sphalt-pavement-distress-summary.dot
4. “Pavement Surface Condition Field, Rating Manual for Asphalt
Pavements”, Northwest Pavement Management Association Sponsored
by: Northwest Technology Transfer, Center TransAid Service Center,
Washington State, Department of Transportation.
5. www.asphaltisbest.com/resources_engineering.asp
6. “Pavement Distress Survey Manual, Pavement Services Unit Revised
June 2010”, Oregon Department Of Transportation.