DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION

OF
COASTAL ROAD AND HIGHWAY

INDEX

SR. CONTENTS PAGE

NO. NO.
01 Introduction 02
02 Types of Coastal Roads, Characteristics 02 To 06
03 Design Philosophy 06 To 08
04 Pavement Design 09 To 25
05 Reinforced Subgrades & Bases 25 To 29
06 Road Geometrics 29 To 39
07 The Environment 39
08 Effect of Sea Level Rise 39 To 41
09 Conclusion 42
10 Bibliography & Wibliography 43 To 44
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1. INTRODUCTION
Coastal roads constitute a major segment of national road networks in
the world, that not only provides access to fishing, residential, and tourism
resources, but also because of often encountered difficult terrain, to all other
productive sectors and social communities on a daily basis. Generally,
volcanic islands can have as much as 80 percent of their paved roads as
coastal ring roads because of the difficult inland terrain and patterns of
human settlements. Other islands such as Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad
and Tobago have tolerable inland terrain that can provide affordable and
reliable access to several parts of the island territory, but still rely on 10 to
30 percent of their paved road network for vital access to the coastal towns,
villages (usually fishing) and beaches. Typically, the areas served in the
region include: -
 Cities and towns;
 Industrial centres;
 Airports and seaports;
 Fishing villages;
 Inland agricultural parcels;
 Inland and coastal residential communities;
 Hotels; Beaches; andEco resorts.
2. TYPES OF COASTAL ROADS
2.1 Coastal Zone Areas
The coastal zone in this treatment of coastal roads is defined as the
transition zone where the land meets water, the region that is directly
influenced by marine or lacustrine hydrodynamic processes. The coastal
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zone extends offshore to the continental shelf break and onshore to the first
major change in topography above the reach of major storm waves. Roads
usually rely on solid ground for location and support, and so the geological
appreciation of the coastal zone becomes necessary for use in the planning
and design of coastal roads. In this regard the geological appreciation
presented in Part IV-1-2 of the CEM 2000 presents a suitable configuration
of the coastal zone for landward design. The coastal zone is divided into four
subzones; the coast, the shore, the shoreface, and the continental shelf (see
Figures 1 and 2).

Figure 1 (IV-1-2). Definition of Terms and Features Describing the Coastal Zone.

The Continental shelf (Figure 2) is the shallow seafloor that borders most
continents (Figure IV-1-3). The shelf floor extends from the toe of the
shoreface to the shelf break where the steeply inclined continental slope
begins. It has been common practice to subdivide the shelf into inner-, mid-,
and outer zones, although there are no regularly occurring geomorphic
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features on most shelves that suggest a basis for these subdivisions.

Although the term inner shelf has been widely used, it is seldom qualified
beyond arbitrary depth or distance boundaries. Site-specific shelf zonation
can be based on project requirements and local geologic conditions. Some
coastal areas in the Caribbean do not extend out to a significant continental
shelf.

Figure 2. The Coastal Zone and Continental Shelf.

2.2 Road Classification Character

In the Caribbean, the location of coastal roads traverses all
areas of the landward coastal zone, and one road such as an Island
ring road may, along its length, move from a safe setback in the
uplands or dune areas, to berm crests in a backshore or foreshore
location, and to bluffs and steep cliffs in the mountainous coastal
regions. They are all defended in one way or other from wave attack
by either:
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 a land buffer, as in the case of conservative setbacks in the

uplands from the shoreline;
 a natural defense system such as a dune, embankment or bluff;
or by
 a sea defense structure built to suit the integrity and function of
the roadway.

In built-up areas, such as on promenades etc., they are located at the

shoreface with some form of vertical wall or constructed defense
system. Overall, the character of coastal roads may be classified by
four distinct categories:
(a) Natural: -
These are roads built into the existing terrain, without the use of built
structures for defense. They are either located in a conservative setback area
or defended by the natural shore/coast formation, and their construction
present minimum disturbance to the physical and natural environment. This
type of coastal road often provides canopied views on flat terrain and
sweeping panoramic views on cliffs and large bluffs. Toe armouring may be
necessary for cliffs and bluffs.

(b) Open: -
Wherever the terrain demands and wave action permits, earthen
structures such as embankments may be employed to carry the coastal road,
with or without setback. These types are particularly suited to protected
alluvial gulfs and bays where the terrain is very flat, at or below mean sea
level, and wave action does not present the need for energy absorbing
structures. These roads facilitate wide views and are ideal for the provision
of aesthetically pleasing roadway geometrics.
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(c) Built: -
A built coastal road is defended by an energy absorbing structure such
as armour revetment or a sea wall, and usually abuts the structure or located
within close reserve of it. These types are better suited to sub-urban and built
up residential and recreational areas, and large coastal areas lying below sea
level, as in the case of Guyana where the sea wall extends for 200 km along
the coast defending some 200 km of coastal roads.

(d) Urban: -
These roads are found principally on downtown promenades, and
commercial areas, and the defense is usually through a slender vertical sea
wall. The road usually abuts the wall directly and the sea is sometimes
within an arm’s length. These provide valuable commercial and recreational
appeal, for both cruise ship tourism and local residents, as is the case of the
Carenage in St. Georges Grenada, and other promenades in Dominica,
Tobago and Grenada. These roads are not to be confused with seaport roads.
The functional and hierarchical classification will obviously fall into the
respective agency’s policy and procedures for classification.

3. DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
3.1 Factors
The major factors to be considered in the design of a road are- a)
Safetyb) Environmental Impact c) Initial construction cost and life cycle cost
Safety involves the provision of adequate road geometrics and cross section,
so that accidents are minimized and accessibility/all-season passability is
maintained. It also refers to the reliability of the pavement structure, the
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stability of any roadside slopes, and the probability of failure of the sea
defense.

Environmental impact against wetlands, lagoons and estuaries, and the

shorelands has to be mitigated at the design stage. Particularly, the change
drainage patterns and the potential for upland flooding and coastal pollution,
and the interaction of riverine and estuarine systems with tidal changes at
river outlets have to be carefully evaluated. At the construction stage, the
location of fill disposal sites and the biological pollution of the coastal
waters are also of concern.

Economic performance is normally at the helm of design activities. An

economic analysis of candidate design alternatives must be done on a life-
cycle basis to establish the best performing economic alternative and so the
best form of investment, particularly when there is Sectoral competition for
the same funds and the investment has to be justified. Ideally the designed
alternatives must be safe and environmentally friendly.
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3.2 Design Subsystems

Because of their locations, coastal roads require the successful
interaction of three basic subsystems for the maintenance of accessibility
and good ride comfort (see Figure 3).
These subsystems are: -
 The roadway subsystem, inclusive of the vehicle, pavement structure,
roadside configuration, drainage and water crossing infrastructural
elements;

 The ground support subsystem, embracing the roadway formation

stability against erosion, sliding and deformations; and

 The coastal defense subsystem as it applies to the protection and

integrity of the roadway and ground support system against wave
attack. Each of these systems must be safe, environmentally friendly,
and optimum in cost effectiveness, and as such the design procedures
must account for these criteria.
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PAVEMENT DESIGN
4.1 Types of Pavement Structures
Basically, all hard surfaced pavement types can be categorized into
two groups, flexible and rigid.
4.1.1 Flexible pavements are those that are surfaced with bituminous (or
asphalt) materials in the surface (or wearing) course. These can be either in
the form of pavement surfaces such as a Surfaced Dressed (SD) or
bituminous surface course (BST) generally found on lower volume (or lower
traffic) roads. On the other hand, AC surface courses are generally used on
higher volume roads (see Figure 4(a)). These types of pavements are called
"flexible" since the total pavement structure "bends" or "deflects" due to
traffic loads. Further, the flexible pavement structure is generally composed
of several layers of materials that can accommodate this "flexing" (Figure
4(a)).
4.1.2 Rigid pavements are composed of a Portland Cement Concrete (PCC)
surface course (Figure 4(b)) resting on a subbase or base. Such pavements
are substantially "stiffer" than flexible pavements due to the high modulus of
elasticity of the PCC material. Further, these pavements can have reinforcing
steel that is generally used to reduce or eliminate "joints."
10
 11

(a) Flexible Pavement

(b) Rigid Pavement

Figure 4. Road Pavement Structures

4.1.3 A Concrete Block Pavement (CBP) is made up of precisely
dimensioned individual concrete blocks that fit closely together to form a
segment of pavement surface (see Figure 5). A CBP surface course shares
some similar performance characteristics with flexible pavement. Common
names for the concrete blocks include pavers, paving blocks, and
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interlocking paving blocks. They find much use in parking aprons,

promenades and roads in the built-up and recreational areas of the coastal
zone.

Figure 5. Concrete Block Pavement

4.1.4 The determination of the type of pavement structure type is of major

importance in the development of plans for any road paving project. The
primary factors to be considered in determining the pavement type include: -
 Traffic, whether high volume or low volume, and traffic safety.
 Strength of subgrade soils.
 Environment (weather).
 Construction materials and their availability
 Construction factors, local capacity and foreign exchange component
 Life cycle performance
Other factors for consideration are: -
 Adjacent existing pavement structures
 Stage construction
 Conservation of aggregate or recycling opportunities
4.2 Design Policy
The major concerns of most road agencies in the provision of a road
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pavement is how much it will cost to construct, what is the quality of ride
and how much does it cost per year to maintain. Additionally, the link
between road condition and user costs is of prime importance to users and
the society as a whole. Design of road pavements must seek to address these
concerns and in accounting for many of the pavement selection factors the
procedure should incorporate:
(i) Traffic loading (ii) Subgrade strength
(iii) Construction Materials character (iv) Drainage (Environment)
(v) Performance (vi) Reliability (Safety)
Different agencies have different measures of ride quality, and most
converge on the roughness or ride quality of the pavement. The International
Roughness Index (IRI), expressed as m/km, is a time-stable, absolute
measure of roughness and is related to most of the established roughness
measures employed today. This is the measure of condition and ride quality
that is recommended and adopted in this manual. Ride quality and the IRI
are categorised in Table 1 into 6 levels, ranging from a very smooth ride to a
very rough ride for both paved and unpaved roads.
4.3 Traffic
Traffic volumes recommended for low-volume roads range from 50 to 1,000
vpd, with the typical traffic stream considered catering for up to 60 percent
trucks. For high volume roads, the traffic is expressed in terms of the
number of Equivalent Standard Axles Loads (ESAL) as a measure of the
damaging power of axle loads in the traffic stream. One passage of an 8,162
kg single axle load is considered to cause unit damage to the pavement
structure. High volume roads carry around a minimum of 500,000 ESALs
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over the design life of the pavement structure. The average annual growth
rates used are usually between 0 and 5 percent. The designer is strongly
advised to conduct separate traffic surveys and analyses to ascertain the
appropriate values for the damaging power of the traffic stream..
Table 1: Relation Between Ride Quality and Road Roughness

RIDE QUALITY ROUGHNESS

Level 1 Recently paved roads in excellent condition. Very smooth ride.
IRI < 2.0m/km
Level 2 Paved road with a smooth ride, and maintains its profile. May
have slight distortions which do not affect surface drainage. IRI:
2.0 to 4.0 m/km.
Level 3 Paved road which presents a noticeable distorted profile,
patches or potholes affect less than half of the pavement surface
and impose slight reduction in speed. Slightly rough ride in
places. IRI: 4.0 to 6.0 m/km
Level 4 Paved road whose surface is damaged and presents numerous
incidents of pavement failure and patching: distortions, ruts,
depressions, potholes, cracks, etc. failures remain light and
impose noticeable reduction in speed. Noticeably rough ride.
IRI: 6.0 to 8.0 m/km
Level 5 Paved road whose surface is heavily deteriorated and presents
numerous incidents of major pavement failures that are severe
enough to impose a substantial reduction in speed. Very rough
ride. IRI: 8.0 to 10.0 m/km.
Level 6 Paved road whose surface is completely destroyed. Pavement
failures are such that vehicles can only travel with difficulty and
in so doing may incur tyre, suspension or even frame damage.
Extremely rough ride. IRI: 10.0 to 12.0 m/km.
The AASHTO 1996 Design Guide for pavements provides appropriate
methodologies and calculation procedures for the determination of suitable
pavement structure configurations, in terms of layer thicknesses required to
carry the expected traffic loading. In this procedure, ride quality is expressed
in terms of the Present Serviceability Index (PSI), which ranges from 4.0 to
 15

4.5 for roads in excellent condition, to 2.0 to 2.5 for roads in poor condition
and in need of maintenance intervention. The difference between the
limiting values indicates the loss of serviceability.
4.4 Subgrades
Very often the designer has no choice regarding subgrade, and the
natural ground formation has to be used. Accordingly, design guidelines are
presented for soil subgrades ranging from swampy to firm soils and cover a
CBR range as follows: -
a) CBR, < 2.0 % .......... Very soft ground;
b) CBR, 2.0 - 4.0 % .......... Soft ground;
c) CBR, 4.0 - 8.0 % .......... Medium hard ground; and
d) CBR, 8.0 - 12.0 % .......... Hard ground.
For very hard subgrades with CBR values greater than 12.0 percent, the
design recommendations for 12.0 % CBR can be used and should provide
conservative designs.
4.5 Bases and Sub bases
4.5.1 The road base is the backbone of the road pavement, and its
performance usually dictates the performance of the roadway. The
general requirements of bases and sub bases are: -
 they should posses sufficient strength to sustain without failure
the imposed traffic stresses; and
 they should be of uniform and consistent quality so that they
can be spread and compacted without difficulty, to provide a
road surface that will not be impaired y the compacting effort
of traffic.
4.5.2 Materials that are normally used for bases and sub bases
include pitrun gravels, volcanic gravels such as tiff and tarish, marl,
trap rock,
 16

quarry spoils, crushed slag and crushed rock. In the Caribbean, marl,
tiff, tarish and crushed volcanic andesites are frequently used in road
construction. Other regions and territories may also have suitable
naturally occurring materials that have been used successfully in low
cost road construction and with which they have developed the
appropriate proficiency for their use. The scarcity of suitable
naturally-occurring materials in some regions often leads to the
blending of two or more types of materials or the stabilization of
available materials. Standard requirements may include particle-size
grading, durability, crushing strength, plasticity of the fine aggregate
and the CBR (see Table 2).
4.5.3 The selected materials usually contain coarse and fine fractions
and must conform to standard property requirements as far as is
possible. The maximum particle size is typically about a quarter of the
thickness of the compacted layer. Larger particles can hinder the
compaction and spoil the surface of the layer, and also tend to
disintegrate because they suffer the full force of the compaction plant.
Generally a maximum particle size of 50 – 63 mm is considered
adequate.
4.5.4 The grading envelopes in the specifications vary little from one
another, generally reflecting local experience. All are the result of a
compromise between internal drainage and compaction. Ideally, for
roads in the shorelands, the material should be free-draining and
should posses a stable mineral skeleton. With low fines content the
aggregate will have a high proportion of air voids, and if well graded,
 17

should derive good to excellent grain to grain contact. For roads in

setback zones, sufficient fines should be present to afford dense, tight
base and sub base layers to be formed. The importance of a good
grading and stable packing for sub base and bases cannot be
overemphasized.
4.5.5 Limits of plasticity are set to control the effect of volume
changes occurring in clay soils due to varying moisture contents in
seasonal climates. Specifications based on temperate climatic
conditions require a maximum plasticity index of 6% and the liquid
limit should be less than 25%. For tropical conditions, the upper limit
of plasticity index is raised to 12 to 15%, whilst the liquid limit can be
raised to a maximum of 30 to 40%. The concept of plasticity modulus
based on the product of the plasticity index and the proportion of finer
material is considered to be a valuable one as it represents the
effective contribution of the plasticity of the fines to the performance
of the whole material. For roads in the shorelands the base and
subbase should ideally be non-plastic.
4.5.6 The durability of the coarse fraction of the aggregate is related to the
overall grading, and is determined by tests such as the Aggregate
Crushing Value (ACV) or Aggregate Impact Value (AIV), the 10 %
Fines Aggregate Crushing Test (FACT), and the Los Angeles
Abrasion Test (LAA) (13). The recommended maximum value for the
ACV is 35% and its specification should be accompanied by the 10%
FACT which can be as low as 50 kN for low volume roads. The
maximum LAA value can vary between 50% and 65% and the upper
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limit depends upon the destabilising effect of the crushing of coarse

particles (13). The aggregate must also be sound, i.e. resistant to
chloride and sulphate attack from seawater or agricultural leachings,
and the Soundness test should be specified. Limiting values vary
between 12 % and 15 %.
4.5.7 For roads setback in the uplands, the compacted density of the
subbase and base layers should be at least equal to 95% of the
maximum density of the material determined in the laboratory at the
appropriate level of compaction (either Standard or Modified). All
materials should contain moisture equal to or slightly below the
optimum necessary to insure that the design density requirements are
obtained when materials are compacted. CBR values of greater than
30% for subbase and 80% for base are generally specified, and these
values may be dropped to 20% for subbase and 50 to 60% for base in
low volume roads. The strength is best represented by the CBR which
should be determined on laboratory samples prepared at 95% of the
maximum density obtained under heavy compactive effort (BS 1377
Test 13, AASHTO T199, 4.5 kg rammer), and soaked for four days. It
is not always that available materials can meet the strength
requirements and in such cases, either increased layer thickness or
stabilisation may be employed to improve the layer response. For
roads in the shorelands, the open graded character of the base and
subbase makes conventional field and laboratory testing difficult and
sometimes very expensive. Under such conditions, field procedures
involving proof rolling with a 10 tonne or 12 tonne axle load is
 19

usually applied to establish weak compacted areas for repair. The

rolled substrate should show no visually detectable deformation under
the axle loading. Generally, all open graded surfaces should be
tightened with coarse sands and chips during compaction and before
proof rolling.
4.6 Surfacings
Surfacings may be high-type asphaltic concrete (ACP) or Surface
Dressed (SD), rigid PCC slabs or CBP surface, depending on the traffic
volumes and pavement gradient. Generally, on steep gradients (> 10 %) SD
surfacing tends to be stripped of chips very easily because of the tractive
forces exerted by vehicular traffic, and ACP is usually preferred. Otherwise,
SDs should be employed where traffic is less than 1,000 vehicles per day.
For higher traffic volumes dense graded asphalt concrete mixtures are
preferred for ACP.
Table 2 Recommended Base and Subbase Material Properties
Use Road-base Sub-base
Type of Road Minor Major Rural & Urban All
Traffic (x 10 ESALs)
6
< 0.3 0.3 – 1 1–3 >3
Grading Grading Refer to current Agency specifications
modulus
< 1.5 (1)
Plasticity Index (%) < 12 < 10 <6 < 25
• Moist, wet tropical < 15 < 12 < 10
• Seasonal tropical < 20 < 15 < 12
• Semi-arid & arid
Plasticity Modulus (2) < 300 < 200 < 150 < 500
• Moist, wet tropical < 400 < 250 < 200 < 750
• Seasonal tropical < 500 < 350 < 250 < 1250
• Semi-arid & arid
CBR (%) > 45 (3) > 65 (4) > 80 (4) > 25 (3)
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Durability
• Los Angles Abrasion < 65 < 50 n.s.
value (%) (5) n.s.
• 10% Fines Value > 70 n.s.
(saturated) n.s.
(kN) n.s
Soundness (MgSo4) n.s > 12
Fine Aggregate n.s
Coarse Aggregate > 15
n.s. - not specified

Notes:
1. Grading modulus = 300-[F2 F.425 F.075]
100
where F2 is percentage passing 2 mm sieve
F.425 is percentage passing 0.425 mm sieve
F.075 is percentage passing 0.75 mm sieve
Values of grading modulus are between 0 and 3.
2. Plasticity modulus = plasticity index multiplied by percentage finer
than 0.425 mm sieve.
3. CBR on samples compacted to 95% m.d.d. of modified AASHTO or
BS (heavy) compaction and soaked for 4 days.
4. CBR on samples compacted to 100% m.d.d. of modified AASHTO or
BS (heavy) compaction and soaked for 4 days.
5. Los Angles abrasion value on fraction coarser than 2 or 2.36 mm.
Care is needed in the selection of binders for ACP and PCC pavement
surfaces. In ACP on shoreland roads a soft asphalt binder (100 – 120 Pen) is
preferred so that longer service life to hardening under saline attack
(oxidation) is obtained. In PCC a sulphate resistant cement binder is
preferred for similar reasons. Setback roads in the uplands may employ 60-
80 Pen grade asphalt binder, and the PCC cement binder may be ordinary.
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4.7 Flexible Pavement Thickness

High volume roads will require between two and three layers for
effective performance, a granular subbase, a granular or stabilised base and a
stabilised surfacing (usually asphalt concrete), depending on the strength of
the subgrade soils. The structural design of flexible pavements can be
broadly divided into those with fewer than 500,000 ESALs for the design
period and those greater than 500,000 ESALs. Table 3 gives standard
solutions determined by AASHTO procedures for high volume road
pavements, while Table 4 gives solutions for low volume roads. With
particular reference to the low volume roads, the ACI is the Agency Cost
Index, and it defines the relative level of life-cycle costs to the agency if the
respective solution is adopted. The Quality Level gives the level of ride
comfort (see Table 3) and the Life-Cycle Performance represents the percent
of the design life over which the designated ride quality is obtained. The
addition of a 150 mm subbase can improve the ride quality by one level, but
the ACI increases to 1.3. Responsive maintenance activities include patching
50 % potholes every year, and resealing damage when it approaches 30 % of
the pavement surface. The designer may develop alternative solutions based
on layer material substitution, but this requires considerable experience with
local materials and their physical and mechanical character. Other solutions
may be based on staged construction, where sufficient surfacing is placed to
cover a percentage of the design life, and at the end of that period the
remaining thickness for full design life is applied. In such alternative
solutions, the base and subbase layers must be designed for the full design
life, and must also be constructed as designed.
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Table 3. High Volume Flexible Pavement Thickness

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Table 4. Low Volume Flexible Pavement Thickness

Traffic Subgrade Thickness A.C.I. Quality Life-Cycle
(vpd) (CBR%) (mm) Level Performance
> 1000 2 150 1.00 5 52.8%
200 0.99 5 75.4%
250 0.93 4 63.1%
300 0.83 4 59.0%
4 150 1.00 4 59.0%
200 0.93 4 77.7%
250 0.89 3 70.7%
300 0.87 3 86.0%
6 150 1.00 3 52.4%
200 0.95 3 80.4%
250 0.92 3 93.8%
300 0.90 3 98.2%
8 150 1.00 3 76.6%
200 0.96 3 92.7%
250 0.94 3 98.9%
300 0.92 3 99.6%
10 150 1.00 3 88.6%
200 0.97 3 97.2%
250 0.95 3 99.6%
300 0.94 2 56.7%
12 150 1.00 3 93.3%
200 0.97 3 98.7%
250 0.94 2 55.9%
300 0.86 2 62.4%
4.8 Rigid Pavement Thickness
It is advisable to use slab thicknesses of 200 mm or greater even if the
ESAL levels would suggest that lesser slab thicknesses would be adequate.
A slab thickness of 200 mm or greater provides some assurance of adequate
long-term performance of periods of 30 to 40 years given that the other
design details are adequately accommodated. The long design lives are
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intended to provide significant maintenance free service for the pavement. In

the past, base depths under rigid pavements were determined primarily by
the requirement for support of construction traffic. Currently, it is
recognized that the base course directly beneath PCC slabs is a critical
element in the performance of PCCP. The use of asphalt-stabilised base
(ACB) is most effective in waterproofing the grade in shoreland roads, when
the grade is in reasonably good shape. The benefits of a waterproofing
treatment under the ultimate pavement is largely lost if an untreated base is
placed directly over the subgrade and then allowed to stand over the rainy
season without protection. Table 5 provides typical PCC slab thicknesses for
various levels of ESALs and reliability for high volume pavements. The
input values used to produce the tables are shown at the bottom.
Table 5. High Volume Rigid Pavement Thickness

Low volume pavements are usually constructed with a minimum slab

thickness of 112.5 mm, increasing to 150 mm as traffic volumes cross 1,000
 25

vehicles per day. Detailed design should be employed for intermediate

volumes as may be appropriate.
4.9 Concrete Block Pavement Structure
4.9.1 Paver sizes are a nominal 100 x 200 mm (4 x 8 in.) with thicknesses
from 60 to 100 mm.They are usually laid manually but mechanical
installation methods are also available. A 25 to 50 mm bedding sand
layer is used under the pavers. They are set into the sand and then
vibrated into place which forces some sand into the joints between the
pavers. Jointing sand is then swept into the joints between the pavers
and they are again vibrated to wedge the jointing sand into place.
4.9.2 Although the pavers are not bonded together with mortar, they are
able to transfer loads sideways from one paver to the next. The
friction of the sand in the joints provides an avenue for shear transfer
between the individual blocks. However, this shear transfer will only
be possible with narrow joints 1.5 to 3 mm wide. According to ASTM
C936 (Standard Specification for Solid Interlocking Concrete Paving
Units), paver length and width dimensions must be accurate to within
1.6 mm. Pavers are manufactured according to ASTM C936 and must
have an average compressive strength of 55 MPa (8,000 psi).
4.9.3 From the constructibility perspective, CBP is similar to other
pavements with two exceptions. First is the sand bedding layer, which
can be dumped and then screeded manually, or can be placed using a
modified asphalt concrete spreader. Secondly the pavers are usually
laid manually but can also be placed using various machines
specifically designed for laying pavers. Although placement by either
method is slow, completed and compacted sections can be put into use
immediately.
4.9.4 From the design perspective, CBP presents difficulties with respect to
modeling using analytical techniques such as layered elastic analysis.
Conventional pavement materials (asphalt concrete, portland cement
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concrete, crushed stone) are not truly elastic, but they can be treated as
such since their modulus of elasticity can be calculated fairly
consistently. Although the elastic modulus of the concrete pavers and
the elastic modulus of the sand can be measured individually, the
composite system of pavers and sand in a CBP coupled with the
gradual stiffening over time of this composite system precludes
consistent measurement of an effective or equivalent modulus of
elasticity. However, layered elastic pavement theory can be used to
design block pavements if an effective modulus of elasticity for the
composite system can be determined.
4.9.5 From the performance perspective, a CBP may be preferable to
conventional pavements for some specific applications (e.g., ports and
aircraft aprons). Measurement of a CBP's performance is similar to
that of either asphaltic concrete (AC) or portland cement concrete
(PCC). In addition, strict adherence to construction specifications and
an experienced supervisor is important in achieving a successful CBP
project. From the cost perspective, installation of CBP varies greatly
and depends on several factors: local labor cost, bedding sand
thickness, paver size and shape, distance pavers must be shipped from
the manufacturer, amount of cutting required, and the size of the
pavement.
5. REINFORCED SUBGRADES AND BASES
5.1 Function of Geotextiles
Where the subgrade soil CBR is less than 2 percent the use of bases
reinforced with a geotextile grid or fabric is recommended. It is also
recommended for roads located in the shorelands. ASTM defines a
geotextile as “ Any permeable textile material used with foundation,
soil, earth or any other geotechnical-related material, as an integral
part of a man-made product structure or system”. The major actions of
geotextiles are separation and reinforcement. Geotextile use in
 27

subgrades is generally confined to fabric, and provides the two basic

functions as follows:
a) Primary function: separation, filtration and drainage (Figure 6);
and
b) Secondary function: reinforcement through membrane-type
support of wheel loads (Figures 6 & 7).
The principal type of action in bases is reinforcement by use of either
fabric or grids and it may be described as:
a) Base and subgrade restraint;
b) Lateral restraint;
c) Membrane-type support of wheel loads; and
d) Membrane-type support of the roadway system.
As the subgrade does not receive any structural support by the geotextile,
aggregate reductions are not normally expected. However an increase in
subgrade CBR of 30 percent above the equilibrium value is often used in
design and leads to a reduction in base thickness.

Figure 6. Membrane Type Support Offered by Geotextiles

 28

5.2 Types of Geotextiles

The types of geotextiles that find widespread use in pavement
structures are fabrics. Geogrids are used mainly in edge and side slope
stability of the pavement formation, and can assist in maintaining base
integrity under erosion and wave run up and overtopping for roads in the
shorelands. The major types of fabrics (Figure 8) in use today include:
a) Woven geotextiles composed of two sets of parallel yarns
systematically interfaced to form a planar structure;
b) Nonwoven geotextiles formed from fibers arranged, in an oriented or
random pattern, into a planar structure. The fibers are bonded together
either by chemical bonding, thermal bonding or mechanical bonding;
c) Composite geotextiles are multiple-layered combinations of the above
and are usually designed to perform specific functions; and
d) Webs or webbings are a kind of very coarse woven fabric made of
strips a few centimeters wide and look like a very coarse slit film
woven fabric or matting. Return Fabric 1 m
In Shorelands

(a) Separation and Reinforcement

(b) Erosion Protection: Moderate Survivability

 29

(c) Erosion Protection: High Survivability

(d) Embankment Design and Construction

Figure 7. Examples of Geotextile Use Shoreland Roads
5.3 Property Requirements
The major requirements of geotextiles include survivability, filtration
and drainage, resistance to ultra violet light and workability.
5.3.1 Construction Survivability: - the geotextile must resist impact,
punctures or abrasion stresses caused by trucks, bulldozers,
compaction machinery, or any other plant and equipment used during
construction. Typical survivability characterisation in terms of test
property requirements is given in Table 6. Recommended
survivability requirements for subgrade and base cover material
construction are also given in Table 7.
5.3.2 Filtration and Drainage: - the pore size of the geotextile must be such
that filtration characteristics are optimised to reduce the potential for
clogging and the range of openings must be compared to the particle
 30

sizes of the subgrade to be filtered. Special continuous filament,

needle-punched, nonwoven geotextiles have been found to provide
lateral drainage and are ideally suited for aggregate with poor
drainage characteristics.
5.3.3 Resistance to Ultra Violet Light: - all geotextiles degrade when
exposed to sunlight during construction for an extended time and
strength retention with time must be known before purchase and use.
Ideally there should be no loss of strength for extended exposure to
sunlight.
Table 6. Minimum properties required for fabric survivability
Required Grab Strength Puncture Burst Trap
Degree (minimum Strength2 Strength3 Tear4
of Fabric values) N (lbs) MPa (psi) N (lbs)
Survivability N (lbs)_
Very High 1200 (270) 495 (110) 2.95 (430) 337 (75)
High 800 (180) 335 (75) 2.00 (290) 225 (50)
Moderate 580 (130) 180 (40) 1.45 (210) 180 (40)
Low 400 (90) 135 (30) 1.00 (145) 135 (30)
Note:
1. All values represent minimum average roll values (i.e., any roll in a
lot should meet or exceed the minimum values in this table). Note:
these values are normally 20%.
2. ASTM D-751-68, Tension Testing Machine with ring clamp, steel
ball replaced with a 5/16 inch diameter solid steel cylinder with flat
tip centered within the ring clamp.
3. ASTM D-751-68, Diaphragm Test Method.
4. ASTM D-1117, either principal direction.
6. ROAD GEOMETRICS.
The alignment of a roadway is a very important design feature that
directly addresses the physical integrity and safety aspects of roadway
performance. It also provides for driving comfort and economy in vehicle
operation, and proper surface and roadside drainage. The essential design
elements for consideration are:
 31

 Pavement surface crossfall

 Sight distances
 Horizontal and vertical curvature
 Gradients
 Phasing of horizontal and vertical curvature
6.1 Crossfall
6.1.1 The purpose of crossfall is to shed water from the carriageway and
allow it to drain into side ditches. This helps to prevent water from
entering and weakening the pavement, for both paved and unpaved
roads. There are two main considerations when designing the crossfall
or camber of a road pavement:
a) The slope must be adequate enough to provide for rapid disposal of
the water falling on the surface: and
b) The slope must not be so excessive as to become a hazard to traffic.
6.1.2 The minimum crossfall required is a function of the surface texture
and the precision of surface construction. For a given crossfall the
smoother the surface the more efficient it is in shedding water.
Values of crossfall normally range between 1.5 to 3.0 % for paved
roads. The value of 3 % is more likely to satisfy high intensity
rainfall, and will allow for drainage even with some surface
deformation, but a value of 2.5 % is ideal for all weather. For unpaved
roads, a higher crossfall is necessary and 3 to 4 % would provide a
satisfactory minimum for working practice.
6.1.3 The crossfall of the shoulder should be sufficient to drain the paved
surface. Shoulders constructed of the same material as the running
surface may have the same cross slope, whilst gravel or earth
shoulders on a paved road should be 1.5 to 2 % steeper.
 32

6.2 Sight Distances

6.2.1 Clear driver vision for a sufficient distance ahead is necessary for safe
travel along a road. The required sight distance will depend on the
speed of the vehicle and the maneuver being undertaken. If safety is to
be built into the road, then sufficient sight distance must always be
available to enable a vehicle traveling at the design speed to stop
before reaching an object in its path.
6.2.2 Stopping sight distance is the sum of two distances: the distance
traversed by a vehicle from the instant the driver sights an object
requiring him to stop to the instant the brakes are applied, and the
distance required to stop after braking begins. The distance depends
on the assumed height above the road of both the driver’s eye and the
object, which necessitates the stop.
6.2.3 The longer the available sight distance, and the bigger the gaps in the
opposing flow, the greater the proportion of the vehicle population
that will be able to overtake. However, not all overtaking maneuvers
are completed in the same time or distance, and even those on the
same stretch of road will show considerable variations. The time
required to complete a maneuvre over any distance depends on a
number of factors including the speed and length of the overtaken
vehicle, and the speed and acceleration capabilities of the overtaking
vehicle.
6.2.4 There will normally be some sections of road, such as on bends and
summit curves, where there is insufficient sight distance for safe overtaking;
these may be termed “nonovertaking” sections. There will be other sections
where sight distances will be sufficiently long to allow virtually all vehicles
 33

the opportunity to overtake; these may be termed “overtaking” sections.

There are also sections of intermediate sight distance that will allow some
drivers to overtake. The longer the sight distance, the greater the proportion
of the vehicle population that will be able to overtake and long sight
distances are therefore very desirable. However, to provide sight distances
long enough for overtaking on the entire length of the road would be
uneconomic, and it is usually better to designate some lengths as “no-
overtaking” sections which are designed solely for stopping sight distance
(e.g. crest curves). Wherever possible, “no-overtaking” sections should be
followed by sections where there is sufficient sight distance to allow
overtaking. Recommended values are given in Table 8.
Table 8: Recommended Sight Distances for Horizontal Curvature
Design Speed Sight Distance, m
km/hr
Stopping Stopping Overtaking
(Single Lane) (Two Lane)
30 46 23 N/A
40 68 34 N/A
50 96 48 140
60 128 64 180
70 N/A 84 240
85 N/A 119 320
100 N/A 162 430
120 N/A 229 590
6.3 Horizontal Curvature

6.3.1 The following points for consideration in horizontal design have been
identified from several design standards and are very useful in
horizontal curvature design:
 34

(i) Horizontal and vertical alignment features should be

coordinated so as to avoid the creation of hazards and
visual defects.
(ii) Compound circular curves and abrupt reversals of alignment
should be avoided.
(iii) Short tangent sections between adjacent curves in the same
direction should be avoided.
(iv) Large radius curves should be introduced with small deflection
angles to avoid the appearance of a ‘kink’.
Curves should not end on structures such as bridges as they add cost and
complications to design and construction. (If curvature is unavoidable, a
simple curve of as large a radius as possible should be used).
(vi) Superelevation should remain a plane for the full width of the
carriageway and may
be obtained by revolving the pavement about the profiles of:
(a) The centreline
(b) The inside edge
(c) The outside edge
(vii) On superelevated curves, the outer shoulders should be sloped upward
at about the same, or at a lesser rate, than the superelevation of the
carriageway. Any shoulder, which is sloped towards a paved carriageway,
should also be paved to prevent loose material washing over the surface.
(viii) For small changes in alignment, it is preferable, and usually more
economical to adopt a circular curve of large radius with adverse crossfall,
than a short curve with superelevation.
 35

(ix) The minimum superelevation applied to a road should be the reverse

crossfall.
6.3.2 As standards increase, it is necessary for minimum radii to reflect the
higher speeds and the critical design factor becomes the maximum lateral
coefficient of friction between the tyre and road surface (see Table 10). The
required lateral friction may be reduced by superelevating the road.
Available side friction (f) decreases as speed increases and a considerable
safety margin is usually incorporated in design standards.
Table 10. Minimum Curve Radii
Design Speed Side Friction Factor Minimum Horizontal Radius (m)
(km/h) (f)
Superelevation Zero
(paved) Superelevation
(Unpaved)
30 0.33 16.5 21.5
40 0.30 31.5 42.0
50 0.25 56.2 78.7
60 0.23 85.9 123.3
70 0.20 128.6 192.9
85 0.18 203.2
100 0.15 315
120 0.15 453.5
6.4 Vertical Curvature
6.4.1 The vertical profile of a road is normally composed of a series of
tangents connected by parabolas. There are two types of vertical curves;
crest curves and sag curves. The design of these curves is based on either a
comfort criterion or a visibility criterion. A stopping or overtaking sight
distance, or a comfort criterion may determine the length of crest curve. For
minimum overtaking sight distance the required lengths of crest vertical
 36

curves are substantially larger than those of stopping sight distance.

6.4.2 The length of sag curves may be determined by visibility criteria or
comfort criteria. During daylight, sag curves create no visibility problems,
but at night the length of road illuminated by a vehicle’s headlights may be
critical. The minimum length of vertical curve is equal to the algebraic
difference in gradient times a constant, K. This constant K is often quoted as
defining the radius characteristics of a vertical curve (see Table 9). Where
the sight distance is greater than the length of vertical curve - an uncommon
occurrence - this direct proportionality does not hold true.
Table 9. Recommended Sight Distance for Vertical Curvature
Design Speed (km/h) Stopping Sight Overtaking Sight
Distance Distance
K value (m) K Value (m)
48 9 111
64 16 209
80 27 300
97 49 408
105 66 489
113 78 578
121 99 625
129 123 674

6.4.3 Minimum radius horizontal curves are undesirable at crests as the

crest may mask the sharpness of the horizontal curve. When vertical
and horizontal curves occur in combination or in close proximity to
each other, it is desirable that the vertical curve should be either
wholly within or wholly outside the horizontal curve. With the
vertical curve within the horizontal curve, the horizontal curve
becomes visible ahead of the crest.
 37

6.4.4 Vertical curves are usually designed as parabolas. They are designed
to meet either minimum sight distance or comfort criteria. Sight distance for
safe stopping is the more stringent requirement.
6.4.5 For crest curves, safe stopping and safe overtaking values are usually
calculated on the basis of object and eye height criteria discussed earlier.
Safer stopping sight distance is usually an essential limitation although the
concept of safe maneuvering sight distance may also be applied. The cost of
crest curve sight distances for safe overtaking is often prohibitive and drivers
are not necessarily aware of its availability since the subtleties of variations
in road marking to indicate safe overtaking are often not fully understood,
even in developed countries. Using small vertical curves allowing longer
tangential gradient sections can maximize overtaking. This principle is
similar to that for the design of horizontal curvature.
6.4.6 Since designing crest vertical curves for overtaking sight distance is
expensive and is not justified in most cases, crest curves should be designed
to give no more than the absolute minimum stopping sight distance. Sag
curves offer adequate visibility during daylight. However, it is neither
practical nor reliable to design them for visibility at night. Sag curves should
therefore be designed according to comfort criteria. On major rods a vertical
acceleration of therefore be designed according to comfort criteria. On major
roads a vertical acceleration of 0.05 g would be an appropriate maximum,
whilst on other roads, the maximum is often relaxed to 0.10g.
6.4.7 For sag curves, the effective range of headlamp beams has a general
limit of 120-150 m for an unlit object. This is normally insufficient to form
the basis of curve design. Sag curves are therefore generally based on
 38

comfort criteria, i.e. vertical acceleration, which falls within the broad range
of 0.03-0.10 g.

6.5 Gradients
6.5.1 There are two aspects to a design standard for gradients; the gradient
itself, and the length of the gradient. Many vehicles can tolerate a steep
gradient for a short distance, but cannot sustain speed if the gradient is long.
For coastal roads in mountainous terrain appropriate maximum gradients
should be based upon traction ability, which will be different for 2-wheel
drive, 4-wheel drive and animal drawn vehicles.
6.5.2 A minimum slope is necessary to drain a pavement adequately.
Although part of the drainage requirement is provided by the cross fall, al
longitudinal grade is desirable to assist drainage, particularly for kerbed
pavements.
6.5.3 Although speeds of cars will be lower on steep upgrades, large
differences between speeds of light vehicles and heavy vehicles will occur
and truck speeds will be quite slow. It can be considered important,
therefore, to provide sufficiently adequate horizontal sight distance to enable
faster vehicle operators to recognize when they are catching up to a slow
vehicle and to adjust their speed accordingly.
6.5.4 The use of steeper gradients results in much shorter lengths of incline
than the use of flatter gradients. However, there are operational disbenefits
of steep gradients such as greater use of fuel, particularly for heavy vehicles,
and additional delays caused by slow speeds.
6.5.5 Both gradient and length of gradient are important considerations in
 39

the design process, although sometimes the gradient is one of the standards
that may be relaxed to give greatest economy with least loss of operational
performance.
6.5.6 At the basic access level, gradients must be negotiable by the design
vehicle, albeit at a very low speed. If only 4-wheel drive vehicles use the
road, the maximum gradient may be up to 20 percent. For traction
requirements and maintenance reasons, it is recommended that all gradients
over 10 percent should be paved, or at least have paved wheel tracks.
6.5.7 As traffic flows increase, the economic benefits of reduced severity
and length of gradient will become larger because of the increased number
of vehicles and associated operational effects. Lower construction costs in
flatter terrain will generally result in the economic justification of higher
standards of gradient under those conditions. Thus, in most developed
countries, maximum allowable gradients, which vary with design speed and
terrain, range from 3 % on high flow/high speed roads in level terrain to 16
% on low flow/low speed roads in mountainous terrain, and can sometimes
reach as high as 18 to 20 %. In general 4 to 8 % is considered a desirable
maximum on roads with higher design speeds. Values recommended on the
basis of available standards are as shown in Table 11.
Table 11. Recommended Maximum Gradients
Design Speed (km/h) Maximum Gradient (%)
Desirable Absolute Maximum
30 10 20
40 8 16
50 8 16
60 7 12
 40

70 6 10
85 5 10
100 4 8
120 4 8

7. The Environment
Environmental assessment has three major objectives: to help the
managers of the road development decide on a project design that takes
environmental considerations into account; to help the technical personnel
responsible for execution of the road project implement it with full
knowledge of the environmental factors; and to inform the public when the
road project is likely to affect their environment and facilitate their
participation in the decision-making process.

7.1 Environmental Assessment Study

There are five areas of investigation which are generally required to
meet the above mentioned objectives:
(a) Analysis of baseline conditions.
(b) Analysis of potential environmental impacts.
(c) Consideration of alternatives.
(d) Development of mitigation and compensation measures.
(e) Design of monitoring and evaluation plans.

8. Effect of Sea Level Rise

8.1 The principal effect of sea level rise is the loss of shoreland and its
impact on setback or shoreland construction in addition to the already
determined from erosion caused by extreme storm/hurricane events and
annual rate of wave induced coastal erosion.
 41

Figure 11. Erosional Response Model/Bruun Rule

The basic model often used to estimate erosion due to rising sea level is
called the Bruun Rule (Bruun 1962)(Figure 11), and it assumes that
sediment eroded from the shoreface is dispersed offshore. As water level
rises, waves erode the upper beach, causing the shoreline to recede.
Conceptually, this erosion supplies sediment for upward building for the
outer part of the profile. The model assumes that the initial profile shape will
 42

be reestablished farther inland but at a height above the original position

equal to the rise in water level z. Therefore, the retreat of the profile x or loss
of shoreland can be calculated from the following relationship (a modified
version of the Bruun Rule):
X = zX
Z
where the terms x, z, X, and Z are shown in Figure.
The effect will depend on the actual length of the equilibrium beach/shore
profile and the average slope of the seabed. Figure 12 shows the variation in
profile retreat with rise in sea level for a 1,000 m equilibrium profile length
along varying slopes. The effect is greater for milder beach profile slopes
than for the steeper slopes.

The End
 43

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Agenda for The Caribbean”, Inter American Development Bank, Caribbean
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 44
14. Charles, R., “The Equilibrium Strength of Clay Subgrades”, MPhil Thesis,
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WIBLIOGRAPHY

01. WWW.asce.com

02. www.IRC.GOV.IN

03. www.ice.org.uk/disciplines-and.../ice-library-and-digital-resources

04. www.delta.ca/services/roads-transportation/.../road-construction-
process.

05. Other related and concern weblinks.