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Long-life pavement design and construction – a

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Conference Paper · June 2012

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 Long-Life Pavement Design and Construction – A Case Study
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George Wang1, Yuhong Wang2, Russell Thompson3 and Yong Han Ahn1
1
East Carolina University, Department of Construction Management, Greenville, NC
27858. Ph: (252)737-1887; Fax: (252)328-1165; E-mail: wangg@ecu.edu
2
Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Ph: (852)
2766-4489; E-mail: ceyhwang@polyu.edu.hk
3
Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia 3800. Ph: (613)9905-1850; E-mail:
russell.thompson@monash.edu

ABSTRACT
Over the past 20 years, China’s transportation infrastructure has developed
rapidly. To date, more than 40,000 kilometers expressway have been built and
opened to traffic, ranking second in the world. In the meantime, short service life and
early failure of the highway pavement have become one of major concerns. This may
be contributed by the poorly designed semi-rigid pavement structure and heavily
overloaded vehicles. In more recent years, some long-life pavement structures have
been designed and constructed. This paper discusses the design and construction of
an expressway long-life flexible pavement structure in China. The project involved is
a new 26.78 kilometer, Da’an to Jiliao Section in Henan Province, of the Erlianhaote
to Guangzhou Expressway. The pavement had been designed as a semi-rigid
structure which was later replaced by the new long-life flexible pavement structure in
order to introduce this pavement technology as a cost-effective alternative to current
semi-rigid or rigid pavement technology in China. Technical services provided
through integrated technology transfer activities have presented a model for future
expressway projects an option, and made the long-life flexible pavement structure the
leading edge of national practice.

INTRODUCTION
In more recent years, there are several long-life pavement structures have
been designed and constructed in China. Comprehensive technical services were
requested by a local highway authority to provide design and construction quality
control and assurance services for an expressway long-life flexible pavement
structure for the Da’an to Jiliao Section, in Henan Province, of the Erlianhaote to
Guangzhou Expressway. The project involved was the new 26.78 kilometer, Da’an
to Jiliao Section in Henan Province, of the Erlianhaote to Guangzhou Expressway.
This Expressway Section had a design speed of 100 km/hour and includes twin
tunnels (12.5 meter width, 2.1 kilometer length), many culverts, small bridges, and
one large, low-level bridge (840 meter length). The width of the expressway (road)
base is 26 meters (two 0.75 meter soil shoulders, two 3.0 meter emergency stopping
zones, four 3.75 meter driving lanes, two 0.5 meter left side edges, and a 2.0 meter
median). The original proposed semi-rigid asphalt pavement design was 4 cm PM

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Asphalt concrete (Type AC-13C), over 6 cm PM asphalt concrete (Type AC-20C),

over 8 cm asphalt concrete (Type AC-25C), over 0.6 cm modified asphalt slurry seal,
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over 18 cm cement/fly-ash stabilized crushed stone base (4:10:86), over 30 cm (two

15 cm lifts) cement/fly-ash stabilized sand and gravel subbase, and an average fill
(embankment) height of 4.5 meters.
From the initial site visit observation and discussions, and the
cut/embankment geotechnical evaluations provided, it was clear that the site was
geologically quite complex: considerable poor, low-lying soils (~ km 0 to 2, fairly
good soil conditions and ~ km 2 to 10, poor soil conditions with some expansive clay
and generally shallow groundwater), rising to foothills which will be a major source
of fill; then hilly (~ km 13 to 16, with twin tunnels); low-lying soils again (~ km 16 to
18, with land acquisition still in progress); the 840 meter length bridge (~ km 20); and
then foothills again with deep soil deposits (~ km 20 to 27). The strength, California
Bearing Ratio (CBR) and construction quality of the embankment fills, which formed
the subgrade for the pavement structure, will be very important to the satisfactory
performance of any expressway semi-rigid asphalt pavement or long-life flexible
(asphalt) pavement at this site.
The local highway authority proposed changing the original semi-rigid asphalt
pavement structure (design) for the entire length of the project. It was intended to
adopt a long-life flexible (asphalt) pavement structure (design) for the project, in
order to introduce this pavement technology as a cost-effective alternative to current
semi-rigid or rigid pavement technology. The comprehensive technical services for
the project was provided through integrated technology transfer cooperation with
expressway, so that the long-life flexible (asphalt) pavement structure (design) will be
at the leading edge of national and international practice and provide a model for
future expressway projects. It has been demonstrated or will be reflected in the
continuing performance long-life flexible pavement quality and life-cycle cost
advantages.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON LONG-LIFE PAVEMENT

According to 1990 European asphalt study tour (FHWA/AASHTO/NAPA),
long-life flexible pavement is not a new concept; it has been widely used in Europe.
New technologies have contributed to the development of long-life pavement, which
include new mix designs, Stone Mastic Asphalt (SMA), for instance; porous asphalt
and high-tech surface treatments; new attitudes toward quality and longevity in
pavements - ‘perpetual’ pavement; SHRP activities, Superpave (construction
equipment, April 1997), AASHTO 93 - pavement structure - serviceability and
fatigue (if checked), AASHTO 2002 (mechanistic) fostering in the US and Canada,
which are straight forward to implement.

International experience - International technical literature has presented long-life

asphalt pavements (LLAP) and distress type(s) newly identified in recent years, such
as top-down cracking (TDC) in the US (Myers, 2002). International practical
experience, French, Belgian and UK, for instance, indicates the deterioration of thick,
well-constructed, asphalt concrete pavements is not generally structural, and that the
deterioration generally starts at the surface as cracking, i.e., TDC and surface course

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asphalt concrete rutting, i.e., non-structural deterioration. This implies that a properly
designed flexible pavement built with appropriate strength and quality will remain
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structurally serviceable for a lengthy design life, i.e., a LLAP, 50, or more, years
design life, provided a pavement management strategy/system (PMS) and
maintenance management systems (MMS) is implemented to ensure that systematic
maintenance, pavement preservation such as crack sealing and surface course HMA
renewal, 3 to 4 cm, on about a 20 year cycle, typically, which is adopted to
detect/monitor and mitigate non-structural deterioration (cracks and rutting) before it
impacts on structural performance (2,3,4). Good pavement foundations (strong,
drained, stable and consistent) are essential to preclude distresses that originate deep
within the pavement structure (Newcomb, 2003).

Chinese expressway practice - Large scale of expressway, especially flexible

(asphalt) expressway construction in China started in the late 1980’s. For the last two
decades, over 40,000 kilometers expressway have been constructed. Majority of the
expressway is semi-rigid structure plus overwhelming overloaded vehicles. This has
been a direct or indirect cause for early failure of many expressways in China. The
forms of early distresses are various. Fig. 1 shows typical distress in fairly new
expressway pavement. Fig. 2 shows typical overloaded truck with poor axle and tire
distribution of loadings.

Fig. 1 Cracking of relatively new semi-rigid asphalt pavement in Hohhot, Inner

Mongolia, transverse thermal crack with top down cracking in wheel path

Fig. 2 Typical heavily overloaded truck with poor axle and tire distribution of
loadings

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PAVEMENT STRUCTURE DESIGN

The project earthwork had started in spring 2006 when the long-life pavement
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structure design was proposed. The long-life flexible (asphalt) pavement structure
design, and associated technology, mitigation of TDC for instance, involved the
following work meeting the components completion timeline, particularly subgrade,
base and subbase, pavement surface, and warranty period. The design of
recommended long-life flexible (asphalt) pavement structure(s) in accordance with
the "Design of Long-Life Flexible Pavements", "AASHTO 2002 for Asphalt
Pavement Design", and "Material Properties", including assistance with site CBR,
Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) and Dynamic Cone Penetrometer (DCP)
testing and characterization of representative subgrade soil (fill) samples, granular
materials, and asphalt concrete. The activities followed by preliminary design(s),
materials characterization, final design(s), complete life-cycle performance and life-
cycle cost analysis comparisons of the recommended long-life flexible (asphalt)
pavement structure(s) and current semi-rigid asphalt pavement structure including a
value engineering comparison.
In the meantime, to ensure the quality of construction, materials performance
requirements (subgrade, subbase, base, and asphalt concrete) and relevant end-result
materials and construction specifications (End-Results Specifications (ERS)), quality
(flexible pavement materials and construction) verification procedures for the project
(contractors/subcontractors/material suppliers' responsibility for quality control (QC),
with local authority responsible for quality assurance (QA) were developed
subsequently. Preliminary and final quality assurance requirements report was
prepared. The pavement performance will monitored during the warranty period, to
prepare the end-of-construction performance report and end-of-warranty period
performance report with recommendations for any necessary remedial work and/or
future mitigation maintenance activities.

Pre-Design Evaluation - The pavement design methodology used for the Da’an to
Jiliao long-life pavement design consisted of the following: (i) review of project
preliminary semi-rigid pavement design, and related documentation, including
geotechnical, traffic information, pavement maintenance, rehabilitation and
construction unit prices and supplemented by the author’s previous major pavement
design experience; (ii) determination of ESALs using the project preliminary design
for semi-rigid pavement, supplemented by traffic data for existing ‘similar’
expressways; (iii) review and recommendations of pavement design parameters,
including pavement layer structural, and drainage coefficients; (iv) development of
preliminary pavement designs using the AASHTO Guide for the Design of Pavement
Structure, 1993, supplemented by the author’s previous pavement design experience;
(v) overstressing evaluation (high loadings of heavy vehicles) using the Shell
Bituminous Structures Analysis in Roads (BISAR) software; and also review of the
Specifications for the Design of Asphalt Pavement Highways (JTG D50-2006), the
Chinese national flexible pavement design method. Fig. 3 presents the situation of
subgrade and tunnel construction when the pavement design, i.e. long-life flexible
pavement designs, amendment was developed.

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FIGURE 3. Subgrade preparation and compaction in December 2006 (left).

South entrance of one of the twin tunnels in December 2006 (right).

Traffic Considerations - ESALs were determined using the project preliminary

design for semi-rigid pavement traffic information, supplemented by traffic data for
existing ‘similar’ expressways. Based on the Specifications for the Design of Asphalt
Pavement Highways (JTG D50-2006), Paragraph 3.1, standard Axle Load and Design
Traffic Volume, the typical axle is the BZZ-100 (single axle on dual tires), with a
standard load of 100 kN, tire pressure of 0.70 MPa, single wheel contact diameter
(circular contact area) of 213 mm, and distance from the center points between dual
tires of 320 mm (1.5 × diameter). The standard axle load was adjusted to include
allowable overloading (up to 150 kN (50% overload) is permitted). The estimation of
traffic loads is a critical pavement design input, and for this reason most recent
commercial vehicle traffic and axel loading data was used for the pavement designs.
The traffic volumes and traffic composition provided by the local highway
authority were as follows:
Total traffic volume (in): 220,000/month 7,000/day;
Total traffic volume (out): 210,000/month 6,900/day;
Traffic composition: 32% trucks, 30% of which are overloaded
The Equivalent Axle Loads (EALs) for 15, 20, 25, 30, 40 and 50 years were
calculated using the data from the project preliminary semi-rigid pavement design
report, including EALs per day (based on deflection 4602 EALs/day and based on
tensile strain 3812 EALs/day) and project traffic growth estimates. After Year 25, it
was assumed there would be zero percent growth in EALs as new lanes are installed
and new regulations enforced (more modern trucks and reduced axles
loading/overload control, for instance). For the analysis, three scenarios were
considered to maintain reasonable capacity for future traffic growth: A – future lane
construction (4 lanes to 6 lanes) in Year 15; B – in Year 20; and C – in Year 30. A
factor of 4.6 was used to convert the EAL’s (100 kN) into ESAL’s (80kN). This
factor was calculated assuming a blend of loaded and unloaded trucks, and 30 percent
of the vehicles overloaded (> 100 kN, up to 50%, 150 kN) and typical truck factors.

Materials Properties - Pavement structure designs were developed using AASHTO

93 design method, using parameters specified by AASHTO 93 and supplemented
with the author’s previous design parameters. Two conditions were modeled in order
to reflect the quality of materials and construction (good and standard). In addition,

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three types of subgrade performance (resilient modulus) were considered (Good, Fair
and Poor).
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Preliminary Pavement Designs - As indicated, preliminary pavement designs were

completed using the AASHTO 93 design method. A total six systems (runs) were
completed for each analysis period (15, 30, 40 and 50 years) to compare the influence
of quality construction, materials and subgrade on the resulting pavement structures,
and to select the most appropriate design. The preliminary designs are presented in
Table 3. An overstressing evaluation (high loading of heavy vehicles) was completed
using the Shell Oil Company BISAR program. A four-layer system was used in the
analysis (HMA, Granular Base/Subbase, Selected Subgrade Material and Subgrade
(Fill)). The load used in this analysis was she standard axle BZZ-100 load (single
axle on dual tires) of 100 kN (150 kN for an overloaded truck). The tire pressure was
assumed to be 0.70 MPa, with a circular contact area. The strains were calculated at
the bottom of the hot-mix asphalt layer and at the top of the subgrade (fill).

FINAL PAVEMENT STRUCTURAL SELECTION AND COST

COMPASSION
Table 1 provides the final design selection for Da’an to Jiliao Section long-life
flexible pavement design compared with the previous semi-rigid pavement design.

Table 1. Long-life pavements structure with the original semi-rigid pavement

design
Current Design Concession Period Long-Life
Period 30 Year Design 50 Year
15 Year Design Design
High Stability HMA 19 cm* 24 cm* 30 cm*
Crushed Rock Base 20 cm 20 cm 20 cm
Crushed Rock Subbase 40 cm 40 cm 40 cm
Sand and Gravel 80 cm 80 cm 80 cm
Select Subgrade Material
Geotextile Geotextile Geotextile Geotextile
Embankment Fill/Cut Fill/Cut Fill/Cut Fill/Cut
Road Bed
Notes:
* The total thickness of the HMA can probably be reduced by 2 to 4 cm with high
quality materials/construction and care taken to deal with potential top-down
cracking. The HMA surface course (wearing course) should incorporate SBS
modified asphalt binder. The HMA lower course (bottom course) should be
somewhat ‘rich’ in asphalt binder and also incorporate SBS modified asphalt binder.
The HMA must incorporate an anti-stripping additive (typically one percent hydrated
lime).

CONSTRUCTION
The final design amendment was approved in February 2007, and
implemented immediately into the construction. Construction quality management

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services further were provided to ensure the quality of construction. Hydrated lime
surface treatment was used to reduce asphalt pavement temperature (black body
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absorption in Figure 4).

Fig. 4 APA Asphalt Concrete Testing (Left). Hydrated Lime Surface Treatment
To Reduce Asphalt Pavement Temperature (Right)

Normally design-build projects essentially place all pavement performance

responsibility directly on the contractors, through the initial five year maintenance
requirement plus additional five year guarantee against defects. New technologies
were employed during the long-life flexible pavement design and construction stages.
These included, but not limited, the project (FWD, conventional and portable) testing;
Asphalt Pavement Analyzer (APA) verification testing (Figure 5); Impact-Echo
Equipment; DCP testing. FWD is very effective for checking that the design
strengths are being achieved. Satisfactory and consistent FWD deflection levels
indicate that the horizontal tensile strains (εh) at the bottom of the HMA, and vertical
compressive strains (strains (εv) at the top of the subgrade, will meet design
requirement in terms of HMA fatigue endurance and pavement structural rutting
resistance respectively. Figure 5 presents FWD and Impact-Echo testing.

Fig. 5 Portable FWD was used to determine the Mr directly on the surface of the
granular base, granular subbase or subgrade during construction (left). Field
testing of asphalt concrete pavement with impact-echo equipment to determine
cracking and interface conditions (right)

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Fig. 6 Asphalt paving in summer 2008

Fig. 7 The 26.78 km long Da’an to Jilao expressway long-life flexible pavement
was completed and opened at the end of November 2008

Figs. 6 and 7 present the construction of asphalt layer and the views at the completion
of construction.

CONCLUSION
This subject expressway section is located an important component of the
national key trunk expressway system, i.e. 13 vertical and 15 horizontal expressway
system. It is also the 4th vertical trunk expressway in Henan province, (Henan has
five vertical, four horizontal expressways and six corridors highway plan). It is the
major expressway in northwestern Henan. The total investment is ¥1.206444 billion
yuan RMB (~$ 180 million USD). When the long-life pavement design amendment
was proposed, the construction preparation had started, which include by-passage,
resident offices, central laboratory, earthwork. Materials testing, mix designs,
surveying, construction plan for road bed, bridges and culverts had been approved.
Concrete beam plants were being established. Three bid sections have started to
produce concrete beams. By the mid December 2006, the completed construction
work included: 1.56 million cubic meters of surface soil removal; 60,000 cubic
meters of back fill; 381,000 cubic meters of cut; 107.4 meters of culverts, 44 culvert,
two precast beams, and 277 meters of tunnel advancement.

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The goal of the design amendment was to optimize the pavement design,
determine the best type of pavement structure, improve the construction quality, build
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a high quality, economical long-life expressway. The design, construction and the
short term performance have proved the advantages of the long-life flexible pavement
over semi-rigid pavement. Technical services provided through integrated
technology transfer activities have presented a model for future expressway projects
an option in China, and made the long-life flexible pavement structure the leading
edge of national highway transportation practice.

REFERENCES
FP2 (2002). A Pocket Guide to Asphalt Pavement Preservation. Foundation for
Pavement Preservation. FP2/FHWA.
Myers, L.A. and Roque, R. (2002). Top-Down Crack Propagating in Bituminous
Pavements and Implications for Pavement Management. Asphalt Paving
Technology 2002. Journal of the Asphalt Paving Technologists, Vol. 71,
AAPT, 2002.
Newcomb, D. (2003). Perpetual Pavements and Pyramids Have a Lot in Common,
both need a Perpetual Foundation. Hot Mix Asphalt Technology,
March/April 2003.
Shahin, M.Y. (1998). Pavement Management for Airports, Roads, and Parking Lots.
Kluwer Academic Publishers, Norwell, Massachusetts, Third printing 1998.
TRB (2001). Perpetual Bituminous Pavements. TRB Committee on General Issues in
Asphalt Technology. Transportation Research Circular 503, TRB, 2001.

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