1 CENG5241:HIGHWAY ENGINEERING-III

CHAPTER-1:ROAD
CONSTRUCTION

Instructor: Amare T.
amentilahun23@gmail.com
 Lecture Outlines
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 Introduction
 Subgrade preparation and Improvement

 Sub-Base course construction

 Base course construction

 Construction of Asphalt Concrete

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 Introduction
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 Road construction covers:

- new construction, re-construction or
rehabilitation, and improvements of an existing
road, overlays,…etc. starting from earthwork
and finishing with top bituminous or concrete
surface.
 Highway pavement is a structure composed of:
 Subgrade
 Sub-base course
 Base course
 Surface course
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 Introduction
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Asphalt Concrete (AC) Base Course

Aggregates

Natural Soil (Subgrade)

Sub base Course

 Subgrade preparation and Improvement
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SUBGRADE LAYER
CONSTRUCTION
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 The Subgrade prepared by bringing is to desired

grade and chamber and by compacting adequately.
 The Subgrade may be either in embankment or in
excavation.
The various operations involved in the preparation
of sub-grade are as follows:
i. Site clearance
ii. Earthwork
iii. Compaction
iv. Checking sub-grade
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 Site clearance:
This operation includes: clearing and grubbing
 Clearing-is the removal of materials above the existing
ground surface
 Grubbing-is the removal of roots, stumps, and similar
objects to a normal depth below the ground surface.
 Earthwork
After site clearance, the second step is the earth work
for the preparation of sub-grade. Before starting the
earthwork control pegs are fixed for guidance. The
control pegs include clearing stake, batter pegs,
formation pegs, reference pegs...
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 The earthwork for construction of a road

includes:
a. Earthwork in cutting or excavation
b. Earthwork in embankment
Earthwork in cutting or excavation
In cut areas, in addition to the removal of materials
above the ground, specification, generally require that
all stamps and roots should be removed to a depth not
less than 0.3 m below the proposed road. This
requirement usually holds in embankment areas where
the height of the fill is less than about 1.5 m.
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Cut Section
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Earthwork
a. Excavation
 It is the process of cutting or loosening and
removing earth including rock from its original
position, transporting and dumping it as fill or spoil
bank.
 The excavation is needed when the finished
formation level of a road is to be kept lower than
the natural ground level.
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 Excavation Equipment
The excavation equipment commonly used in highway
projects include:
 Bull dozers

 Scrapers

 Power shovels

 Draglines

 Clamshells

 Hoes
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 Specifications usually classify excavations based on the

type and easy of excavation:
 Rock excavation:
 Common excavation
 Unsuitable excavation
 Borrow excavation
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 Rock excavation: materials that can not be excavated

without blasting or the use of rippers and all boulders or
other detached stones, each having a volume of 1 cub.
meter or more.
 Common excavation: excavation and disposal of all
materials of whatever encountered in the work not
otherwise classified.
 Or material which can be efficiently removed or loaded
by equipments.
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 Unsuitable excavation: the removal and disposal of

deposit of not saturated or unsaturated mixture of soil
and organic matter unsuitable for embankment materials.
 Borrow excavation: excavation of approved material
required for the construction of embankments and other
element of the road.
 All excavated materials that are suitable are used in
constructing the elements of the roadway structure
including embankments, shoulder, Subgrade, slopes, and
backfill for structures. Unsuitable or surplus materials are
disposed.
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b. Embankment
 When the formation level of the road is above the
natural ground level, embankments are required to
be made.
 In embankment sections, when the height is more
than 1.5 m, trees and stumps may be left in place
and cut off at ground level or at a height of 75 to
150 mm above the existing ground surface.
 Some agencies require that all large trees 450 mm
or more in diameter be removed, regardless of the
height of the fill.
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Methods of embankment construction on marshy area

 Convectional construction is unsatisfactory and
special procedures are necessary to construct
embankments through marshy areas. These include:
 Removal and replacement method: suitable where the
undesirable soil is of shallow depth say up to 2.4 to
3.7m and is under laid by a soil of satisfactorily
character or rock. Sometimes, partial excavation and
replacement is practiced for secondary roads when
encountered deep swampy deposits.
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 Displacement method: this is a method by which the

unsuitable muck is displaced by the weight of the fill and
possibly a surcharge or by this weight supplemented by
explosives water jetting. The blast serves to displace the
material by the force of the explosions and by liquefying
the remaining unsuitable material so that it is displaced
more readily by the weight. The process of jetting involves
the pumping of water into the underlying soil layer in
order to liquefy and ease the displacement of the layer by
the weight of the embankment. The surcharge is
uncompacted fill added over the compacted fill to
accelerate the displacement.
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 Vertical sand method: this is a method by which vertical

columns of sand from 450 to 600 mm in diameter, spaced
from 2 to 6m a part on centres beneath the embankment
section carried completely through the compressible soil to
accelerate consolidation.
 A sand blanket 1to1.5 m thick is generally placed at the top
of the drain extending across the entire width of
embankment section. The embankment is then constructed
by normal methods on top of the sand blanket.
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 Fabric Reinforcement : this is the use of engineering

fabrics such as geotextiles or geotechnical fabrics placed on
weak foundation (to increase the bearing capacity) and
over laid with the embankment fill.
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 The following types of material shall be considered

unsuitable for embankment:
 Peat and other organic materials from swamps, marshes and
bogs that contain compressible soils and excessive amount of
degradable organic matter such as decomposing wood and
other vegetation.
 Materials with more than 5% by weight of organic materials
 Materials with a swell of more than 3% (e.g. black cotton
soils)
 Clay having liquid limit exceeding 90 and plasticity index
exceeding 45;
 Expansive clay exhibiting marked swell & shrinkage properties
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 The design elements in highway embankments

are :
 Height
 Fill Material
 Settlement
 Stability of Foundation
 Stability of Slopes
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 Compaction
Compaction of the fill is carried out to achieve the required
density.
Table 1.1: ERA recommendation for Subgrade compaction
Light compaction Heavy compaction
Type of work
MDD MDD
the upper 250 mm of soil
immediately
Minimum of 100% 93%
beneath the sub-base or
capping layer
lower layers of an 95-100% 90-93%
embankment
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Typical Roadway Cross Sections

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Checking of the Subgrade

 Trueness of the Subgrade is checked after its
preparation. Surface levels of the sub-grade along
the road alignment is checked by using a levelling
instrument.
 Sub-Base course construction
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GRANULAR SUB-BASE
(GSB)
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GRANULER SUB-BASE (GSB)

 It is an intermediate layer provided between sub
grade and granular base course.
 The function of this layer is to serve as a drainage
layer of the pavement system to avoid excessive wetting
and weakening of sub grade.
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Functions of a sub-base layer are:

 To provide additional help to the base and surface
courses in distributing the loads
 To prevent intrusion of fine-grained road-bed soils
into the base
 To minimize the damaging effects of frost action
 To facilitate drainage of free water that might get
accumulated below the pavement
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GRANULAR SUB-BASE MIX

The material to be used for the work shall be

Natural Weathered Crushed Cinder Recycle

gravel Rock stone Gravel pavement
material
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Construction of sub-base layer

1. Design of JMF
2. Transportation of GSB mix from plant to construction site
3. Dumping of GSB mix with the help of tipper or truck
4. Laying of GSB mix with the help of mechanical paver (If machine laid)
5. Spreading of GSB mix to the desired line, level and grade
6. Checking moisture content prior to compaction with suitable apparatus
7. Rolling operation (if moisture content is found ok) otherwise re-
watering & recompaction should be done till desired degree of
compaction is achieved
8. Determination of degree of compaction
9. Checking of surface irregularity with the help of 3 m straight edge
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BEFORE LAYING GSB LAYER

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Finished Subgrade Top Should be Checked For the Following:

 Camber or slope of the road bed

 Undulation
 Firmness of the compacted surface ( if found in
loose condition, re-watering and recompaction is
sought)
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LAYING OF GSB LAYER WITH MECHANICAL PAVER

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SPREADING OF GSB LAYER USING GRADER (MANUAL

CONSTRUCTION)
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WATERING OF GSB MATERIAL

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ROLLING OPERATION
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 ERA Recommendation for material requirements

Materials with requirements
Test Type Gravel sub-base Crushed stone sub-base
As the requirements
Grading limits As the requirements

Grading
> 1.5 (with exception > 1.2) > 1.5 (with exception > 1.2)
modulus
PI Max.6 or 12 Max.6
CBR ≥30% ≥30%

Compaction >95% OF Modified AASHTO Min.95%

LAA <51 <45

FI <35 -
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Test Frequency for checking

Frequency (one Minimum number of
Test test every) tests/lot
Material
Field density and OMC 200 m 4
Atterberg limits and
1km 4
Gradings
Construction tolerances
Surface levels 20 m 3 points/cross-section
Thickness 20 m 3 points /cross-section
Width 20 m
Cross section 20 m
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 Base course construction
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Base Course
 Base course construction
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Functions of the base course are:

 To act as the structural portion of the
pavement and thus distribute the loads
 If constructed directly over the sub-grade,

to prevent intrusion of Subgrade soil into

the pavement
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 According to the method of

construction, the various
types of base courses of
flexible pavements are:
 Crushed rock or stone

 Naturally occurring
granular materials,
boulders, weathered rock
 Dense bitumen macadam
(DBM)
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CONSTRUCTION STEPS:
1. Specification of materials
to obtain the following parameters:
(a) physical requirements of aggregates
(b) grading requirements
2. Construction operations
 Preparation of base
 Preparation of mix
 Spreading of mix
 Compaction
 Setting and drying
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 Construction of Asphalt Concrete
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CONSTRUCTION OF
BITUMINOUS LAYERS
 Construction of Asphalt Concrete
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 Construction of Asphalt Concrete
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Typical layers of a flexible pavement

Seal Coat: Seal coat is a thin surface treatment used to
water proof the surface and to provide skid resistance
and to seal the surfacing against the ingress of water.
Tack Coat: Tack coat is a very light application of asphalt,
usually asphalt emulsion diluted with water. It provides
proper bonding between two layer of binder course. It is
generally applied on impervious surface.
Prime Coat: Prime coat is an application of low viscous liquid
bituminous material over an existing porous or absorbent
pavement surface like WBM.
 Construction of Asphalt Concrete
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 Construction of Asphalt Concrete
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Transportation of HMA material

 Construction of Asphalt Concrete
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PAVING IN FULL WIDTH

 Construction of Asphalt Concrete
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 Construction of Asphalt Concrete
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IF NOT PROPERLY CONSTRUCTED

THEN WHAT HAPPEN?

 Construction of Asphalt Concrete
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Rutting + Bleeding
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