Rigid Pavements:

A rigid pavement is constructed from cement concrete or reinforced concrete slabs. Grouted
concrete roads are in the category of semi-rigid pavements. The design of rigid pavement is
based on providing a structural cement concrete slab of sufficient strength to resists the loads
from traffic.

PARAMETERS FOR THE DESIGN OF RIGID PAVEMENTS

The parameters for the design of rigid pavements are following

1. Modulus of Subgrade:
Westergaard considered the rigid pavement slab as a thin elastic plate resting on soil
sub-grade, which is assumed as a dense liquid. The upward reaction is assumed to be
proportional to the deflection. Base on this assumption, Westergaard defined a modulus

of sub-grade reaction in kg/cm given by where is the displacement

level taken as 0.125 cm and is the pressure sustained by the rigid plate of 75 cm
diameter at a deflection of 0.125 cm.
2. Elastic Modulus of Concrete:
Modulus of elasticity (ratio between stress & strain) of rigid pavement is higher than
that of flexible pavements. This is because of the same reasons as explained earlier. If
modulus not kept very high than this mean strains will be easily propagating in the
pavement and when strains propagates then pavement will not remain rigid pavement.
It can be estimated from compressive strength
EC = 5700(fc) 0.5 psi

3. Equivalent Axel Load:

Equivalent axle load is defined as the ratio of number of repetitions of nonstandard axle
load to the standard axle load up to failure. Failure is defined as the minimum number
of repetitions that cause of 20 percent fatigue cracking on pavement surface or 13 mm
rut depth on the wheel track.
Estimate the total number of 18kips (18KN) equivalent single axel load for the design
period.

4. Load Transfer Coefficient:

Estimate the required load transfer coefficient (J).
5. Reliability:
The application of reliability analysis during pavement design is essential to understand
the effect of the variability on the quality of the pavement so that those pavements can
provide safe and comfortable services to the public.
6. Standard Deviation:
Determine the overall standard deviation.
So = 0.34 (if traffic projection error not consider)
S0 = 0.39 (if traffic projection error is consider)
7. Drainage Coefficient:
Determine the drainage coefficient (Cd).
 THICKNESS OF THE SLAB OF RIGID PAVEMENT

Given data:

Effective modulus of subgrade reaction 100 lb/in3

K=

4.5*106 lb/in2
Concrete elastic modulus EC =

3.2
Load transfer coefficient J =

95%
Reliability R =

700 lb/in2
Mean concrete modulus of rupture S’c =

0.8
Drainage coefficient Cd =

1 lb/in2
Serviceability loss ∆ =

8 million
ESAL w.r.t to W18 =
Solution:
By using the above data and the standard charts we find the thickness of the slab.

REQUIRED SLAB THICKNESS OF RIGID PAVEMENT IS 10.3IN.