KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

2022 ACADEMIC YEAR

SECOND SEMESTER

CE 368 HIGHWAY ENGINEERING

LECTURES 3 - 6:
FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT DESIGN FACTORS

DR. KENNETH A. TUTU

JUNE 2022
 FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT DESIGN FACTORS
Key flexible pavement design factors are:
- Design period - Environment
- Pavement failure criterion - Material properties
- Subgrade strength - Traffic

Design Period (or Design Life)

• Duration of time a new pavement will last before it needs rehabilitation or the time
between two rehabilitation operations
• Timely maintenance increases a pavement’s chances of surviving its design period
• Selection of design period considers factors such as road functional classification,
strategic importance of road, availability of construction funds and maintenance practices
• A shorter design period suggests that rehabilitation will be required after a relatively short time
after initial construction. A longer design period requires greater effort in estimating design traffic
to avoid improper design. High initial construction cost is associated with longer design period.

Recommended Design Period

(GHA Pavement Design Manual, 1998)
Road Condition Design Period (Years)
High-volume urban 10 – 15
High-volume rural 10 – 15
Low-volume rural 5 – 10

Pavement Failure Criteria

• Level of deterioration reached by pavement at the end of its design period
• In mechanistic-empirical pavement design, the amount of specific distresses (e.g., fatigue
cracking and rutting) at end of design period are specified
• Some empirical pavement design procedures specify the overall pavement condition. For
example, the AASHTO empirical design method uses the terminal present serviceability
index (PSI) to describe the overall pavement condition at the end of design life.

Material Properties
• They indicate a material’s deformation and load-bearing characteristics. Examples are:
o Modulus (indicates resistance to deformation)
o California Bearing Ratio (CBR) and Poisson’s ratio

Environmental Factors (Temperature and Rainfall)

• These factors impact material properties, and hence a pavement’s load-carrying capacity

Ambient Temperature
• Affects AC layer temperature, and hence AC modulus
• At low temperatures, AC stiffens, making it prone to cracking
• At high temperatures, AC softens, making it prone to rutting
• Temperature affects aging of bituminous materials. Aging is a process in which oxygen
reacts with bitumen molecules to change its properties, thus making the bitumen brittle

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[Data for plot: https://www.climatestotravel.com/climate/ghana https://www.weather-atlas.com/en/ghana/axim-weather-january#temperature] [Map: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Building-Material-Preferences-in-
Warm-Humid-and-in-Oppong-Badu/9f8001f4aca7750bf6684d8150552f2e1b3b3736/figure/0]

Precipitation (Rainfall)
• Affects quantity of surface water infiltrating the pavement system
• Affects groundwater levels
• Affects resilient modulus of granular materials, and hence their load-carrying capacity

[Data for plot: https://www.climatestotravel.com/climate/ghana https://www.weather-atlas.com/en/ghana/axim-weather-january#temperature] [Map: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Building-Material-Preferences-in-

Warm-Humid-and-in-Oppong-Badu/9f8001f4aca7750bf6684d8150552f2e1b3b3736/figure/0]

Subgrade
• Subgrade is the pavement’s foundation
• Subgrade performance largely depends on its load bearing capacity and volume changes
• Pavement design should provide adequate structure to avoid excessive subgrade stresses,
which will cause rutting

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 Source: CDOT PDM

P = 80kN
Tyre Pressure = 690 kPa

Asphalt Concrete A
H = 150mm
A
EAC = 3,450MPa B
µ = 0.35 B
C C
Granular Base
H = 200mm D
EGB = 280MPa
D
E
µ = 0.40
E
Subgrade
F
MR = 70MPa F
µ = 0.45
Variation of Stress versus Depth

Traffic
• Traffic volume (number of vehicles) and weight (axle loading) are key
• Light vehicles (e.g., cars, small buses, pick-ups) cause minimal damage and are ignored
• Different vehicles have different axle types.
• Different axle types induced different amount of pavement damage.
• More axles carry more weight, but they spread out the damaging effect
• Design must consider number of repetitions of each axle type and load during design period

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 Axle Configurations

Single axle, single tyres Single axle, dual tyres

Tandem axle, single tyres Tandem axle, dual tyres

Tridem axle, single tyres Tridem axle, dual tyres

Quad axle, single tyres Quad axle, dual tyres

Exercise: Identify the axle configurations in the following vehicles.

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Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) Vehicle Classification
(GHA Pavement Design Manual, 1998)

5
 Description of GHA Vehicle Classification
Vehicle Class Description
Small Buses Carry 19 passengers (maximum)
Medium Buses Carry 20 to 33 passengers
Large Buses Carry 34 or more passengers
• 2-axle trucks with single rear wheels OR
Light Trucks
• 2-axle trucks less than 10 tons with twin rear wheels
Medium Trucks 2-axle trucks with twin rear wheels
Heavy Trucks 3-axle trucks
4-axle trucks (missing in GHA classification)
Heavy Trucks

Semi-trailers (Light) Semi-trailers with any configuration of 3 axles

Semi-trailers (Medium) Semi-trailers with any configuration of 4 axles
Semi-trailers (Heavy) Semi-trailers with any configuration of 5 axles
Extra Large Semi-trailers with any configuration of 6 axles, tractors, heavy
agricultural or constructional machinery

Equivalent Axle Load Factor (EALF)

• Traffic stream has several vehicle types (mixed traffic), with variable axle types and loads
• Different axle types and loads cause different amount of pavement damage

https://chinadialogue.net/en/cities/8553-new-delhi-s-traffic-scheme-inspires-despite-mixed-results/

• Equivalent axle load factor (EALF) compares the damaging effect of various axle types
and loads to that of a standard axle.
• EALF is the damage per pass by an axle relative to damage per pass of a standard axle
• AASHO Road Test adopted the 18-kip (80-kN) single axle (dual tyres, inflation pressure
80 psi [552kPa]) as a standard axle
• AASHO Road Test developed EALF equations each for flexible and rigid pavements

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 EALF Equation – Flexible Pavement
Wtx Gt Gt
log � � = 6.1252 − 4.79 log(Lx + L2 ) + 4.33log𝐿𝐿2 + −
W𝑡𝑡18 βx β18
4.2 − Pt
Gt = log � �
4.2 − 1.5
0.081(Lx + L2 )3.23
βx = 0.40 +
(SN + 1)5.19 . L2 3.23
Wt18
EALF = � �
W𝑡𝑡x
Where:
Wtx = Number of non-standard axle load passes
Wt18 = Number of standard axle load passes (18-kip)
Lx = Load (in kips) on one single axle, one set of tandem axles or one set of tridem axles
L2 = Axle type (single axle: L2 = 1; tandem axles: L2 = 2; tridem axles: L2 = 3)
SN = Structural number (typically assume 5)
Pt = terminal serviceability index (typically assume 2.5)
β18 = value of βx when Lx = 18 and L2 = 1

Example Calculation
Given Pt = 2.5 and SN = 5, calculate EALF for a 21-kip tandem axle

Solution

 4.2 − 2.5 
Gt = Log  = - 0.2009
 4.2 − 1.5 
For Pt = 2.5:

For a 21-kip tandem axle load, Lx = 21 kips, L2 = 2, SN = 5

0.081(2.5 + 21) 3.23 = 0.4198

β x = 0.40 +
(5 + 1) 5.19 2 3.23
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 0.081(18 + 1) 3.23
β18 = 0.40 + = 0.5001
(5 + 1) 5.1913.23

W  (−0.2009) (−0.2009)
Log  tx  = 4.79 Log (18 + 1) − 4.79 Log (21 + 2) + 4.33Log (2) + −
 t18 
W 0 . 4198 0.5001
W   Wtx  W
log  tx  = 0.8292   = 6.7478 EALF = t18 = 0.1482
Wt18  Wt18  Wtx

Exercise 1
Given Pt = 2.5 and SN = 5, determine EALF for
(a) 20,000 lb. single axle (b) 30,000 lb. tandem axles (c) 40,000 lb. tridem axles
[Answers: (a) 1.510, (b) 0.658, (c) 0.487]
Interpretation
A 20-kip single axle does about 2.30 times [1.510 divided by 0.658] more damage than a 30-
kip tandem axle
A 20-kip single axle does about 3 times more damage than a 40-kip tridem axle
A 30-kip tandem axle does about 1.35 times more damage than a 40kip tridem axle

Exercise 2
Given Pt = 2.5 and SN = 5, determine EALF for
(a) 15 kip single axle (b) 44 kip tandem axle (c) 72 kip tridem axle
[Answers: (a) 0.478, (b) 3.00, (c) 5.03]

EALF Equation – Rigid Pavement

Wtx Gt Gt
log � � = 5.908 − 4.62 log(Lx + L2 ) + 3.28log𝐿𝐿2 + −
W𝑡𝑡18 βx β18
4.5 − Pt
Gt = log � �
4.5 − 1.5
3.63(Lx + L2 )5.20
βx = 1.0 +
(D + 1)8.46 . L2 3.52
Wt18
EALF = � �
W𝑡𝑡x
Where: D = Slab thickness, in inches (typically assume 9 inches); other variables as earlier defined

Simplified EALF Equation

• Damage and axle load follow a fourth-order polynomial relationship (see plot below)
• Example, doubling axle weight increases pavement damage by 16 times
• EALF equations are often approximated by the following equation
• This equation does not straightway differentiate between flexible and rigid EALFs
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 𝐜𝐜
𝐀𝐀𝐀𝐀𝐀𝐀𝐀𝐀 𝐋𝐋𝐋𝐋𝐋𝐋𝐋𝐋
𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄 𝐩𝐩𝐩𝐩𝐩𝐩 𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚 = � �
𝐒𝐒𝐒𝐒𝐒𝐒𝐒𝐒𝐒𝐒𝐒𝐒𝐒𝐒𝐒𝐒 𝐀𝐀𝐀𝐀𝐀𝐀𝐀𝐀 𝐋𝐋𝐋𝐋𝐋𝐋𝐋𝐋

• GHA Pavement Design Manual specifies c = 4.5. Larger c-values yield larger EALFs,
which yields thicker pavements.

EALF versus Axle Load

Calculation of Truck Factors (ESAL Factors)

• Truck factor is the average amount of damage caused by a single pass of a vehicle type
• EALF of the axles of a vehicle are added to obtain the vehicle’s truck factor (ESAL factor)

Example: Given SN = 5 and Pt = 2.5,

a. Calculate the truck factor for the vehicle below for flexible pavement design using the
original AASHO EALF equations
b. Repeat (a) using the original EALF equations and considering all axles as single
c. Repeat (a) using the simplified EALF equation and considering all axles as single. Use an
exponent of 4.5.

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 42kips 16kips
54kips

Question (a) – Using the original EALF equations

Axle Type Axle Load (kips) EALF
Single 16 0.623
Tandem 42 2.510
Tridem 54 1.660
Truck Factor 4.793

Question (b) – Using the original EALF equations and considering all axles as single
Axle Type Axle Load (kips) EALF
Single axle 16 0.623
Tandem axle 21 1.830
(two single axles) 21 1.830
Tridem axle 18 1.000
(three single axles) 18 1.000
18 1.000
Truck Factor 7.283

Question (c) – using the simplified EALF equation and considering all axles as single (c= 4.5)
Axle Type Axle Load (kips) EALF
Single axle 16 0.589
Tandem axle 21 2.001
(two single axles) 21 2.001
Tridem axle 18 1.000
(three single axles) 18 1.000
18 1.000
Truck Factor 7.591

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Example 2
An axle load survey produced the data in the table below for heavy trucks. Calculate the truck
factor (ESAL factor) for this vehicle type using the original AASHO EALF equations.

Axle Load Average Axle Number of EALF EALF x Number of

(kips) Load (kips) Axles Axles
Single Axles
3-5 4 1 0.002 0.002
5-7 6 5 0.010 0.05
7-9 8 15 0.034 0.51
9 - 11 10 57 0.088 5.016
11 - 13 12 63 0.189 11.907
13 - 15 14 17 0.360 6.12
23 - 25 24 3 3.030 9.09
Tandem Axles
27 - 29 28 50 0.495 24.75
29 - 31 30 72 0.658 47.367
31 - 33 32 85 0.857 72.845
33 - 35 34 120 1.095 130.8
35 - 37 36 25 1.380 34.5
Total 165 342.966
𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄 𝐟𝐟𝐟𝐟𝐟𝐟 𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚 𝐭𝐭𝐭𝐭𝐭𝐭𝐭𝐭𝐭𝐭𝐭𝐭 𝐰𝐰𝐰𝐰𝐰𝐰𝐰𝐰𝐰𝐰𝐰𝐰𝐰𝐰 𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑.𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗
Average Truck Factor = = 2.078
𝐍𝐍𝐍𝐍𝐍𝐍𝐍𝐍𝐍𝐍𝐍𝐍 𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨 𝐭𝐭𝐭𝐭𝐭𝐭𝐭𝐭𝐭𝐭𝐭𝐭 𝐰𝐰𝐰𝐰𝐰𝐰𝐰𝐰𝐰𝐰𝐰𝐰𝐰𝐰 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏

Interpretation: On average, a single pass of the above truck type causes about twice
as much damage as a single pass of an 18-kip (80-kN) single axle.

Question: How does axle overloading affect pavement design? It increases truck factor,
hence the pavement-damage potential of vehicles. A stringent axle load control is essential.

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 Simplistic Analysis of Ghana’s Axle Load Limit Violation Fines
Road Traffic Regulations Act 2012 (L.I. 2180) regulates axle load control in Ghana.

Axle Load Excess Axle Fines Proposed Fines

(tonnes) Load (tonnes) Since January 2014 (Cedis)
(Cedis)

11.5
0.0 None None
(Legal)

12.0 0.5 None None

12.5 1.0 100.00 150

13.0 1.5 200.00 300

14.0 2.5 500.00 750

15.0 3.5 1,000.00 1,500

16.0 4.5 1,500.00 2,250

17.0 5.5 2,000.00 2,500

18.0 6.5 3,000.00 4,500

19.0 7.5 4,000.00 6,000

20.0 8.5 5,000.00 7,500

Sources of Truck (ESAL) Factors

• GHA Pavement Design Manual (1998) has ESAL factors for some cities and road classes
• Estimate truck (ESAL) factors from axle load survey data
• Overseas Road Note 40 (ORN 40) provides the following recommendations on axle load survey
o Axle load surveys should last for at least seven consecutive days, 24 hours per day
o If 24-hour survey is impractical, select duration to ensure at least 80% of heavy vehicles
are weighed
o Drivers may change their operating behaviour or avoid survey sites; hence, seven-day
consecutive axle weighing is not advisable on routes where overloading is common
o Instead conduct the axle load survey on 14 half-days over several months
o For roads that experience considerable seasonal variation in traffic loading, surveys
should be repeated at various times of the year.
• Weigh-in-motion axle load data collection resolves the above problems noted by ORN 40

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 Equivalent Axle Loads (ESALs)
• ESALs - total number of applications of a standard axle (18-kip [80-kN] single axle)
required to produce similar pavement damage as the number of applications of different
axle loads and configurations over the design period
• Simply, ESALs = total number of passes of the 18-kip (80-KN) single axle
• ESALs = total number of 18-kip single axle passes in the design lane during design period
• Design lane = traffic lane with heaviest traffic loading

Calculation of Design ESALs

Data Requirements
• Design period
• Truck (ESAL) factors
• Annual average daily traffic (AADT)
• Traffic volume growth rate

Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT)

• AADT is the total 24-hour traffic volume (in both travel directions) that passes a point on
a roadway for one year divided by 365.
• Average daily traffic (ADT) is the total 24-hour traffic volume (in both travel directions)
that passes a point on a roadway in a period greater than one day but less than 365 divided
by number of days in that period.
• ADT should be converted to AADT for pavement design purposes
• Use AADT at start of design period (i.e., when road is open to traffic) for ESALs calculation
• Exclude light vehicles (e.g., cars, taxis, pick-ups, etc.) from ESALs computation because
they cause minimal pavement damage
• Sources of AADT data
o Traffic count on project road
o Traffic counts on nearby roadway with similar characteristics as project road

STEP 1: Calculate Design Direction AADT

• Design direction = travel direction that carries the heaviest traffic loading

Design Direction AADT = 2-Way AADT * DDF

Note: 2-way AADT refers to that at start of the design period (opening of road to traffic)

Directional Distribution Factor (DDF)

• AADT is often presented as a combined volume for both travel directions (two-way AADT)
• For pavement design purposes, traffic loading in one direction is required.
• Apply DDF to 2-way AADT to obtain proportion that travels in the heavily loaded direction
(design direction)
• Directional split of the AADT in the table below is 48.5% versus 51.5%. Southbound
direction is heavily loaded and represents the design direction. DDF is about 52% (0.52).

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 AADT as typically presented by Traffic Engineer

Light Vehicles excluded for Pavement Design Purposes

• In some cases, available information will be the total 2-way AADT, percent vehicle
composition and directional split. This information can be used to determine AADT in the
design direction, as illustrated in the following example.

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Example: Traffic studies on a project road measured AADT of 33,082, with light vehicles
comprising 87.2%. The table below shows the percent distribution of heavy vehicles. If the
directional split is 48 versus 52%, calculate the AADT of each heavy vehicle type.

Solution
Step 1: Find 2-way AADT volume for heavy vehicles: (100.0 – 87.2)/100* 33,082 = 4,234
Step 2: Use the percent composition to split the 2-way heavy vehicle AADT (4,234) among
the various classes
Step 3: Use the directional split (52 or 48%) to obtain the directional AADT

Quiz: What is the DDF for one-way roads, interchange ramps and interchange loops? [1.0 or
100%]

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STEP 2: Calculate Design Lane AADT

• Design lane = traffic lane with heaviest traffic loading

Design Lane AADT = Design Direction AADT * LDF

Alternatively,
Design Lane AADT = 2-Way AADT * DDF * LDF

Note: 2-way AADT refers to that at start of the design period (opening of road to traffic)

Lane Distribution Factor (LDF)

• Used to determine proportion of design direction AADT expected to travel in design lane
• Apply LDF to the design direction AADT to obtain design lane AADT
• Design the pavement for the design lane AADT

Recommended Lane Distribution Factors (LDFs)

(GHA Pavement Design Manual, 1998)
Total Lanes in Both Sketch Lane Distribution
Directions Factor
2 100% [1.0]

4 90% [0.9]

6 or more 70% [0.7]

Question: A two-lane highway being designed has AADT of 50,000. Given a directional split
of 48 versus 52%, estimate the design lane AADT. If it is a four-lane highway, what will be
the design lane AADT? What if it is a six-lane highway? [Answer: 26,000; 23,400; 18,200]

STEP 3: Estimate Traffic Volume Growth Rate

Traffic Growth Rate

• Large errors in growth rate estimates can result in inaccurate ESALs
o Low ESALs = pavement under-design, premature failure
o High ESALs = pavement over-design, high construction cost
• It may be necessary to determine different growth rate for different vehicle classes
• In estimating future traffic growth, consider
o Normal traffic growth due to increased number and usage of vehicles.
o Diverted or attracted traffic: This traffic changes from another route or mode of
transport to the project road because of the road improvement. For example, surfacing
an existing road may divert traffic from nearby routes because higher speed or smoother
ride is possible on the new road.
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 o Generated traffic is motivated by new or improved road as travels become attractive
due to cost or time reduction. This traffic does not currently exist. For example,
providing a new road in a previously under-developed area can reduce transport cost to
encourage more travels
o Development traffic due to changes in land use because of the new road. Examine
future development plans of factories, mines and industries along project road.

• Traffic growth forecasting techniques include

o Historical trend analysis
o Economic and population analysis
o Origin and destination studies
o Use engineering judgment

Example: Use the AADT data below to find a best estimate of future traffic growth rate.

Year 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
AADT 17,420 17,450 20,780 22,500 19,650 19,980 21,690 21,910 21,690 21,860

Solution: Take 2004 as Year 0 and fit a straight line curve to data (Figure 1)

Based on the simple interest formula [Future Amount = Principal (1 + Interest Rate x Time)]
⁄n
b + m. n 1
r= � � −1
b
Where:
r = annual traffic growth rate
b = Intercept on y-axis in Figure 1
m = Slope of best-fit line in Figure 1
n = Number of years of traffic counts

From Figure 1: b = 18,497 m = 443.58 and n = 9 (Year 2004 is taken as start point)

⁄9
18497 + 443.58(9) 1
𝑟𝑟 = � � − 1 = 0.02195
18497

Annual traffic growth rate = 2.2%

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Traffic Growth Factor
Annual traffic growth rate and design period are combined to compute traffic growth factor

(1 + r)P − 1
G=
r
Where:
G = Traffic growth factor
r = annual traffic growth rate, in decimals
P = design period, in years

Note: If traffic growth rate is zero or less than zero, G is set equal to design period

Design Period Annual Growth Total Growth

(Years) Rate (%) Factor (G)
10 0 10.00
10 5 12.58
10 10 15.94
15 0 15.00
15 5 21.58
15 10 31.77
20 0 20.00
20 5 33.06
20 10 57.28

STEP 4: Calculate Design ESALs (Cumulative ESALs)

ESALs for vehicle class i during design period is computed as follows:

ESALi = [Design Lane AADTi] * [365] * [Gi] * [TFi]

ESALi = [2-way AADTi] * [DDF] * [LDF] * [365] * [Gi] * [TFi]

Where:
AADT = AADT at start of design period (opening of road to traffic)
DDF = Directional distribution factor
LDF = Lane distribution factor
Gi = Traffic growth factor for vehicle class i
TFi = Truck factor or ESAL factor for vehicle class i

𝐍𝐍

𝐃𝐃𝐃𝐃𝐃𝐃𝐃𝐃𝐃𝐃𝐃𝐃 𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄 = � 𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝒊𝒊

𝒊𝒊
Where, N = number of vehicle classes

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 Design ESALs Calculation – Illustrative Example

Estimation of AADT at Start of Design Period

• AADT used for ESALs calculation is the value at start of design period (road opening)
• Consider traffic growth from time of traffic studies to start of design life. Example:

Activity Duration Year

Traffic volume studies -- 2000
Project design & packaging 2 years 2002
Contract procurement 2 years 2004
Construction + possible delay 2 +1 = 3 years 2007
Road opens to traffic
-- 2008
(start of design period)

AADT in the first year (2008) of the design period can be estimated as follows:
AADT2008 = AADT2000 (1 + r)8
Where r = traffic growth rate (in decimal)
Starting in 2008 (when road is open to traffic), estimation of traffic growth should consider
normal traffic, diverted traffic, generated traffic and development traffic.

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