PAVEMENT DESIGN AND MATERIALS

I. PAVEMENT DESIGN
Pavement design is an important aspect of planning, designing, and building pavements. Pavement design is the
selection of materials and layer thicknesses so that the pavement can withstand the traffic, environmental, and
location issues.
A. Pavements
Pavements are among the costliest items associated with highway construction and maintenance.
Fundamentally, a paved surface performs two basic functions. First, it helps guide drivers by giving them a visual
perspective of the horizontal and vertical alignment of the traveled path-thus giving drivers information relating to
the driving task and the steering control of the vehicle. The second function of pavement is to support vehicle
loads.
B. Flexible and Rigid Pavements
1. Flexible Pavements
Consists of series of layers with the highest quality of materials at or near the pavement surface. Its
stability depends upon the aggregate interlock, particle friction, and cohesion. Flexible pavements have self-
healing properties due to heavier wheel loads are recoverable due to some extent. It also functions by a way
of load distribution through the component layers.
2. Rigid Pavements
Consists of one layer Portland cement concrete slab of relatively high flexural strength. Its structural
strength is provided by the pavement slab itself by its beam action. Any excessive deformation occurring due
to heavier wheel loads are not recoverable. Rigid pavements distribute load over a wide area of subgrade
because of its rigidity and high modulus of elasticity.

II. PAVEMENT MATERIALS

A. Portland Cement
Portland cement is a combination of limestone, marl or other calcareous and clay, shale, or like
argillaceous substances.

TYPES OF PORTLAND CEMENT

1. TYPE 1 or 1A. This type of cement is for general concrete construction when the specified properties
of the other four types are not required.
2. TYPE 2 or 2A. This type is for general concrete construction exposed to moderate action or where
moderate heat of hydration is required.
3. TYPE 3 or 3A. This type is for high strength concrete.
4. TYPE 4. Is for low heat of hydration.
5. TYPE 5. For high sulfate resistance.

B. Coarse Aggregates
Coarse aggregates are inert materials that do not react with cement and usually are comprised of crushed
gravel, stone, or blast furnace slag. It may be one of the three materials or else a combination of any two, or all
three.
C. Fine Aggregates
Sand is mainly used as the fine aggregates in Portland cement concrete. Specifications for this material
usually include grading requirements, soundness, and cleanliness.
D. Water
The main water requirement stipulated is that the water used also should be suitable for drinking. This
requires that the quantity of organic matter, oil, acids, and alkalis should not be greater than the allowable
amount in drinking water.
E. Bituminous Material
Bituminous material or Asphalt in short, is a viscous liquid used as binder for aggregates in road
construction. At normal temperature, asphalt is either slightly thicker than water or hard but brittle material that
breaks under a hammer blow when cold.
F. Reinforcing Steel
May be used in rigid pavements to reduce the amount of cracking that occurs, as a load transfer
mechanism at joints, or as a means of tying two slabs together. Steel reinforcement used to control cracking is
usually referred to as temperature steel, whereas steel rods used as load transfer mechanisms, are known as
dowel bars, and those used to connect two slabs together are known as the tie bars.
G. Joint Fillers
Joint filler allows the walls of the concrete joint to compress against it, rather than the concrete slabs
compressing against themselves. Rubber, asphalt and other compressible materials are popular joint filler material
choices.
III. SPECIFICATIONS AND TESTS FOR PAVEMENT MATERIALS
A. Portland Cement
1. Only type 1 cement shall be used unless otherwise provided for in the Special
provisions.
2. Different brand or the same brands from different mills shall not be mixed nor shall they
be used alternately unless the mix is approved by the Engineer.
B. Coarse Aggregates
1. Coarse aggregate shall consist or crushed stone, gravel, blast furnace, slag, or other
approved inert materials having hard, strong durable pieces free from any adherent
coatings.
2. Coarse aggregate should contain no more than one mass percent of material passing
the 0.075 mm sieve nor more than 0.25 mass percent of clay lumps, and not more than
3.5 mass percent of soft fragments.
3. If the coarse aggregate was subjected to 5 cycle of the sodium sulfate soundness
test, the lost weight should not exceed 12 mass percent. It should have a mass
percent of wear no exceeding 40
4. If slag is used, its density should not be less than 1120 kg per cubic meter. The gradation
of the coarse aggregate should conform to table 8-5. Only one grading specification
should be used from any one source.

C. Fine Aggregates
1. Fine aggregates shall consist of natural sand, stone screening or other inert materials
having hard strong and durable particles. It shall be free from injurious amounts of
organic impurities.
2. Fine aggregates from different sources of supply should not be mixed or stored in the
same pile nor used alternately.
3. Fine aggregates should not contain more than 3 mass percent of materials passing the
0.075 mm (no. 200 sieve) by washing not more than one mass percent each of clay
lumps or shale.
4. The use of beach sand will not be allowed without the approval of the supervising
engineer.
5. If the fine aggregate is subjected to 5 cycles or the sodium sulfate soundness test,
the weighed loss should not exceed 10 mass percent.
6. If fine aggregate is subjected to test for organic impurities and a color darker than
the standard is produced, it should be rejected.
 D. Water
1. Water to be used in concrete mixing or curing or other designated applications should
be clean and free from oil, salt, acid, alkali, grass or other substances injurious to be
finished product. Drinking water if used needs to be tested.
E. Bituminous Material
1. Bituminous materials shall be either Rapid Curing Cut Back or Emulsified asphalt.
2. Tack Coat shall be applied only to dry surfaces or slightly moist. No Tack Coat shall be
applied when the weather is either foggy or rainy.
3. Immediately prior to the application of Tack Coat, the road surface is lightly
sprayed with water, but not to be saturated.
4. The rate of application of either the Rapid Curing, Cut Back or Emulsified asphalt is
within the range of 0.2 to 0.7 liter per square meter. Any excess of this specified quantity
should be blotted by sand or removed.
5. Tack Coat shall be sprayed only as far in advance on the surface course as will permit it
to dry in a tacky condition.
6. Traffic shall be kept off the Tack Coat until after fully dried.
A. Reinforcing Steels
1. Tie bars shall be deformed bars
2. Dowels shall be plain round bars delivered to the site with one half of each dowel
length painted with one coat of approved lead or tar paint.
3. The sleeves of dowels shall be metal of approved design to cover 50 mm plus or minus
5 mm of the dowels, with a closed end, with a suitable stop to hold the end of the
sleeve at least 25 mm from the end of the dowel.
4. Sleeve shall be of such design that they do not collapse during
construction.
B. Joint Fillers
1. Joint fillers should be mixed asphalt and mineral or rubber filler. The pre- formed joint
fillers are punched to admit the dowels. Fillers for each joint should be furnished in a
single place for the full depth and width of the joint.

IV. FACTORS FOR PAVEMENT DESIGN

A. PAVEMENT PERFORMANCE
Functional performance is an indication of how effectively the pavement serves the
user. The main factor considered under pavement performance is riding comfort.
B. TEMPERATURE
The effect of temperature is considered a major factor in determining the strength
of the underlying materials used in the design. The effects include stresses induced by
thermal action, changes in the creep properties and the effect of freezing and thawing of
the subgrade soil.
C. TRAFFIC LOAD
Wheel load on pavement is an important factor to determine the pavement
thickness to be adopted. By providing adequate thickness, the load coming from wheels
doesn’t affect the subgrade soil. The wheel load acts at particular point on pavement and
cause deformations. If the vehicle contains dual wheels on one side of axle, then convert it
into equivalent single wheel load. Dual wheeled axle vehicles control the contact pressure
within the limits.

D. CONTACT PRESSURE
Contact pressure is a pressure or stress developed due to wheel load over the tire
imprint area of the pavement surface. When the vehicle is moving on pavement, the
pressure is developed between the tire and pavement. If the tire is low-pressure tire, then
contact pressure will be greater than tire pressure. If it is a high-pressure tire, then contact
pressure will be less than tire pressure.
 E. AXLE CONFIGURATION
Axles are the important part of the vehicles which enables the wheels to rotate
while moving. By providing multiple axles, vehicles can carry more load. So, the axle load
also influences the design of pavement. In the layer theory of flexible pavement design
wheels on one side of axles are considered to design the pavement. Similarly, in the plate
theory of rigid pavement design wheels on both sides are considered.
F. VEHICLE SPEED
If the vehicle is moving at creep speed, then also damage occurs to the
pavement. If the vehicle speed is gradually increased, then it will cause smaller strains in
the pavement.
G. REPITITION OF LOADS
Constructed pavement is used by several vehicles in its design life. The wheel loads
are repeated all the time. Due to this some deformation occurs on the pavement. So, in the
design of pavement frequency of load is also considered. For the design of pavement, a
single axle with dual wheels carrying 80 Kn load is considered a standard axle.
H. SUBGRADE TYPE
To construct pavement subgrade, soil need to be tested. Various test like CBR, Triaxial, etc.
will help to determine the quality of subgrade. From this, we can adapt the required thickness
to the pavement. If subgrade soil is poor, then the pavement should damage easily.

I. PRECIPITATION
The effect of rainfall is due mainly to the penetration of the surface water into the
underlying material. If penetration occurs, the properties of the underlying materials may be
altered significantly. Good drainage facilities should be provided for good strength and
support.
The groundwater table should be at least below 1m from the pavement surface.

V. DESIGN OF FLEXIBLE AND RIGID PAVEMENT AS PER IRC

A. Flexible Pavement
1. Design Traffic
This method considers traffic in terms of the cumulative number standard axles (8160 kg) to
be carried by the pavement during the design life.
This requires the following information:
• Initial traffic in terms of CVPD
Initial traffic is determined in terms of commercial vehicles per day (CVPD). For
the structural design of the pavement, only commercial vehicles are considered
assuming laden weight of three tonnes or more and their axle loading will be
considered. Estimate of the initial daily average traffic flow for any road should
normally be based on 7-day 24-hour classified traffic counts (ADT). In case of
new roads, traffic estimates can be made on the basis of potential land use and
traffic on existing routes in the area.

• Traffic growth rate during the design life

Traffic growth rates can be estimated by studying the past trends of traffic
growth, and by establishing economic models. If adequate data is not available,
it is recommended that an average growth rate of 7.5 percent may be adopted.

• Design life in number of years

For the purpose of the pavement design, the design life is defined in terms of
the cumulative number of standard axles that can be carried before
strengthening of the pavement is necessary. It is recommended that
pavements for arterial roads should be designed for a life of 15 years, urban
roads for 20 years and other categories of roads for 10 to 15 years.

• Vehicle damage factor (VDF)

The vehicle damage factor is a multiplier for converting the number of
commercial vehicles of different axle loads and axle configurations to the
number of standard axle-load repetitions. It is defined as equivalent number of
standard axles per commercial vehicle. The VDF varies with the axle
 configuration, axle loading, terrain, type of road, and from region to region.
The axle load equivalency factors are used to convert different axle load
repetitions into equivalent standard axle load repetitions.

• Distribution of commercial traffic over the carriageway

A realistic assessment of distribution of commercial traffic by direction and by
lane is necessary as it directly affects the total equivalent standard axle load
application used in the design. Until reliable data is available, the following
distribution may be assumed.
a. Single Lane Roads
Traffic tends to be more channelized on the single roads than two lane
roads and to allow for this concentration of wheel load repetitions, the
design should be based on total number of commercial vehicles in both
directions.
b. Two-lane Single Carriageway Roads
The design should be based on 75% of the commercial vehicles in both
directions.
c. Four-lane Carriageway Roads
The design should be based on 40% of the total number of commercial vehicles
in both directions
d. Dual Carriageway Roads
For the design of dual two-lane carriageway roads should be based on
75% of the number of commercial vehicles in each direction. For dual
three-lane carriageway and dual four-lane carriageway, the distribution
factor will be 60% and 45% respectively.
2. Pavement Composition
• Sub-base
Sub-base material, comprise of natural sand, gravel, crushed stone or combined,
should have a minimum CBR of 20% and 30% for traffic up to 2 msa and traffic
exceeding 2 msa respectively. Sub- base usually consist of granular or WBM and
the thickness should not be less than 150 mm for design traffic less than 10 msa
and 200 mm for design traffic of 1:0 msa and above.
• Base
Unbounded granular base comprises of conventional water bound macadam (WBM)
or wet mix macadam (WMM) or equivalent conforming to most specifications
should be the recommended

design. The materials should be of good quality with minimum thickness of 225
mm for traffic up to 2 msa and 150 mm for traffic exceeding 2 msa.
• Bituminous Surfacing
The surfacing consists of a wearing course or a binder course plus wearing
course. The most commonly used wearing courses are surface dressing, open
graded premix carpet, mix seal surfacing, semi-dense bituminous concrete and
bituminous concrete. For binder course, it is desirable to use bituminous
macadam (BM) for traffic up to 5 msa and dense bituminous macadam (DBM)
for traffic more than 5 msa.

B. Rigid Pavements
1. Traffic Volume
The growth of traffic volume after 20 years of construction has to be considered in
the design.

2. Annual Temperature
The mean daily and annual temperature cycles are to be collected. The
temperature difference, depending on the place where the road is intended to be
constructed is taken from the standard table provided for various states and regions for
a given thickness of slab.
 3. Modulus of Subgrade Reaction
Modulus of sub grade reaction is determined using a 75 cm diameter plate and the
pressure corresponding to 0.125cm deflection. If the pavement is to be laid on the sub
grade soil, then the modulus of subgrade reaction should be not less than 5.5kg/cm3
otherwise a suitable sub base course is to be provided.
4. Properties of Concrete
The flexural strength of cement concrete to be used for the pavement should be less than
40 kg/cm3. The cube strength of concrete should be 280kg/cm2, modulus of elasticity
E=3X105 and poisons ratio=0.15.

5. Computation of Stress CRITICAL

LOAD POSITIONS
• INTERIOR LOADING: Load is applied in the interior of the slab surface at
any place remote from the edges.
• EDGE LOADING: Load is applied at the edges of the slab at any place
remote from a corner.
• CORNER LOADING: Load is applied at the corner that is formed by the
intersection of two edges.

STRESS EQUATION FOR WHEEL LOAD

The flexural stress developed in concrete due to wheel load is inversely proportional to the square of the
thickness of the rigid pavement.

TEMPERATURE STRESS

WARPING STRESS- the top and bottom surfaces of a concrete pavement simultaneously passes different
temperatures, the slab tends to warp upward or downward. This is caused due to daily variation in the
temperature.

FRICTIONAL STRESS- caused due to uniform rise and fall of temperature in the slab which results in the
overall expansion and contraction of the slab. As the slab is in contact with the subgrade, the subgrade
tries to restrain this expansion/contraction by friction thereby inducing the frictional stresse

For all slab thicknesses with rough foundation the maximum spacing recommended for 25mm wide
expansion joint is 140m. For smooth foundation the maximum spacing may be 90m. For slab thickness up
to 20cm, 120m for slab thickness up to 25cm when the construction is made in summer. If the construction
is made in winter the spacing may be restricted to 50 and 60m respectively. In unreinforced slab for all slab
thicknesses the spacing of construction joint is 4.5m. In reinforced slab the spacing is 13m for 15cm
thickness slab with steel reinforcement of 2.7kg/cm2 and 14m spacing for 20cm thick slabs with steel
reinforcement of 3.8kg/cm2.
6. Dowel Bars
The minimum dowel length is taken as (Ld+δ).the load bearing capacity of the
dowel system is assumed to be 40% of the design wheel load. The dowel bars is
considered to be effective 1.8 times the radius of relative stiffness l on the either side of
the load position.
Dowel bars are provided for thickness of slab more than 15cm or more.IRC
recommends 2-5cm dia bars of 50cm length with 20cm spacing for 15cm thick slab and
spaced at 30cm in case of 20cm thick slab.
7. Tie Bars
Designed for longitudinal joints with permissible bond stress in deformed bars
24.6kg/cm2 and in plain bars 17.5kg/cm2. Allowable working stress in tensile steel is
taken as 1500kg/cm2.
8. Reinforcement
Nominal reinforcement in cement concrete pavements is intended to prevent
deterioration of the cracks. It is not provided to increase the flexural strength of
uncrack slab.
The reinforcement is to be provided at 5cm below the surface of slab.
It is continued across dummy groove joints to serve the purpose of tie bars. The
reinforcement is kept at least 5cm away from the face of joint or edge.