CVL633:2 Subgrade

CVL633:2
Subgrade

Classification, Construction, Frost

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Pavement structure
Surface Course

Drainage Layer

Base

Subbase

Subgrade
Subgrade
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Subgrade
Original
Ground

"Cut"
backslope
Top of
Pavement Imported approved and
engineered soil (from
R.O.W. excavation or
borrow source)

Soil In-Situ
(in place)

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Subgrade
• CUTS (excavations)
• slope geometry/stability
• water table/surface water intercepts
• slope drainage, slope erosion
• ice buildup (rock face seepage)
• materials management – load/haul/dump
• excess materials – surplus/unsuitable/waste
• ditch capacity - drainage, debris catchment
• bedrock drainage (shatter)
• FILLS (embankments/backfill)
• embankment stability (global)
• benching/ toe berm
• water table cut-off (side cuts)
• compaction requirements - eliminate future settlement (consolidation)
• drainage at watercourse crossings (culverts)
• swamps - drainage, compressible soils
• Transitions
• cut/fill/rock/earth
• frost tapers

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Earth Grading (OPSD 200.010)

Rock Grading (OPSD 201.010)

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Soil – Problems

over-steepened ditches
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Pavement failure – inadequate load support/

wet, soft subgrade

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Subgrade – Soil
• unsuitable material – global criteria
• remove and replace with suitable material (selected subgrade material)
• organic soils (peat)
• high compressibility/settlement; poor drainage conditions
• sensitive soils
• use of lightweight fill
• frost susceptible soils (silts)
• treatments required within the frost zone
• 1.6m – 2.6m in northern Ontario
• plastic soils (clays)
• PI>6
• proof rolling - load test for local areas of low stability (poor drainage, compressible)
• wet soils
• excess moisture content in silts, clays, e.g., FMC exceeds OMC
• top soil (if present)
• removed, stockpiled, reused – seeding (revegetation)
• borrow
• material from outside R.O.W.
• suitability criteria, proximity

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Subgrade – Bedrock
• high excavation costs - drill, blast, muck
• type – hardness, uniformity
• structure – jointing, weathering, foliation etc.
• rockline (overburden depth, weathering)
• cut/fill quantities
• bulking factor
• suitability of surplus material for aggregate production
• drainage
• blasting creates an uneven bedrock surface with poor
drainage
• shatter - fracturing of solid rock within the road section to
form a foundation for granulars and provide drainage
• shale!!!

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Rock

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Bulking Factor

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Bulking Factors: Blasting Industry

Bulk Unit Weight Bulking
(kN/m3) Factor
Solid Broken
Dolomite 28.83 18.42 1.57
Granite 27.23 17.62 1.55
Gneiss 28.83 18.42 1.57
Marble 24.83 16.02 1.55
Slate 27.23 17.62 1.55
Shale 25.63 16.82 1.52
Bulking factor = Volume after excavation / Volume in-situ

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Bulking Factor: Compacted Fill

Density Bulking Shrinkage

(t/m3) Factor Factor*
Limestone 2.60 1.63 1.36
Granite 2.41 1.72 1.33
Basalt 2.95 1.64 1.36
Sandstone 2.65 1.61 1.34
Shale 2.35 1.5 1.33
Chalk 1.85 1.5 0.97
*Shrinkage factor = Volume after placement and compaction/ Volume in-situ
(Univ. of Durham)

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mafic gneiss/ amphibolite: BF = 1.353

9m
40m

3m
15m

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granite, felsic gneiss, marble: BF = 1.376

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Shale
• Fine grained sedimentary rock
• siltstone, claystone, mudstone
• Variable properties
• rock - soil
• weathering, slaking
• Construction problems
• Excavation
• Compaction
• Durability

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Soil Construction
• Excavations use scrapers, bulldozers,
backhoes, excavators
• excavated material is used in fills, widenings
or removed from site
• Fills are placed and compacted in layers to
achieve maximum density
• compacted to a specified level of compaction
at OMC
• typically 95% Proctor density (earth)
• 98% Proctor density for granulars

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Soil – Construction

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Soil – Construction

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Swamp Excavation

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Long Reach Excavator

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Swamp Excavation – Dragline

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Ontario Soils
• Till
• boulder, sand, silt, clay
• Glaciofluvial
• sand, gravel
• Glaciolacustrine
• varved clays, silts
• Marine clays
• “quick” clays
• Aeolian
• loess (silts)
• sand dunes
• Organics
• peat/muskeg (swamp)

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Geotechnical investigations
• identify existing conditions
• subsurface soil profile – may includes existing
pavement structure
• bedrock/ weathered zone – type, structure
• water table
• subgrade suitability – estimate quantities of
usable/unusable materials
• augers (portable/ vehicle mounted)
• backhoes: trench, pit
• core drills (bedrock): core barrel – descriptions,
recovery, RQD

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Soils Investigation
• sampling
• cut areas - required – dependant on soil types
present
• fill areas – discretionary (embankment support)
• foundations
• soil types – based on field descriptions
• field tests (structure foundations)
• Standard Penetration Test (SPT) 'N' Value
• Vane tests – shear strength of soft silt and/or clay
materials/ organics (swamp)
• geophysics (subgrade/pavement profile)
• GPR (ground penetrating radar)/ seismic refraction/ electric
resistivity

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Soil Classification
• ENGINEERING soil classifications – based on particle size
distribution and behaviour/susceptibility to moisture
• Sieve Analysis
• Hydrometer Analysis
• Moisture Content
• Atterberg Limits
• additional tests to determine engineering properties
• strength/ stability
• consolidation
• permeability
• moisture-density relationships
• frost heave potential
• erodability
• Soil properties may be grouped (classified)
• predict behaviour
• apply modifications/ improvements

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Soil Classification
• coarse grained soils: > 50% retained on the
75𝜇m sieve
• sands, gravels, cobbles, boulders
• fine grained soils > 50% passing the 75𝜇m
sieve
• silts, clays
• organic soils
• topsoil, peat (muskeg)

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Unified Soils Classification System (USCS)

Group
Major Divisions Typical Names
Symbol
Well-graded gravels and gravel-sand mixtures, little
GW
or no fines
Gravels 50% or more of Clean Gravels
course fraction retained Poorly graded gravels and gravel-sand mixtures,
GP
on the 4.75 mm (No. 4) little or no fines
sieve Gravels with GM Silty gravels, gravel-sand-silt mixtures
Course‐Grained
Fines GC Clayey gravels, gravel-sand-clay mixtures
Soils More than 50%
retained on the 0.075 Well-graded sands and gravelly sands, little or no
SW
mm (No. 200) sieve fines
Clean Sands
Sands 50% or more of Poorly graded sands and gravelly sands, little or no
course fraction passes the SP
fines
4.75mm (No. 4) sieve SM Silty sands, sand-silt mixtures
Sands with Fines
SC Clayey sands, sand-clay mixtures
Inorganic silts, very fine sands, rock four, silty or
ML
clayey fine sands
Inorganic clays of low to medium plasticity,
Silts and Clays Liquid Limit 50% or less CL
Fine‐Grained Soils gravelly/sandy/silty/lean clays
More than 50%
OL Organic silts and organic silty clays of low plasticity
passes the 0.075 mm
(No. 200) sieve Inorganic silts, micaceous or diatomaceous fine
MH
sands or silts, elastic silts
Silts and Clays Liquid Limit greater than
50% CH Inorganic clays or high plasticity, fat clays
OH Organic clays of medium to high plasticity
Highly Organic Soils PT Peat, muck, and other highly organic soils
Prefix: G = Gravel, S = Sand, M = Silt, C = Clay, O = Organic Suffix: W = Well Graded, P = Poorly Graded, M = Silty, L = Clay, LL < 50%, H =
Clay, LL > 50%

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Coarse Grained Soils

• Boulders, cobbles: >
75 mm ∅
• Gravel sizes: 75 mm
– 4.75mm ∅
• Sand sizes: 4.75mm
– 0.075mm
• non-cohesive soils
• permeability range ,
good drainage

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Fine Grained Soils

• Fine to very fine grained
• silt < 75 µm to 2 µm (0.075 mm to
0.002 mm)
• clay < 2 µm (0.002 mm)
• Silt content
• frost susceptible soil (> 50% particles
between 5-50 µm)
• Clay content
• cohesiveness
• plasticity – clay is plastic, silt is non-
plastic
• high dry strength
• Low permeability
• k <10-5 cm/s

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Particle size distribution

• Dx where
• D = particle diameter
• x = % passing
• D10: Effective size: the grain or sieve size
where 10% of the soil will pass through
• describes the smaller diameter soil particles
• Coefficient of uniformity – Cu
• Cu = D60/D10
• Coefficient of curvature – Cc
• (Cc)= (D30)2/(D60xD10)

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• A material is considered uniformly graded

if the Cc is less than 2.
• Sands and gravels are classified
according to the following criteria:
• Well-graded sands have a Cu value greater
than 6 and a Cc value between 1 and 3.
• Well-graded gravels have a Cu value greater
than 4 and a Cc value between 1 and 3
• All others not meeting the above are poorly
graded

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Plasticity

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Atterberg Limits
Liquid Limit (LL); Plastic Limit (PL); Plastic Index (Ip)

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Plasticity Index (Ip)

Plasticity Index (IP): WL – WP
Ip Classification

0–3 Non-Plastic

4–6 Slightly Plastic

7 – 15 Moderately Plastic

16 – 35 Plastic

> 35 Highly Plastic

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Subgrade
• subgrade strength
• maximum load bearing capacity
• frictional resistance between soil particles
• cohesion/adhesion between soil particles
• particle interlock to resist deformation
• subgrade stiffness
• resistance to deformation/displacement under
load
• strain displacements/ modulus
• affected by
• particle type - rock/mineral fragment; clay
• particle size distribution
• degree of compaction/consolidation

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Evaluating Strength of Subgrade

• California Bearing Ratio (CBR )
• In situ (field) CBR
• Resilient modulus (MR)
• Modulus of Subgrade Reaction (k)
• Group Index (GI)

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California Bearing Ratio (CBR)

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CBR

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CBR
• compares the load/displacement characteristics of a material with that of a
well-graded crushed stone (reference)

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In-Situ CBR

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Resilient modulus (MR )

• A material's resilient modulus is an
estimate of its modulus of elasticity (E).
• modulus of elasticity is based on
recoverable strain under repeated loads
• E = σd/εr
• input parameter for mechanistic pavement
design analysis (MEPD, AASHTO 2002)

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1Load frame;
2Load cell;
2 3LVDT;
4Triaxial cell;
3
5Split mould;
6Vibratory
compaction device;
7Test specimen
4 6

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Cyclic axial load and induced axial displacements:

S3 = 137.9 kPa (20 psi), Smax = 255 kPa
5000 (b)
5000
(a)
4000 4000

Axial Load (N)

Axial Load (N)

S3 = 20 psi
3000 3000

2000 2000

1000 1000

0 0
294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 295.8 296 296.2 296.4 296.6 296.8 297 297.2
Time (sec.) Time (sec.)

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CORRELATION BETWEEN Mr AND CBR

• Mr is complex, no established correlation
between laboratories
• Mr may be approximated from other material
properties for pavement design
• Mr (MPa) = A(CBR)a
• AASHTO 2002 Design Guide uses A = 17.6 and
a = 0.64 (subgrade soils and unbound
base/subbase)
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recommends A =
37.3 and a = 0.71
• South African Council on Scientific and
Industrial Research (CSIR) adopting A = 20.7
and a = 0.65.

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Modulus of Subgrade Reaction (k)

Static plate load test (ASTM
D1196)
Load is increased until reaching
10 psi
The load is kept constant until
the deflection does not increase
more than 0.001 inch/minute for
3 consecutive minutes
The average of 3 dial gauge
readings is taken as the plate
deflection
Expressed as load intensity per
unit of displacement:
kip/in2/in; kN/m2/m

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Modulus of Subgrade Reaction (k)

Reaction

Hydraulic Jack Pressure Gauge

Stacked Plates

Deflection Dial at 1/3 Points

• k=p/s
• p = contact pressure; s = deflection
• concrete pavement design
• reflects the response of the subgrade under temporary
(elastic) conditions and small deflections, usually 0.05
inches or less

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Group Index (GI)

• GI = (F – 35) [0.2 + 0.005 (WL – 40)] + 0.01 (F –15) (IP –10)
• where:
• F: % passing 0.075 mm sieve (75𝜇m)
• WL = liquid limit
• IP = plasticity index
• for A-2-6 or A-2-7 soils, use only the second term
in the equation (partial group index)
• PGI = 0.01 (F –15) (IP –10)
• report group index to nearest whole number
• report group index values less than zero as zero

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AASHTO Classification

A-7-5 PILL-30 ; A-7-6 PI>LL-30

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AASHTO Classification
• guide for soils for subgrade construction
(subbase: A1, A3)
• indication of relative load bearing capacity
1. use chart beginning on LHS
2. move right until all conditions are met
3. calculate the GI
• report Group/subgroup name and GI
e.g., A-1-a (0)
• GI = 0 is best for subgrade/subbase
• GI > 20 indicates very poor material

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Soil Compaction
• mechanically increasing the density of soil
through volume reduction
• Increase load-bearing capacity
• Reduce permeability
• Reduce settlement (consolidation)
• Densification under  a material’s own weight or 
added load (occurs over time)

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Principle of compaction

Atkins H.

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Laboratory Compaction
• Standard Proctor Test
• Modified Proctor

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Soil – Problems

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Field Compaction
Vibratory Smooth Drum Roller

• One drum

Atkins H.
Two drums
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Padded Wheel/Sheepsfoot roller

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Nuclear moisture-density gauge

• determines field dry
density and moisture
content
• rapid, expensive
• safety training, TDG,
licensing (CNSC)

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Non-Nuclear Compaction Testing

• Electrical Density Gauge (EDG) –
electrical resistivity EDG
• Geogauge (stiffness)
Geogauge

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Field Density – sand cone

• replacement method
for measuring soil
volume
• mass of excavated
soil, moisture content
• calculate density
• compare with
laboratory proctor
• calculate %
compaction

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Effects of Water Saturation on Pavements

• Water reduces the load carrying-capacity
of the pavement layers including subgrade
• Drainage of pavement layers (and subgrade
if needed) provides stronger pavements
• Effect of Frost
• Frost heave
• Thaw weakening (Spring breakup)

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Frost Heave

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https://rdl.train.army.mil/soldierPortal/atia/adlsc/view/public/6722-1/fm/5-410/ch4.HTM

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T < 0 0C T = 0 0C T > 0 0C

air

soil Freezing Front 
(frost penetration depth) 

Water Table 
(+ capillary rise)

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Soil – Frost Susceptibility

• Frost susceptible soils are mainly silts,
silty clays and silty sands
• Ice lensing and frost heaving

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Conditions Leading to Formation of

Ice Lenses
1. Freezing temperatures (T< 0◦ C)
2. A source of water (groundwater or from surface)
3. A frost susceptible soil:
• High capillary rise
• Adequate permeability
• frost susceptibility is dependent on presence of silt
sized particles
• clean sands and gravels are not frost susceptible
because of low capillary rise (high permeability)
• pure clays are not frost susceptible due to low
permeability (high capillary rise)

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FHWA

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Soils Susceptible to Frost Damage

• Susceptible soils are generally silts, silty
sands and silty gravel
• AASHTO classification:
• A-1 and A-3 are none to very slightly
susceptible
• A-2 is slightly to highly susceptible
• A-7 is medium
• A-6 is medium to high
• A-4 and A- 5 is medium to very high

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Control of Frost Heave

Non Frost‐Susceptible Soil 

Freezing Front 
(frost depth) 
Frost‐susceptible Soil 
Water Table

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Control of Frost Heave

• Lower water table (ditches and drains)

Non Frost‐Susceptible Soil 

Freezing Front 
(frost depth) 
Frost‐susceptible Soil 

Water Table

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Control of Frost Heave

• Removal of frost susceptible soil (all or

part within the depth of frost penetration)

Non Frost‐Susceptible Soil 

Freezing Front 
(frost depth) 
Frost‐susceptible Soil 
Water Table

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Control of Frost Heave

• Install insulation – reduce frost penetration

depth

Non Frost‐Susceptible Soil  Freezing Front 
(frost depth) 

Frost‐susceptible Soil 
Water Table

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Control of Frost Heave

• Construct capillary cutoff layers within the

susceptible soil below the frost penetration
depth
Non Frost‐Susceptible Soil 

Freezing Front 
(frost depth) 
Frost‐susceptible Soil 
Water Table

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Thaw Weakening

Highway Materials, Soil, and Concrete, 4th edition

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Thaw Weakening
• occurs during Spring thaw of frozen ground
• frozen ground at depth reduces subsurface
drainage of upper portion of subgrade and
overlying pavement layers
• creates saturated conditions: weakened
subgrade, pavement structure
• load reductions in effect to protect Ontario's
highways during Spring thaw, when road
damage is most likely to occur.
• March, April in southern Ontario
• March April and May in northern Ontario

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