TR 324: Pavement

Design and Maintenance

Introduction

Instructor: Dr. E. Fungo

Definition

What is a pavement?
 The Road Pavement is the portion of the
road located directly above the subgrade,
and beneath any wearing surface.
 It is typically constructed from compacted
imported material such as crushed rock.

Its function: to protect the natural subgrade and

carry the traffic safely and economically
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 Pavement cross section
terms
 Centreline
 Roadway
 Carriageway
 Shoulder
 Shoulder
breakpoint
 Lane
 Side drain
 Embankment side slope
 Cut back slope

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 Pavement cross section
elements
 Original road bed
 Finished road level
 Pavement layers
 Formation level
 Cutting
 Improved subgrade
layers
 In situ subgrade
 Roadbed

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 Types of Pavements
 Flexible Pavements

 Rigid pavements

 Composite pavements

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 Types of Pavements cont..
 Flexible Pavements: Consist of a
relatively thin wearing surface built over a
base course and subbase course and they
rest upon a compacted subgrade

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Flexible pavement components

 Surfacing Layer: The top layer of a flexible

pavement which can be made up of an AC or
ST
 AC Surfacing Course: It is the top course of a
flexible pavement which is constructed by
continuously graded hot premixed asphalt
concrete
 ST Surfacing Course: It is the top course of a
flexible pavement which constructed by spray
bituminous material and spread aggregates

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Flexible pavement components

 Base Course: It is a layer of material

immediately beneath the surfacing layer
 Subbase Course: A layer of material
beneath the base course
 Subgrade: The top 150 - 600mm of
subgrade should be scarified and
compacted to the desirable density near the
optimum moisture content

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Types of Pavements cont..

 Rigid Pavements: Made up of

Portland Cement Concrete (PCC) and
may or may not have a base course
between the pavement and the
subgrade

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Types of Pavements cont..

 Composite Pavement: It is made of

PCC as a base and AC top layer. This
type is not common because it is too
expensive.

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Reasons for using base course
beneath PCC
The base course is used for the following
reasons:-
 Improvement of drainage
 Control of shrinkage and swell of the
subgrade
 Expedition of construction

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 Wheel Load
Types of airplane and truck wheel arrangements:-

Single Axle with Single Wheel Single Axle with Dual Wheels

Tandem Axles with Single Wheels Tandem Axles with Dual Wheels

 Tridem axle with single or dual wheels

 Quadrem axle with single or dual wheels
 Nose wheel, landing gears (for airplane)

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Tire Pressures, Contact Pressures

If the effect of the tire wall is ignored, the

contact pressure between the tire and the
pavement must be equal to the tire pressure.
The radius contact, a,
P
a 
p

Where
P = load on the tire
p = tire pressure (assumed to be equal to
contact pressure)
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Highway Pavements and Airport
Pavements
Airport pavements are generally thicker
than highway pavements and require
better surfacing materials because the
loading and tyre pressure are much
greater than those of highway vehicles.
The major differences are:
1) Wheel loading
2) Tyre pressure
3) Load repetitions
4) Wander effect of traffic
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Pavement Design Factors

 Traffic and Loading

 Axle load
 Number of repetitions
 Contact area
 Vehicle speed
 Environmental
 Temperature
 Effect on asphalt layer
 Effect on concrete slab
 Precipitation

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Pavement Design Factors

 Materials
 Failure criteria
 Flexible pavement
 Fatigue failure
 Rutting
 Thermal cracking
 Rigid pavement
 Fatigue cracking
 Pumping or erosion
 Others structural failures (Faulting, Spalling, Joint
deterioration)

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 Load bearing mechanism

Approximate load bearing mechanism

P P

Flexible pavement
Subgade reaction

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Load bearing mechanism

As a wheel passes:-
 Elastic deformation occur - which may
lead to fatigue
 Plastic deformation occur - which may
lead to excessive rutting

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Principles of Design
1. Must provide for
 Loading
 Environment, such that the pavement will function
without excessive failure
2. Some failures are acceptable if the pavement
continues to function and if the cost of repair is not
too high
3. Routine maintenance is an integral part of the
pavement management and is important in order to
keep the pavement in a good condition

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Design methods
 Empirical
 Analytical
 Combinations

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Design process, (Basic elements)
Determine the function of the required
structure, required life & terminal
condition

Determine the loads

Select the materials

Select design method

Produce alternative designs

Select final design

Construct Operate Observe Maintain

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 Empirical Design methods
Empirical design methods: methods based on experience
and they use standard procedures and materials.
Advantages
 If everything is the same as the conditions used in
developing the method, the design is easy and quick
Disadvantages
 If anything (materials, loading and environment) differs
then extrapolation is needed or expensive trials

Analytical methods help to overcome the problems, they give

support to extrapolation of empirical methods, provide
quantative methods of evaluation
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 General Structural Design for
Flexible Pavement - Analytical
Evaluate traffic, ESWL, EWLF

Determine material properties

Guess structural dimensions

Calculate critical s s & es

Adjust materials or strategy
YES Is fatigue or
deformation a
problem?
Adjust materials or strategy
NO NO

YES Is temperature
NO Is it YES
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a problem? economical? Accept
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Pavement Failure

Types of failure:-
 Functional failure - the pavement can not
carry out its function e.g. safety, comfort and
timely movement
 Structural failure - the pavement can not
carry the load due to failure of one or all of its
components

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 Pavement Failure and Distresses
Distress
Flexible pavement Rigid pavement
Functional Bleeding Polishing
Polishing Scaling
Ravelling Joints need filler
Deformation
Structural Fatigue Fatigue
Deformation Pumping
Cracking (expansive soil) Temperature effects
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Pavement Condition and
Performance
Pavement Management
1. Conditional surveys
 Visual (Subjective)
 Roughness (Objective)
 Used to prioritise projects
 Assess functionality

2. Skid Resistance Survey

 Establish if surface is safe
 Prioritise

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Pavement Condition and
Performance Cont..
3. Evaluation Survey
 Establish structural condition (based on NDT or
Laboratory Tests)
 Finalise maintenance

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 Pavement Condition and
Performance Cont..
Assessment of functionality
Serviceability
 A measure of performance
 The acceptable level depends on the intended use of
pavement
Present Serviceability Rating
 The average of a rating from 0( very poor) – 5(very
good) given by the panel
 A qualitative assessment of performance
 For meaningful results, a reasonable sized panel of
trained personnel is needed
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Pavement Condition and
Performance Cont..
Present Serviceability Index
 PSR’s determined at the AASHTO road test were
corrected with measurement of roughness, cracking,
patching and rutting.
 Regression equations were developed for flexible
and rigid pavements
 Flexible pavement
2
PSI  5.03 - 1.91log (1  SV) - 0.01 (C  P)  1.38 RD
 Rigid Pavement

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Pavement Condition and
Performance Cont..
Present Serviceability Index

 SV = mean of the slope variance in the two wheelpaths

(measured with Roughometer)
 C, P = measures of cracking and patching in the pavement surface

 C = total linear feet of major( 0.25in. or more) cracks and sealed cracks
per 1000 ft2 of pavement area.
 P = expressed in terms of ft2 per 1000 ft2 of pavement surfacing.

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Pavement Distress

Classification of Pavement distress

modes
 Fracture: This could be in the form of
cracking
 Distortion: This is in the form of
deformation
 Disintegration: This is in the form of
stripping, ravelling or spalling

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Pavement Distresses

Fatigue (Alligator) Cracking:

Series of interconnected
cracks caused by fatigue
fatigue
failure of the HMA surface cracking
under repeated traffic loading

Fatigue cracking
from edge failure
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Pavement Distresses

Bleeding: A film of asphalt

binder on the pavement
surface
BST bleeding in
wheelpaths

HMA bleeding from BST bleeding in

over-asphalting wheelpaths
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Pavement Distresses

Block Cracking: Interconnected cracks

that divide the pavement up into
rectangular pieces.

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Pavement Distresses

Depression: Localized pavement

surface areas with slightly lower
elevations than the surrounding
pavement

Joint Reflection Cracking:

Cracks in a flexible overlay
of a rigid pavement

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Pavement Distresses

Longitudinal Cracking:
Cracks parallel to the
pavement's centerline or
laydown direction

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Pavement Distresses

Faulting: A difference in
elevation across a joint or
crack

Faulting from Faulting in the truck

ground level lane

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Pavement Distresses

Potholes: Small, bowl-shaped

depressions in the pavement surface that
penetrate all the way through the HMA
layer down to the base course

Pothole from fatigue Developing pothole

cracking
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Pavement Distresses

Ravelling: The progressive disintegration

of an HMA layer from the surface
downward as a result of the dislodgement
of aggregate particles

Ravelling due to low Ravelling from

density segregation
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Pavement Distresses

Rutting: Surface depression in the

wheelpath

Stripping: The loss of bond between

aggregates and asphalt binder that
typically begins at the bottom of the HMA
layer and progresses upward (Hydrophilic)

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Pavement Distresses

Transverse (Thermal) Cracking:

Cracks perpendicular to the pavement's
centerline or laydown direction

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