FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT

FAILURES
 PAVEMENT FAILURE
GENERAL CAUSES:
• Defects in quality of materials
• Defects in construction method
• Inadequate surface or subsurface drainage
• Increase in wheel loads and repetition of loads due to
increase in traffic
• Settlement of foundation of embankment
• Environmental factors like heavy rain, water table
frost, snow table frost, snow
 The different types of failures in flexible
pavements are described below:

1. Subgrade failure.
2. Base failure or base course failure.
3. Surface failure or wearing course failure.
 1. Subgrade failure.

Excessive deformation in subgrade soil of a flexible failure is called subgrade

failure.

Causes Of Subgrade Failure:

1. Inadequate stability.
2. Inadequate road drainage.
3. Excessive stress application.
 BASE COURSE FAILURE

Causes Of Base Course Failure:

1. Insufficient strength.-poor mixing, inadequate thickness,
soft stone aggregates
2. Loss of binding action.- due to internal motion of aggregates
under stress.
3. Crushing of base course material.-when base course is not
covered with wearing course, due to fast moving vehicles on
road there is suction b/w exposed base course and tires
4. Insufficient wearing course-Due to absence or inadequate
thickness of wearing course expose base course to damaging
effect due to climatic effect
5. Use of inferior material.-
6. Inadequate road drainage-
 FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT FAILURES
Different types of failure encountered in flexible
pavements are as follow.

1. Alligator cracking or Map cracking (Fatigue)

2. Consolidation of pavement layers
(Rutting)
3. Shear failure cracking
4. Longitudinal cracking
5. Frost heaving
6. Lack of binding to the lower course
7. Reflection cracking
8. Formation of waves and corrugation
 Alligator cracking or Map cracking
(Fatigue)
This is a common type of failure of flexible pavements. This is also known
as fatigue failure. Following are the primary causes of this type of failure.
1. Relative movement of pavement layer materials
2. Repeated application of heavy wheel loads
3. Swelling or shrinkage of subgrade or other layers due to moisture
variation
 Consolidation of pavement layers
Formation(Rutting)
of ruts falls in this type of failure. A rut is a depression or
groove worn into a road by the travel of wheels.
This type of failure is caused due to following reasons.
1. Repeated application of load along the same wheel
path resulting longitudinal ruts.
2. Wearing of the surface course along the wheel path resulting
shallow ruts
 Shear failure
cracking
Shear failure causes upward displacement of pavement material by forming
a fracture or cracking.
Followings are the primary causes of shear failure cracking.
1. Excessive wheel loading
2. Low shearing resistance of pavement mixture
 Longitudinal
cracking
This types of cracks extents to the full thickness of
pavement. The following are the primary causes of
longitudinal cracking.
1. Differential volume changes in subgrade soil due to
frost action
2. Settlement of fill materials
3. Sliding of side slope
 Frost
Frost heaving causes upheavalheaving
of localized portion of a pavement. The
extent of frost heaving depends upon the ground water table and climatic
condition.
 Lack of binding to the lower
When there iscourse
lack of binding between surface course and underlying
layer, some portion of surface course looses up materials creating
patches and potholes. Slippage cracking is one form of this type of
failure.
Lack of prime coat or tack coat in between two layers is the primary
reason behind this type of failure.

Pot Slippage
holes cracks
 Reflection
This type of failure occurs,cracking
when bituminous surface course is laid over the
existing cement concrete pavement with some cracks. This crack is
reflected in the same pattern on bituminous surface.
 Formation of waves and
Transverse corrugation
undulations appear at regular intervals due to the unstable
surface course caused by stop-and-go traffic.
 MAINTTENANCE MEASURE IN
FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT
Routine maintenance

• Upkeep of carriage way

• Maintenance of shoulders and subgrade
• Maintenance of side drains
• patch repairs of pot holes

Maintenance of Earth roads

• Frequently sprinkling of water

• Treatment with cacl2
• Use of other dust palliatives
Maintenance of bituminous surface

Patch repairs- for damaged improper road surface

Pot holes or depression may be formed in surface layers due to defects in
materials and construction

Surface treatment
Excess of bitumen on surface bleeds and pavement becomes slippery rutting or
corrugations occurs
to avoid it spreading of aggregate chips of maximum size of 10mm during
summer and necessary rolling done to develop bond b/w existing surface and
new material

Resurfacing – additional surface on existing surface

 Pavement Evaluation

1. Structural evaluation of pavements

2. Evaluation of pavements surface conditions

It involves a through study of various factors such as subgrade

support, pavement composition and its thickness, traffic
loading and climatic condition

Pavement evaluations are conducted to determine functional

and structural conditions of a highway section either for
purposes of routine monitoring or planned corrective action.
Functional condition is primarily concerned with the ride
quality or surface texture of a highway section.

Structural condition is concerned with the structural capacity

of the pavement as measured by deflection, layer thickness,
and material properties.
 Functional evaluation

 Visual inspection /Present serviceability Rating

 Roughness
 Skid resistance
 Failure of Rigid
Pavement
Failure in rigid pavement (or cement concrete pavement) can be
identified by formation of cracks on the pavement surface. The
two prime factors responsible for rigid pavement failure are
Poor quality of material consist of following items
1. Using soft aggregate
2. Poor quality of sub-grade soil
3. Poor joint filler R sealer materials
Inadequate stability of the pavement structure can be due
to following reason
4. Inadequate pavement thickness
5. Lack of sub-grade support
6. Improper compaction of sub-grade
7. Improper spacing of joints
 Types of Failures in Rigid Pavement

The following 5 form of failures are commonly found in rigid

pavement
1. Scaling of cement concrete
2. Shrinkage cracks
3. Joint spalling
4. Warping cracks
5. Pumping
 Scaling of cement concrete
Scaling of rigid pavement simply means, peeling off or
flaking off of the top layer or skin of the concrete
surface. This may be due to the following reasons
1. Improper mix design
2. Excessive vibration during compaction of concrete
3. Laitance of Concrete
4. Performing finishing operation while bleed water is
on surface
 Shrinkage cracks

Formation of hairline shallow cracks on concrete slab is the indication of

shrinkage cracks.
Shrinkage cracks develop on concrete surface during the setting &
curing operation. These cracks may form in longitudinal as well as in
transverse direction.
 Joint spalling
Joint spalling is the breakdown of the slab near edge of the joint. Normally it
occurs within 0.5 m of the joints. The common reasons for this defect are

1. Faulty alignment of incompressible material below concrete slab

2. Insufficient strength of concrete slab near joints
3. Freeze-thaw cycle
4. Excessive stress at joint due to wheel load
 Warping cracks

1. In hot weather, concrete slab tends to expand. Therefore the joints

should be so designed to accommodate this expansion. When joints are
not designed properly, it prevents expansion of concrete slab and
therefore results in development of excessive stress. This stress cause
formation of warping cracks of the concrete slab near the joint edge.

2. This type of crack can be prevented by providing proper reinforcement at

the longitudinal and transverse joints. Hinge joints are generally used to
relieve the stress due to warping.
 Pumpin
g
When material present below the road slab ejects out through the joints or cracks,
it is called pumping. When soil slurry comes out it is called mud pumping.
The common reasons for this defect are
1. Infiltration of water through the joints, cracks or edge of the pavement forms
soil slurry. Movement of heavy vehicles on pavement forces this soil slurry to
come out causing mud pumping.
2. When there is void space between slab and the underlying base of sub-grade
layer
3. Poor joint sealer allowing infiltration of water
4. Repeated wheel loading causing erosion of underlying material
Pumping can also lead to formation of cracks. This is because; ejection of sub-grade
material below the slab causes loss of sub-grade support. When traffic movement
occurs at these locations, it fails to resist the wheel load due to reduction of sub-grade
support and develops cracks.
This type of defect can be identified when there is presence of base or sub-grade
material on the pavement surface close to joints or cracks.