Engr.

Ghulam Yaseen
Department of Civil Engineering
The University of Lahore ,Sihala Campus, Islamabad (UOL ISB)
What is Pavement?
 Generally pavement is considered a footpath at the side of a road, but in
engineering language a “ PAVEMENT “ is a man-made surface provided for
efficient, easy and safe movement of human beings and objects/vehicles
across the ground.
 But in technically it may be defined
as:A multi-layer system that distributes the vehicular loads over a larger area.
 Structure which separates the tires of vehicles from the under
 lying
foundation.
 Highway pavement is a structure consisting of superimposed layers of
selected and processed materials whose primary function is to distribute the
applied vehicle load to the sub grade.
 But in broad sense, it may also be define as:
 Pavement is the upper part of roadway, airport or parking area structure.
 It includes all layers resting on the original ground.
 It consists of all structural elements or layers, including shoulders. 2
Pavement Engineering
• What is a Pavement?
• A structure built on existing ground to facilitate rapid, safe,
reliable & comfortable traffic movement
• Pavement engineering involve the study of:
• Pavement Materials
• Pavement Types & Components
• Pavement Analysis & Design
• Pavement Maintenance and Rehabilitation
• Pavement Management Systems

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Requirements of a Pavement
• Sufficient thickness to distribute the wheel load stresses to
a safe value on the sub-grade soil
• Structurally strong to withstand all types of stresses
imposed upon it
• Adequate coefficient of friction to prevent skidding of
vehicles
• Smooth surface to provide comfort to road users even at
high speed
• Produce least noise from moving vehicles
• Dust proof surface so that traffic safety is not impaired by
reducing visibility
• Impervious surface, so that sub-grade soil is well protected,
and
• Long design life with low maintenance cost
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Pavement Terminologies
• Pavement Performance
The assessment of how well the pavement serves the
user over time.
• Pavement Behavior
The direct response of a pavement section to the wheel load.
• Structural Capacity
The ability of a pavement section to carry the design
load without failure or excessive deformation.
• Pavement Distress
Any condition that may adversely affect pavement functions.

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Typical Cross Section of Pavement

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Types of Pavement

Engr Anees CE- 415 : Lecture 07 - Pavement Types & Composition 7

Types of Pavement

Pavement

Flexible Rigid Composite

Jointed Plain Concrete Pavement

Conventional (JPCP)

Jointed Reinforced Concrete

Full depth Pavement (JRCP)

Continuous Reinforced Concrete

Pavement (CRCP)

Pre-stressed Concrete Pavement

(PCP)

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Types of Pavement

• Flexible pavements
– Constructed of bituminous and
granular materials
– Called "flexible" since the total
pavement structure bends (or
flexes) to accommodate
traffic loads
• Rigid pavements
– Constructed of Portland cement
concrete
– Called “rigid” since PCC’s high
modulus of elasticity does not
allow them to flex
appreciably
• Composite pavements
– composed of both of AC and
PCC 9
Types of Pavement

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Pavement Types & Composition

FLEXIBLE PAVEMENTS
Flexible Pavements
• Flexible pavements are so named because the total pavement
structure deflects, or flexes, under loading
• A flexible pavement structure is typically composed of several
layers of different materials
• Each layer receives the loads from the above layer, spreads them
out, and transmits to the next layer below it
• Thus, the further down a particular layer is, the less load (in
terms of force per unit area) it must carry
• In order to take maximum advantage of this property, material
layers are usually arranged in order of descending load bearing
capacity with the highest load bearing capacity material (and
most expensive) on the top and the lowest load bearing capacity
material (and least expensive) at the bottom
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Flexible Pavements
• Advantages
– More tolerable to differential settlement
– Easily repaired
– Quieter and smoother
– More temperature tolerant
– Additional thickness added at any time
– Non-skid properties do not deteriorate
• Disadvantages
– Loses some flexibility and cohesion with time
– Needs resurfaced sooner than rigid pavements
– Not normally chosen where water is expected

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Flexible Pavements
• Typical Cross Section of a Conventional
Flexible Pavement

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Conventional Flexible Pavement

Excessive bending and shear stresses in the surface layer

and high compressive stresses in the underlying layers.
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Typical Flexible Pavement Types

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Flexible Pavements
• Load Distribution

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Distribution of Wheel Load

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Typical Stress Distribution in Flexible Pavement

Vertica
l
Stress

Foundation
Stress

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Load Transfer Mechanism

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Load Transfer Mechanism

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Flexible Pavements – Surface Course
• The surface course is the layer in contact with traffic loads
and normally contains the highest quality materials
• It provides characteristics such as friction, smoothness,
noise control, rut and shoving resistance and drainage
• In addition, it serves to prevent the entrance of
excessive quantities of surface water into the underlying
base, subbase and subgrade
• It is sometimes subdivided into two layers:
– Wearing Course
– Intermediate/Binder Course

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Flexible Pavements – Surface Course
• Wearing Course
– This is the layer in direct contact with traffic loads. It
is meant to take the brunt of traffic wear and can be
removed and replaced as it becomes worn
– A properly designed (and funded) preservation program
should be able to identify pavement surface distress while it
is still confined to the wearing course
– This way, wearing course can be rehabilitated before distress
propagates into underlying intermediate/blinder course
• Intermediate/Binder Course
– This layer provides the bulk of the Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA)
structure. It's main function is to distribute load

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Flexible Pavements – Base Course
• The base course is immediately beneath the surface course
• It provides additional load distribution and contributes to
drainage and frost resistance
• Base courses are usually constructed out of:
– Aggregates: Base courses are most typically constructed from
durable aggregates that will not be damaged by moisture or
frost action. Aggregates can be either stabilized or un-
stabilized
– HMA: In certain situations where high base stiffness is
desired, base courses can be constructed using a variety of
HMA mixes. In relation to surface course HMA mixes,
base course mixes usually contain larger maximum
aggregate sizes, are more open graded and are subject to
more lenient specifications
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Flexible Pavements – Subbase Course
• The sub-base course is between the base course and the sub-grade
• It functions primarily as structural support but it can also:
– Minimize the intrusion of fines from sub-grade into pavement structure
– Improves drainage – Minimize frost action
damage
– Provides a working platform for construction
• Generally consists of lower quality materials than the base course but
better than the sub-grade soils
• A sub-base course is not always needed or used
– A pavement constructed over a high quality, stiff sub-grade may not need
additional features offered by a sub-base course so it may be omitted
– A pavement constructed over a low quality soil such as a swelling clay
may require additional load distribution characteristic that a sub-base
course can offer. In this scenario the sub-base course may consist of high
quality fill used to replace poor quality sub-grade
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Flexible Pavements – Subgrade
• The material upon which the pavement structure is built
• Although a pavement's wearing course is most
prominent, but the success or failure of a pavement is
more often dependent upon the underlying sub-grade
• Sub-grades may be composed of a wide range of materials

Sub-grade Preparation Sub-grade Failure Crack

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Cross-Section of Full-Depth Flexible Pavements
• No permeable granular layers to entrap water and impair
performance
• Reduce time for construction
• Provide and retain uniformity in the pavement structure
• Less affected by moisture or frost

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Types of Flexible Pavements

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Fog Seal

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Slurry Seal

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Chip Seal

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Prime Coat vs. Tack Coat
• Prime coat – penetrates into underlying layer, plugs voids,
and forms watertight surface
• Tack coat – does not require the penetration of asphalt into
the underlying layer

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Lime / Cement Stabilization

Cement

Lime

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Components of Conventional Flexible Pavements

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Pavement Analysis &
Design

RIGID PAVEMENTS
Rigid Pavements
• Layered design
– Wearing
– Base
– Subgrade
• Materials
– Slab
• Portland cement concrete
• Typically contains reinforcement steel
• and doweled joints
– Base (aggregates)
– Compacted subgrade (soil)

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Rigid Pavements

Analyzed by “Plate Theory”

PCC Is Much Stiffer Than HMA and Distributes
the Load over a Much Wider Area

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Rigid Pavements
• Advantages
– Good durability
– Long service life
– Withstand repeated flooding and subsurface
– water without deterioration
• Disadvantages
– Difficult to repair
– May lose non-skid surface with time
– Less tolerable to differential settlement
– May fault at transverse joints
– Noising

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Types of Rigid Pavement
• Jointed Plain Concrete Pavements (JPCP)
• Jointed Reinforced Concrete Pavements (JRCP)
• Continuous Reinforced Concrete Pavements (CRCP)
• Prestressed Concrete Pavements (PCP)

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Types of Rigid Pavement

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Types of Rigid Pavement
• Jointed Plain Concrete Pavement (JPCP)
– Constructed with closely spaced contraction joints
– Dowels or aggregate interlocks may be used for load transfer
across the joints
– Dowels are used mostly frequently in the most of sections.
– Typical joint spacing ranges from 15 to 30 ft.
– Nussbaum and Lokken (1978) recommended max. joint
spacing of 20ft for doweled joints and 15 ft for undoweled
joints

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Types of Rigid Pavement
• Jointed Plain Concrete Pavement (JPCP)

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Types of Rigid Pavement
• Jointed Reinforced Concrete Pavements (JRCP)
– Use of wire mesh (fabric) or deformed steel bars
– Allow the use of longer joint spacing, typically ranging from
30 to 100 ft
– Dowels are required for load transfer across the joints
– Nussbaum and Lokken (1978) found that most economical
joint spacing was about 40 ft

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Types of Rigid Pavement
• Jointed Reinforced Concrete Pavements (JRCP)

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Types of Rigid Pavement
• Continuous Reinforced Concrete Pavements (CRCP)
– Joints are the weak spots in rigid pavements.
– Elimination of joints decreases the thickness of pavement
required
– The thickness of CRCP has been empirically reduced by 1 to 2
in. or arbitrarily taken as 70 to 80% of the conventional
concrete
– The formation of transverse cracks at relatively close
intervals is a distinctive characteristic of CRCP. These
cracks are held tightly by the reinforcements and should be
of no concern as long as they are uniformly spaced

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Types of Rigid Pavement
• Continuous Reinforced Concrete Pavements (CRCP)

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Types of Rigid Pavement
• Continuous Reinforced Concrete Pavements (CRCP)

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Prestressed Concrete Pavements
• The pre-application of a compressive stress to the concrete
greatly reduces the tensile stress caused by the traffic loads
and thus reduces the required thickness of concrete
• Have less probability of cracking and fewer transverse joints
and result in less maintenance and longer life
• More frequently used for airport pavements than highway
pavements because of saving in thickness
• The minimum thickness necessary to provide sufficient
cover for the pre-stressing steel

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Rigid Pavement →
Construction

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Dowels for Joints

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Reinforcing Steel (Rebars)

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Reasons for Base Course
• Control of pumping
• Control of frost action
• Drainage
• Control of shrink and swell of the subgrade
• Expedition of construction

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Formation of Ice Lenses

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Pavement Analysis &
Design

COMPOSITE PAVEMENT
Composite Pavements

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Composite Pavements

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Pavements Comparison

• Heavy vehicles consume less fuel on rigid

pavements

• Rigid pavements more economic when

considering environmental / life-cycle costing
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Pavements Comparison

• Heavy vehicles cause greater deflection on flexible

pavements rather than on rigid pavements. When the
pavement deflects or moves, it absorbs a portion of the
vehicle energy that otherwise would be available to
propel the vehicle forward.
• Concrete’s rigid design reduces the pavement’s
deflection and corresponding fuel consumption. Also
smoothness of concrete pavements is less affected by
seasonal changes, which could also contribute to lower
fuel consumption.
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Pavements Comparison

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Pavements Comparison

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Comparison
Flexible Pavements
• Deformation in sub grade is transferred to
the upper layers
• Design is based on load distributing
characteristics of the component layers
• Have low flexural strength
• Load is transferred by grain to grain
contact
• Have low completion cost but repairing cost
is high
• Have low life span
• Surfacing cannot be laid directly on the sub
grade but a sub base is needed
• No thermal stresses are induced as the
pavement have the ability to contract and
expand freely
Rigid Pavement
• Deformation in the subgrade is not
transferred to subsequent layers
• Design is based on flexural strength or slab
action
• Have high flexural strength
• No such phenomenon of grain to grain
load transfer exists
• Have low repairing cost but completion
cost is high
• Life span is more as compare to flexible
• Surfacing can be directly laid on the
sub
grade
• Thermal stresses are more vulnerable to be
induced as the ability to contract and
expand is very less in concrete
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Comparison
Flexible Pavements
• Thats why expansion joints are not
needed
• Strength of the road is highly dependent
on the strength of the sub grade
• Rolling of the surfacing is needed
• Road can be used for traffic within 24
hours
• Force of friction is less
Rigid Pavement
• Thats why expansion joints are needed
• Strength of the road is less dependent
on the strength of the sub grade
• Rolling of the surfacing in not needed
• Road cannot be used until 14 days of
curing
• Force of friction is high
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Comparison

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Primary References
• Principles of Highway Engineering and Traffic Analysis, Third
Edition by Mannering, F.L.; Kilareski, W.P. and Washburn, S.S.
(2005), Chapter 4
• Pavement Analysis and Design by Yang H. Huang
• Principles of Pavement Design by E.J.Yoder
• AASHTO (1993) Guide for Design of Pavement structures

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Thanks for Your Patient Hearing

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