DEFINTION OF ROAD

A road is route or way on land between two places with a

smoothed or paved surface, made for traveling by motor
vehicle, horse, cart, bicycle.
A wide way leading from one place to another, especially
one with a specially prepared surface which vehicles can
use.
 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF ROAD
The world's oldest known paved road was laid in Egypt
some time between 2600 and 2200 BC.
Stone-paved streets are found in the city of Ur in
the Middle East dating back to 4000 BC.
Brick-paved streets were used in India as early as 3000 BC.
 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF ROAD
In 500 BC, Darius I the Great started an extensive road
system for Persia (Iran), including the Royal Road, which
was one of the finest highways of its time.
In the 8th century AD, many roads were built throughout
the Arab Empire. The most sophisticated roads were those
in Baghdad, which were paved with tar.
 PAVEMENT LAYERS
Below are given pavement layers which are from bottom
to top.
Sub grade
Sub base
Base course
Binder course
Surface course
 SUB GRADE
The sub-grade is the ground below the road layers which is
exposed once the ground has been dug out ready to build
the road.
The top level of this is termed the formation, that is why it
is also called formation level.
It is also known as the in situ
material upon which the
pavement structure is placed.
The sub-grade layer of a pavement is, essentially, the
underlying ground. It is also known as the
"Formation Level", which can be defined as
the level at which excavation ceases
and construction starts.
 SUB BASE
Sub base is the layer of aggregate material laid on the sub
grade .
 It may be omitted when there will be only foot traffic on
the pavement, but it is necessary for surfaces used by
vehicles. 
Sub base is often the main load-bearing layer of the
pavement.  
Subbase is often the main load-bearing layer of the
pavement. Its role is to spread the load evenly over the
subgrade.
The materials used may be either unbound granular, or
cement-bound.
The quality of subbase is very important for the useful life of
the road and can outlive the life of the surface, which can be
scrapped off and after checking that the subbase is still in
good condition, a new layer can be applied.
Unbound granular materials are usually crushed stone,
crushed slag or concrete, or slate.
 SUB BASE
The most commonly used material for use in sub-bases are
unbound material made from crushed rock, crushed
concrete, recycled aggregates.
It contains particles of various sizes,
the percentage of each size being
within a defined range.
 Up to 10% may be natural sand.
 BASE COURSE
The base course in pavements is a layer of material that is
constructed above the sub grad layer.
Typical base course thickness ranges from 4 to 6 inches 
An aggregate is normally made from newly quarried rock.
 it is sometimes allowed to be
made from recycled asphalt
concrete and/or Portland cement
concrete.
 BINDER COURSE
Binder Course (known also as Asphalt Base course) is the
Asphlatic layer beneath the surface course.
The binder course helps distribute the load of traffic above
onto the base course, which is usually a weaker material.
 It also provides a flat surface onto which the normally
thinner surface course is laid.
 In new construction, typical thickness is between 45mm
and 105mm.
 BINDER COURSE
Thickness may vary considerably where a new binder
course is laid to an existing road structure for
strengthening purposes.
 Stone sizes used are 20, 28 or 40mm.
 The thicker the binder course, the larger the stone size.
 SURFACE COURSE
Surface courses are laid in a wide range of bituminous
materials, ranging in thickness from 20 to 40mm.
The material selected is dependent on the anticipated
traffic intensity.
The two most commonly used surface materials are HRA
and SMA.
 SURFACE COURSE
Hot rolled asphalt(HRA)  is a dense mixture of mineral
aggregate, sand and bitumen.
 Normal thickness is 4cm with 2cm.
There is high proportion of sand
in the mix resulting in a low
percentage of air voids when it is
compacted.
 The surface providing better skid
resistance.
 SURFACE COURSE
Stone Mastic asphaltic Layer(SMA) is a dense wearing
course material which was developed on the continent to
overcome the issue of rutting due to the action of studded
tyres on road surfaces. SMA is
suitable for heavily traffic roads
Stone mastic layer having
 Consistent appearance
Durability
Decreased road noise levels
 TESTS
FIELD TESTS
California Bearing Ratio
Field Density Test
LABORATORY TESTS
Compressive Strenght Of Concrete
Los Angeles Abrsion Test
Bitumen Test
 CALIFORNIA BEARING RATIO
The Clifornia Bearing Ratio is a penetration test for
evaluation of the mechanical strength, bearing capacity of
natural ground, sub grades and base courses beneath new
road construction.
The test is carried out with a plunger of known dimensions
being forced into a sub grade sample either in the
laboratory or on site.
 CALIFORNIA BEARING RATIO
 The load required to cause penetration of the plunger is
measured at regular time intervals. The results are plotted
on a graph. The higher the CBR reading, the stronger the
sub grade. The lower the CBR, the weaker the sub grade.
 Usually CBR values of less than 3% are considered poor
.and greater than 5% are good.
 CALIFORNIA BEARING RATIO
The CBR rating was developed for measuring the load-
bearing capacity of soils used for building roads.
The harder the surface, the higher the CBR rating.
 FIELD DENSITY TEST
Determine the density of natural or compacted soils using
sand.
The density of natural soil is needed for the determination
of bearing capacity of soils.
for the determination of pressures on underlying strata for
the calculation of settlement and the design of
underground structures.
COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF CONCRETE 
The Compressive strength test is a laboratory test.
 This test gives an idea about all the characteristics of
concrete.
 By this test one judge that whether Concreting has been
done proper or not.
COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH MACHINE
 LOS ANGELES ABRASION TEST
The Los Angeles (L.A.) abrasion test is a common test
method used to indicate aggregate toughness and abrasion
characteristics.
 Aggregate abrasion characteristics are important because
aggregate in road must resist crushing, degradation and
disintegration in order to produce a high quality roads.
 BITUMEN TEST
Bitumen is a mixture of organic liquids that is black, highly
viscous, sticky product used for paving roads,
waterproofing products (used in sealing roofs).
There are many tests which are conducted to check the
quality of bitumen. Bitumen is very important component
of many construction sites like roads, highways.
 CAUSES OF ROAD FAILURE
Roads are the basic needs of communications and it is
most commonly used in our daily life for the travelling,
transport and carriage.
 Due to its importance we should pay special attention to
its each step while making a road.
If we do not follow the safety measures given according
to specification then we may face many problems about
road failures.
 FATIGUE CRACKING
Series of interconnected cracks caused by fatigue failure of
the road surface under repeated traffic loading. 
In thin pavements, cracking initiates at the bottom of the
HMA (hot mix asphalt) layer. Occures becouse of Increase
in loading (e.g., more or heavier loads than anticipated in
design) Inadequate structural design Poor construction
(e.g., inadequate compaction).
 BLEEDING
Bleeding occurs when the asphalt contains too much
asphalt cement relative to the aggregate. In these cases, the
asphalt cement tends
to "bleed" thorough the
surface.
 BLOW OUT
 A blowout is an extreme form of pothole that occurs when
the base under the failure has completely failed, often
leading the surrounding asphalt to "blow-out" along the
edges.
These types of failures suggest an underlying lack of
support within the base structure itself.
These repairs often require complete
base reconstruction
 SINKHOLES
Sinkholes are often the result of subsurface drainage that
erodes the underlying support substructures of the
pavement.
Over time, this erosion results
in a cavity underneath the
pavement.
 RUTTING
Rutting involves depressions in the pavement that occur
within the wheel tracks of vehicles.
 This is usually due to insufficient load-bearing capability
of the asphalt/base design within that area.
 RAVELING
Raveling occurs when the stone aggregate that was
originally part of the pavement begins to break free from its
bonds with the asphalt.
 Typically this tends to occur on older pavements . Over
time as more and more
aggregate breaks free from
the asphalt, the asphalt
loses significant load-bearing
capability and will begin to
prematurely fail.
 SLIPAGE CRACK
These types of cracks develop as a result of an overlay layer
"slipping" across the underlying asphalt, resulting in
cracks.
These cracks often reveal themselves in stressed areas
where traffic loading is
increased due to either
turning or stopping.
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