Highway Maintenance

Pavement Failures
It is necessary to have a complete knowledge of types of failure or distress in
pavements to evaluate the factors that are to be considered for the pavement
design.
Certain types of pavement failures are progressive leading to eventual failure
of the road which are considered as more dangerous.
Whereas, some are non-progressive and considered to be less dangerous.
The causes of pavement failure may be three-fold.
i. Structural failure which indicates a breakdown of one or more of the
pavement components that result from overloading of the pavement.
ii. Climatic conditions/Environmental factors which may cause surface
irregularities and structural failure due to frost heaving, volume change
due to variations in moisture content.
iii.Disintegration of pavement materials which is caused due to weathering
i.e., wetting and drying, freezing and thawing.
 General Causes of Pavement Failure
Some of the common causes of pavement failures are,
a) Defects in quality of materials
b) Defects in construction method and quality control
during construction.
c) Inadequate surface or sub-surface drainage in the locality resulting
in the stagnation of water in the sub-grade or in any of the
pavement layers.
d) Increase in the magnitude of wheel loads and the number of load
repetitions due to increase in traffic volume.
e) Settlement of foundation of embankment of the fill material.
f) Environmental factors including heavy rainfall, soil erosion, high
water table, snow fall, frost action, etc.
 Typical Flexible Pavement Failures
Following are the typical flexible pavement failures,
1) Alligator (map) cracking
2) Consolidation of pavement layers
3) Shear failure
4) Longitudinal cracking
5) Reflection cracking
6) Transverse cracking
7) Shoving or Formation of waves and corrugations
8) Pot holes
9) Bleeding
 Flexible Pavements Failures
Alligator (map) cracking
• This is the most common type of failure
that occurs due to relative movement
of pavement layer materials.
• When cracking is characterized by
interconnected cracks, the cracking
pattern resembles that of an alligator’s
skin or map. Therefore, it is referred to
as alligator cracking or map cracking.
• This may be caused by repeated
application of heavy wheel loads
resulting in fatigue failure.
• Localized weakness in underlying base
course would also cause a cracking of
the surface course in this pattern.
 Flexible Pavements Failures
Consolidation of pavement layers- Rutting

• Formation of ruts are mainly attributed to the consolidation

of one or more layers of pavement.
• The repeated application of loads along the same wheel path
cause cumulative deformation resulting in longitudinal ruts.
• There are two basic types of rutting
a) Mix rutting occurs when the sub-grade does not rut yet
the pavement surface exhibits wheel path depressions as
a result of compaction/mix design problems.
b) Sub-grade rutting occurs when the sub-grade exhibits
wheel path depressions due to loading. In this case, the
pavement settles into the sub-grade ruts causing surface
depressions in the wheel path.
• Specific causes of rutting can be due to insufficient
compaction of pavement layers during construction. If it is not
compacted enough initially, pavement may continue to
consolidate under traffic loads.
 Flexible Pavements Failures
Shear Failure
• Shear failures are associated with the inherent
weakness the pavement mixtures, the
of shearingresistance being low due to
inadequate stability or excessively
heavy loading
• The shear failure causes upheaval of pavement
materials by forming a fracture or cracking.
 Flexible Pavements Failures
Longitudinal cracking
• Cracks parallel to the pavement's centerline or lay-down direction.
• Cracks that are approximately parallel to pavement centerline and are not in the
wheel path. Longitudinal cracks are non-load associated cracks.
• Due to frost action and differential volume changes in sub-grade longitudinal
cracking is caused in pavement traversing through the full pavement thickness.
• Settlement of fill and sliding of side slopes also would cause this type of failure.
 Flexible Pavements Failures
Reflection Cracking
• This type of cracking is observed in bituminous overlays provided over existing
cement concrete pavements.
• The crack pattern as existing in cement concrete pavements are mostly reflected
on bituminous surfacing in same pattern.
• Reflection will allow surface water to seep through and cause damage to the
underlying layers of pavement and soil sub-grade.
 Flexible Pavements Failures
Transverse Cracking
Cracks that are predominately
perpendicular to pavement centerline
and are not located over Portland
cement concrete joints. Thermal
cracking is typically in this category.
 Flexible Pavements Failures
Shoving
A longitudinal displacement of a localized area of the pavement surface. It is generally caused by
braking or accelerating vehicles, and is usually located on hills or curves, or at intersections. It
also may have vertical displacement .
A failure mode of that is characterized by ripples or waves across the pavement surface. The
ripples occur perpendicular to the direction of travel.
 Flexible Pavements Failures
Pot holes
• Small, bowl-shaped depressions in the pavement surface that penetrate all the way through
the layer down to the base course.
• They generally have sharp edges and vertical sides near the top of the hole. Potholes are most
likely to occur on roads with thin surfaces (25 to 50 mm) and seldom occur on roads with 100
mm or deeper surfaces.
• Generally, potholes are the end result of alligator cracking. As alligator cracking becomes
severe, the interconnected cracks create small chunks of pavement, which can be dislodged as
vehicles drive over them. The remaining hole after the pavement chunk is dislodged is called a
pothole.
 Flexible Pavements Failures
Bleeding
Excess bituminous binder occurring on the pavement surface due to squeeze out of asphalt
through the void spaces within the mix. Usually found in the wheel paths.
This form of failure is generally caused due to high temperatures. May create a shiny, glass-
like, reflective surface that may be tacky to the touch.
 Rigid Pavement Failure
Failure of cement concrete pavements are
recognized mainly by the formation of structural
cracking. The failures are mainly due to two
factors,
a) Deficiency of pavement materials
b) Structural inadequacy of pavement system
 Factors causing pavement failure
Factors that are responsible for the failure due to deficiency of
pavement materials,
• Soft aggregates
• Poor workmanship in joint construction
• Poor joint filler and sealer material
• Poor surface finish
• Improper and insufficient curing
Factors that are responsible for the failure due to structural
inadequacy,
• Inadequate pavement thickness
• Inadequate sub-grade support and poor sub-grade soil
• Incorrect spacing of joints
 Typical Rigid Pavement Failures
Following are sometypical and basic types
of failures in rigid pavements,
1) Scaling of cement concrete
2) Shrinkage cracks
3) Spalling of joints
4) Warping cracks
5) Mud pumping
6) Structural cracks
 Rigid Pavements Failures
Scaling of cement concrete
• Scaling is observed in cement concrete
pavement showing overall deterioration of
the concrete.
• The scaling is mainly attributed due to the
deficiency in the mix or presence of some
chemical impurities which damage the mix.
• Further, due to excessive vibration given to
mix, the cement mortar comes to the top
during construction and thus with use, the
cement mortar gets abraded exposing the
aggregate of the mix.
• This makes the pavement surface rough
and shabby in appearance.
 Defects in Rigid Pavements
Shrinkage Cracks
• During the curing
operatio of cement
concret
n pavements
immediately
e after the
construction,
the shrinkage cracks
normally develops.
• The placement of cracks
arc in longitudinal as well
as in transverse direction.
 Defects in Rigid Pavements
Spalling of joints
• Sometimes when pre-formed filler
materials are placed during casting
of pavement slabs, the placement is
some how dislocated and filler is
thus placed at an angle.
• The concreting is completed
without noticing this faulty
alignment or the filler material.
• Thus this forms an overhang of a
concrete layer on the top side and
the joint later on shows excessive
cracking and subsidence.
 Defects in Rigid Pavements
Warping Cracks
• If the joints are not well designed to accommodate the warping of slabs at
edges, this result in development of excessive stresses due to warping and the
slab. develops cracking at the edges in an irregular pattern.
• Hinge Joints are generally provided for relieving the slabs of warping stresses.
• There is no structural defect due to the warping cracks if proper reinforcement
is provided at the longitudinal and transverse joints as it takes care of the
structural adequacy.
 Defects in Rigid Pavements
Mud Pumping
Mud pumping is recognized when the soil slurry ejects out
through the joints and cracks of cement concrete pavement
caused during the downward movement of slab under the heavy
wheel loads.
The factors which cause the mud pumping are,
• Extent of slab deflection
• Type of sub grade soil
• Amount of free water
Pumping is noticed just after the rains in cement concrete
pavements that are placed on clayey soil sub-grade.
Due to the applications of repealed loads, initial spaces are
developed underneath the pavement slabs and water infiltrates
into these spaces through joints, cracks and edges of the
pavements.
Since the soil is also of fine grained type, it holds water and
forms the soil slurry or soil suspension in water or the mud.
Subsequent application of heavy wheel loads causes the
pavement slab to deflect at critical locations and also forces out
part of the mud each time, through the spaces in pavement
joints, cracks or edge.
When more and more mud is ejected out, there is substantial
loss in fine grained soil from sub-grade, resulting in considerable
loss of sub-grade support at this locations.
 Pavement Maintenance
Three types of maintenance operations are,
i. Routine maintenance
ii.Periodic maintenance
iii.Special repairs
• Routine and periodic maintenance are needed for any type of road
whether or not designed and constructed properly.
• Even if the highways are not used, they also would need
maintenance for their upkeep as the factors that cause damage to
the pavements are more than one. The longitudinal and cross drains
would need attention under the routine maintenance work.
• Special repairs and strengthening of pavement with overlays are
needed to prevent pavement failures. Improvements of highway
maintenance may be included under special repairs.
 Pavement Maintenance
Maintenance of water bound macadam (WBM) road
• To prevent the aggregate from getting loosened from the surface course, it
is necessary to replace the soil binder periodically. This is done by
spreading a thin layer of moist soil binder on the surface as a part of
periodic maintenance, particularly after the monsoon.
• Dust nuisance can be prevented by providing bituminous surface dressing
course over WBM pavement.
• Pot holes and ruts formed should be patched up. The patch repair work is
carried out by first cutting out a rectangular shape of the defective area to
remove the stone up to the affected depth.
• Then within the course aggregate of same size the patch is filled up and
compacted well by ramming such that the patched area is 1 cm above the
general pavement surface. This allows for the further compaction of this
patched portion under traffic.
• After the period of useful life of the WBM road a resurfacing is called for.
 Pavement Maintenance
Maintenance of bituminous surface
Patch repairs: In adequate or defective binding materials causes removal of aggregates during
monsoons. Patching may be done on affected localized areas or sections using cold premix.
Pot holes and repairs: Pot holes are cut to rectangular shape and the affected material in the
section is removed until the sound materials are encountered. The excavated patches are cleaned
and painted with bituminous binder. A premixed material is then placed in the sections and well
compacted by ramming. The finished level of the patches is kept slightly above the original level
to allow for subsequent compaction under traffic.
Surface treatment: Excess of bitumen in the surface material bleeds and the pavement becomes
patchy and slippery. Corrugations or rutting or shoving develop in such pavement surfaces. It is
customary to spread blotting materials such as aggregate chips of maximum size of about 10 mm
or coarse sand. Necessary rolling is done to develop permanent bond between the existing
surface and the new material.
Resurfacing: In the event when the pavement surface is totally worn out and develops a poor
riding surface, it may be more economical to provide an additional surface course on the existing
surface.
 Pavement Maintenance
Special repairs in flexible pavements
Waves and corrugations
Following are the factors which contribute to formation of waves and corrugations,
Defective rolling: if the rolling during the construction stage is improper it leads to the
formation of waves.
Poor sub-grade conditions: sub-grade consisting of poor soils including highly plastic
and high water table close to sub-grade surface may cause non-uniform and
inadequate sub-grade stability.
Poor gradation or mix: defective gradation or mix for the surface layer is another
factor which gives rise to the wave formation, pushing and pulling caused due to the
vehicular movement enhance the defect further more.
Compaction temperature: viscous state of bitumen binder greatly depends upon the
temperature and thus very high temperature during mixing and compaction of
bituminous mix would make the resulting pavement surface layers with low stability
and wavy surface is formed during rolling.
Unstable underlying layers: weak underlying layers also cause the formation of waves
due to repeated plying of vehicles on such road.
 Pavement Maintenance
Remedial measures
• The basic reason for the formation waves and
corrugations
of is to be investigated and proper measure has
to be taken as there are no standard remedy for this.
• If the instability of the under lying layer is due to excessive
moisture conditions, suitable sub-surface drainage system is
warranted to remedy the defect permanently.
• If the failure is due to improper compaction of the lower
layers, this would need complete reconstruction.
• If the failure is due to sub-grade soil which may be a highly
plastic expansive clay, the solution may be sub-grade
stabilization.
 Pavement Maintenance
Skidding of pavement surfaces
• Skid resistance property of pavement surface is essential requirement for highway
safety as it contributes to a large number of accidents on highways.
• Through proper construction and maintenance controls a sufficient degree of skid
resistance can be built into the road surface and maintained.
• Skidding is of three types
i. Straight skidding: occurs in the direction of travel when the sudden
brakes are applied.
ii. Impending skidding: encountered when the braking is gradual and
wheel continues to revolve.
iii. Sideway skidding: occurs on the curves where sufficient super-elevation is not
provided or due to inadequate coefficient of lateral friction.
• Water, clay, dust, dry, sand, oil and grease on the pavement surface are few factors
which cause skidding.
• Highways can develop sufficient skid resistance if they are maintained clean and
dry. However, the remedial measure is renewal of wearing surface
 Pavement Maintenance
Maintenance of cement concrete roads
Maintenance of joints and protection from cracks are the major concern for the cement concrete
roads.
Treatment of cracks
The crack development in cement concrete roads may be classified in to two groups,
i. Temperature cracks: which are initially fine cracks or hair cracks formed across the slab, in
between a pair of transverse and longitudinal joint due to temperature stresses like the
shrinkage stress, warping stress etc in the slab.
ii. Structural cracks: formed near the edge and corner regions of the slabs due to combined
wheel load and warping stresses in the slab.
• If the cracks due to shrinkage start from bottom of the slab, by the time fine cracks are visible
on the top of the slab, the cracks get widened and further deterioration becomes rapid.
• Once the surface water starts getting into the pavement and the sub-grade through the
widened cracks, progressive failure of the pavement is imminent. Therefore, the hair-cracks
may be investigated properly to be sealed off before these cracks are developed and leads to
rapid deteriorations.
 Pavement Maintenance
• The dirt, sand and other loose particles at the cracks are thoroughly cleaned and kerosene oil
is applied to facilitate proper bonding of the sealing material. The cracks are then filled by
suitable grade bituminous sealing compound, heated to liquid consistency.
• The formation of structural cracks in cement concrete roads need immediate attention as
these may lead to pavement failure. In case of general pavement distress indicating the
structural failure of the pavement, immediate steps are to be taken to strengthen the
concrete pavement by a flexible or rigid overlay technique.
• It is not worthwhile to provide an overlay over a badly cracked cement concrete pavement as
the riding surface will be affected by uneven settlement of the cracked and broken slabs. In
such cases the only solution is removal and reconstruction of the concrete pavement.
Maintenance of joints
• Joints are considered to be the weakest parts in cement concrete pavements. The efficiency of
the pavement is determined by the proper functioning of the joints.
• The squeezing of filler material in the joints during summer and subsequent widening of joints
in winter will lead to breaking and removal of sealer material. Therefore, periodic
maintenance of the joint sealer is essential both at expansion and contraction joints as a part
of routine maintenance work on concrete pavements.
Pavement Evaluation
 Pavement Evaluation
Pavement evaluation is a technique of assessing the condition of a pavement, both
structurally and from the point of view of surface characteristics. It is also known as
pavement condition survey and rating of pavement.
Pavement evaluation technique serves a variety of purposes, such as
I. To research on the performance of pavements of different specifications over a
period of time.
II. To assess maintenance needs such as patch repairs, renewals and resealing.
III.To assess the need for structural overlays on distressed pavements.
Methods of pavement evolution are,
1) Visual rating
2) Present Serviceability Index (PSI) concept
3) Roughness measurements
4) Benkelman Beam Deflection method
 Visual Rating
Visual rating is a simple method of inspecting the pavement surface for
detecting and assessing the amount and severity of various types of damage.
The usual manifestation of distress or damage occurs in the form of
i. Rutting
ii. Corrugations
iii. Ravelling
iv. Flushing
v. Alligator cracking
vi. Pot holes
vii. Longitudinal cracking
viii. Transverse cracking
 Present Serviceability Index (PSI)
Present Serviceability Index (PSI) method was introduced by AASHO road test by
developing a rating system involving the measurements of permanent deformation,
riding quality and the extent of cracking and patching.
This method is probably the most widely used pavement rating measure in
existence today. Following equations give the value of PSI for flexible and
rigid pavements,
a. Flexible pavements
PSI= 5.03-1.91 log(1+SV)-1.38(RD)2-0.01(C+P)1/2
b. Rigid pavements
PSI= 5.41-1.80 log(1+SV)-0.09(C+P)1/2

Where, PSI= Present Serviceability Index

SV=slope variance giving an index of the
longitudinal profile
RD=Rut depth under a 4 ft straight edge
C= Cracking distress in terms of lineal feel of cracks per
1000 sq. ft. area
P= Patched area in ft2 per 1000 ft2 area
 Roughness Measurements
• The riding quality of a pavement is determined to a large extent by its structural
adequacy, the traffic load repetitions, the specifications adopted for the surfacing
initially and the maintenance inputs.
• Hence a measure of the pavement performance can be obtained by monitoring its
roughness.
• Roughness of a road is a major determinant of the safety, cost, comfort and speed
of travel.
Methods of measuring roughness is grouped under two categories,
1. Direct measurement of the longitudinal profile: this is an ideal and accurate
method since it theoretically gives scaled reproductions of the pavement profile
along a straight line. In practice, however, the range and resolution of the
profiling devises are limited.
2. Response-type instrument methods: in this system the response of mechanical
systems travelling over the rough road is recorded. Thus this system gives only a
relative measurement of roughness and depends on the characteristics of the
mechanical system and the speed of travel.
 Benkelman Beam Deflection Method
• The Benkelman beam measures the deflections under
standard wheel load conditions.
• Two kinds of deflection measurements are possible,
• Rebound deflection, which is the recoverable deflection
or the elastic deflection. In a well-designed road, the
deflection is entirely elastic and recoverable.
• Residual deflection, which is the non-recoverable
deflection. As a pavement ages, it loses a portion of its
elastic properties and a permanent deflection takes
place.
• The Benkelman beam is a handy instrument which is
most widely used for measuring deflection of
pavements. It measures the maximum pavement
deflection caused by static dual wheels.
• The maximum pavement deflection is determined by
the rebound movement of a point between the dual
tires after the tires are moved away slowly.
• The deflection of the pavement surface produced by
the test load is transmitted to the other end of the
beam where it is measured by a dial gauge or recorder.
 Overlay design by Benkelman Beam Method
Principle
• A well compacted pavement section or one which has been well conditioned by
traffic deforms elastically under each wheel load application such that when the
load moves away, there is an elastic recovery or rebound deflection of the
deformed pavement surface. This is the basic principle of deflection method
pavement evaluation or overlay design.
• The maximum deflection under a design wheel load depends on several factors
such as sub-grade soil properties, moisture in the sub-grade, pavement thickness
and its composition, temperature of the pavement, loading particulars etc.
therefore the amount of pavement deflection under a design wheel load or its
rebound deflection on removal of this load is a measure of the structural stability
of the pavement system under the prevailing condition of test.
• Larger rebound deflection indicates weaker pavement structure which may require
earlier strengthening or higher overlay thickness. It is desirable to carry out the
deflection studies soon after the monsoons when the pavement system may be at
the weakest condition due to maximum sub-grade moisture content.
 Overlay design by Benkelman Beam Method
Procedure
• The stretch of road length to be evaluated is first surveyed to assess the general
condition of the pavement with respect to the ruts, cracks and undulations.
• Based on the above pavement condition analysis, the pavement stretches are
classified and grouped into different classes such as good, fair and poor for the
purpose of Benkelman beam deflection studies. The loading points on the
pavement for deflection measurements are located along the wheel paths, on a
line 0.9 m from the pavement edge in case of pavements of total width more than
3.5 m.
• The distance from the edge is reduced to 0.6 m on narrower pavements.
• The number of loading points in a stretch and the spacing between them for the
deflection measurements are to be decided depending on the objective of the
precision desired.
• A minimum of 10 deflection observations may be taken on each of the selected
stretch of the pavement.
• The deflection observation points may also be staggered if necessary and taken
along the wheel paths on both the edges of the pavement.
 Overlay design by Benkelman Beam Method
After making the deflection observation points, the study is carried out in the following steps,
i. The truck is driven slowly parallel to the edge and stopped such that the left side rear dual wheel
is centrally placed over the first point for deflection measurement.
ii. The probe end of the Benkelman beam is inserted between the gap of the dual wheel and is
placed exactly over the deflection observation point.
iii. When the dial gauge reading is stationary or when the rate of change of pavement deflection is
less than 0.025 mm per minute, the initial dial gauge reading Do is noted. Both the readings of the
large and small needles of the dial gauge may be noted.
iv. Truck is moved forward slowly through a distance of 2.7 m from the point and stopped. The
intermediate dial gauge reading Di is noted when the rate of recovery of the pavement is less than
0.025 mm per minute.
v. The truck is then driven forward through a further distance of 9.0 m and the final gauge reading Df
is recorded.
vi. The three deflection dial gauge reading Do, Di and Df form a set of readings at one deflection point
under consideration. Similarly the truck is moved forward to the next deflection point and the
procedure of noting the three deflection observation is repeated for this new position. The
deflection observations are continued at all the desired points following the above procedure.
vii. The temperature of the pavement surface are recorded at intervals of one hour during the study.
The tyre pressure checked and adjusted if necessary, at intervals of about three hours during the
deflection study. Similarly’ the moisture content of the sub-grade soil is also monitored at suitable
intervals.
 Overlay design by Benkelman Beam Method
The rebound deflection value D at any point is given by one of the following two conditions:
a) If Di-Df ≤ 2.5 divisions of the dial gauge or 0.025mm, D= 2(Do-Df) divisions of 0.01mm units = 0.02
(Do-Df) mm.
b) If Di-Df ≥ 2.5 divisions, this indicates that correction is needed for the vertical movement of the
front legs.
Therefore, D= 2(Do-Df) + 2K (Di-Df) divisions.
The value of K is to be determined for every make of the Benkelman Beam and is given by the
relation

Where d= distance between the bearing of the beam and the rear adjusting leg
E= distance between the dial gauge and rear adjusting leg
F= distance between the front and rear legs
The value of K of Benkelman beam generally available in India is found to be 2.91. therefore, the
deflection value D in case (b) with leg correction is given by
D= 0.02 (Do-Df) + 0.0582 (Di-Df) mm
 Overlay design by Benkelman Beam Method
Correction for pavement temperature and sub-grade moisture variations,
• When the pavement consists of relatively thick bituminous layers like the
bituminous macadam or asphaltic concrete in the base/binder/surface
course, variation in temperature of pavement surface course cause
variation in pavement deflection under the standard load.
• The IRC has suggested a standard pavement temperature of 35o C and a
correction factor of 0.0065 mm per oC to be applied for the variation from
this standard pavement temperature.. The correction will be negative
when the pavement temperature is above 35oC and positive when it is
lower.
• The seasonal variation cause variation in sub-grade moisture. As it is
always not possible to conduct deflection studies during monsoon season
when sub-grade moisture content is highest, the IRC has suggested
tentative correction factors of 2.0 for clayey soils and 1.2 to 1.3 for sandy
sub-grade soils may be adopted if the deflection observations are made
during dry seasons.