Chapter 2

Pavement Design
Transportation Engineering II
 Definition & Functions
• A pavement is a stable layer constructed to support the wheel loads from
traffic which is constructed over the natural soil.
• Functions: Support and distribute wheel load of the vehicle over a wide
area of foundation layers of road.
Structural
Cost/Economic Comfort Environmental Drainage
Adequacy
• Operation • Withstand all • Riding quality • Dust proof • Impervious
cost the stresses (smooth) • Minimum
• Maintenance • Stresses in • Sufficient effect to the
cost subgrade friction environment
• Hard surface
against
abrasion
 Types of Pavement

• Flexible Pavement
• The pavement is characterized by low flexural strength
• Undergoes high deflection and show rebounding nature
• Because of the poor load transferring nature, higher stresses in the
subgrade is caused, which may cause the failure of the subgrade
• The design of the thickness of the pavement is as per the strength of the
subgrade
 Preparation of Subgrade

Section of flexible road

Preparation of base
Types of Pavement

• Rigid Pavement
• In compare to the flexible pavement, the rigid pavement shows very less
deflection
• Has high flexural strength (beam strength)
• As long as minimum subgrade strength is met, the performance of the
rigid pavement is more governed by the strength of the slab itself
 Types of Pavement

• Semi rigid pavement –

• It has high flexural strength than the flexible as the property of the
materials are enhanced though the strength is much lower than the
concrete slabs
• They use lean-concrete base, soil-cement stabilization
• Composite Pavement
• Multiple structural layers
 Comparison between Rigid and Flexible Pavement
Flexible Pavement Rigid Pavement
Load
Distribution
Surface Bituminous Surface Concrete Surface
Load carrying Load distribution capacity Load carrying capacity due
capacity of the layered components to the higher flexural
strength of the concrete
slab itself
Design • Based mainly on the • Based on the flexural
strength of the subgrade strength of Concrete
• Mainly done through • Precise design can be
empirical methods achieved
 Comparison between Rigid and Flexible
Pavement
Flexible Pavement Rigid Pavement
Life Usually design life of 10 to Design life of 40 years can be
20 years with the achieved even with less
requirement of periodic maintenance
maintenance
Maintenanc Higher rate of Lower rate of maintenance
e maintenance but low cost but higher cost of
of maintenance maintenance
Initial cost Less capital requirement Higher capital requirement*
Stage Possible Not possible
construction
 Comparison between Rigid and Flexible
Pavement
Flexible Pavement Rigid Pavement
Surface Potholes, rutting, Permanent non skid surface
characteristi corrugations, Could get extremely smooth,
cs Easy for achieving roughness costly for maintenance
during maintenance

Imperviousn Less impermeable then Concrete is usually impervious

ess concrete however the joints of the
pavement can be faulty and
cause damage to the pavement
(mud pumping)
Factors affecting pavement design

Traffic and loading Factors

Design Life
Environmental factors
 Material Properties
Traffic and loading factors
SN Country Standard Axle Load

1 Nepal 8.2 tonnes

2 India 8.16 tonnes
3 UK 10.17 tonnes
4 USA 8.2-10.2 tonnes
5 AASHTO(American Association of 9.8 tonnes
State Highway and Transportation Officials)
 Single Axle with Single
Tandem Axles with Dual Tires

Traffic factors
Tire

Single Axle with Dual Tires

Tridem Axles with Dual Tires

• Repetition of axle load – Pavement distress accumulate with the repetition of

axle load, so the number of repetition of axle load is one of the important for
the pavement design
 Traffic factors
• However, for double axle (tandem configuration) 14.5
tonnes and 20.3 tonnes for tridem axles (triple axle) is
considered to be standard

• Tyre pressure – It depends upon the total axle load, wheel

configuration and contact area. This is responsible for
causing damage to the pavement. A standard of 0.5 MN/m2
(70-100 PSI)
Traffic factors
•  Equivalent Standard Axle Load & Equivalence Factor – It is essential to
convert the variety of load into a standard axle load system of 80 kN.
This is done with the help of equivalence factor,
, Also known as fourth power law, here Ls = 80 kN
• Calculation of total number of ESAL is made at the base year per day
with the help of the factor
Traffic factors
•  Pavement has to accommodate the total traffic till its design life. So,
the calculated ESAL of the base year is not sufficient for the design of
pavement. Consideration of growth of the traffic is most important.
For this,

• Here, r = annual traffic growth rate,

• ESALbase = ESAL at base year per day
• n = number of years at the end of design year
•  Problem – A two lane two way road is at present carrying a traffic of 1000
commercial vehicles per day. It is to be strengthened for the growing traffic
needs. The vehicle damage factor has been found to be 3.0. The rate of
growth of traffic is 10 percent per annum. The period of construction is 5
years. The pavement is to be designed for 15 years after the completion.
Calculate the cumulative standard axles to be used in design.
- Lane distribution factor – 75%
The traffic will grow to –
- 1000
For cumulative standard axle load for 15 years -
 Design life
• The design life is time between a new pavement to the time of
reconstruction or rehabilitation
• In the design life time, pavement deteriorates to the good initial level
serviceability to its terminal level (minimum acceptable level) of
serviceability
• Term serviceability is a measure of pavement performance or the
pavement ability to serve the present traffic
Highway conditions Analysis period

High-volume, urban 30-50 years

High-volume, rural 20-50 years

Low-volume, paved 15-25 years

Low-volume, aggregate surface 10-20 years

Reliability
• It is the probability of the pavement that the possible distress will remain
within the permissible level during the design life. As per the AASHTO
guidelines, reliability adopted are as:
Recommended Level of Reliability
A standard deviation
Urban Rural
for traffic of 0.35 and
National Highways 85-99.9% 80-99.9% 0.45 for rigid and
flexible pavement is
State Highways 80-99% 75-95% taken respectively
Major District Roads 80-95% 75-95%

Other District Roads and 50-80% 50-80%

Village Roads
Environmental factors
• Temperature and Rainfall are the two main environmental factors used
in evaluating pavement performance
• Effect of temperature includes:
• Stresses induced by thermal action
• Effect of freezing and thawing on subgrade soil.
• Effect of rainfall is due mainly to penetration of the surface water to
the underlying material.
• If penetration occur the properties of the underlying material will
significantly altered.
• Freezing and thawing action effects the subgrade strength significantly
 Material properties
• It is very important to know the structural property of the materials in the
pavement. In most cases, the structural property of the layer are defined
either in terms of CBR (California Bearing Ratio) or in Resilient Modulus
(MR).
• In flexible pavement, the strength of the subgrade defines the total
thickness with consideration of no overstressing the subgrade which can
be the possibility of failure,
If CBR <10% or less, MR= 1500 x CBR (in PSI) and 10.3 CBR (in MPa)
• the strength parameters of other layers defines spreading of load.
 Material properties
• Drainage of Subgrade – One of the main function of subbase and base layer
is to provide proper drainage. So, the design should include the affect of the
proper drainage in the design.
• AASHTO method includes the drainage coefficient in subbase and base layer
to modify its structural capacity as by defining five category in the basis of
quality of drainage:
Quality of Drainage Water removed within
Excellent 2 hours
Good 1 day
Fair 1 week
poor 1 month
Very poor Water will not drain
Distribution of commercial traffic in lane – In absence of adequate and
conclusive data

Types of Road Traffic amount to be considered

Single lane road Total number of commercial vehicles on both
direction
Two lane single carriageway road 75% of the total number of commercial
vehicles in both direction
Four lane single carriageway road 40% of the total number of commercial
vehicles in both direction
Dual two lane carriageway road 75% of the number of the commercial
vehicles in each direction
Dual three lane carriageway road 60% of the number of the commercial
vehicles in each direction
Dual four lane carriageway road 40% of the number of the commercial
vehicles in each direction
Flexible Pavement Design

CBR Test method

Analytical Methods
•  Boussinesq’s Theory
- Assumed elastic, homogeneous and isotropic, Hooke’s law
- The design is based on the assumed deflection in the pavement
where, deflection under circular loading of diameter 2a under the
centre of the applied load is given as

- First attempt to make analytical solution

Analytical Methods

•  Burmister’s theory (Layered system)

- Two layered system (top layer – surfacing, base and sub base and
bottom layer – subgrade)
2a

Pavement Layer Modulus of Elasticity E1

Subgrade Layer Modulus of Elasticity E2
- , where Fw is a Displacement factor which depends upon E1/E2 and the
depth of the pavement, represented by graph
- Thus, deflection depends upon thickness of pavement and E1/E2
Analytical Method
• Burmister Method
Analytical Method
• Three Layered Analysis
• In this system, stresses as vertical stresses, horizontal stresses at two
interfaces are calculated with the help of 4 set parameters
dependent upon the thickness of bituminous layer (h1) and unbound
granular material layer(h2), and Modulus of Elasticity of layers
namely bituminous layer(E1), unbound granular layer (base and
subbase) (E2) and subgrade (E3), radius of circularly loaded area.
• Graphs are made available, and the stresses are checked for the
permissible ranges and possible modifications are made
Empirical Method
• CBR Method
- It was introduced by California Division of Highways in USA in 1928
- The design curves provides thickness of pavement required for a
given CBR of subgrade and for a given design load to be taken by the
pavement. Three curves for design wheel load 3175 kg, 4082 kg and
5443 kg were developed
- The CBR method is based on the principle of requirement of
sufficient thickness of material for a given CBR.
Empirical Method (CBR method continue)
Empirical Method (CBR method continue)
•  IRC recommend, 7 curves for different volume of commercial heavy
vehicles whose laden weight is greater than 3 tonnes
• To calculate the number of design vehicle for the design year, it is
recommended to use
in commercial vehicle per day, CVPD
Q. CBR Subgrade= 5%, CBR subbase= 18%, CBRbase = 80%, thickness of ac = 5 cm, present number of heavy
Traffic per day = 180, Annual rate of traffic growth = 6%, Design Life = 12 years, Construction
Period = 18 months
Empirical Method (IRC Guidelines)
• It provides design catalogue
• The flexible pavement has four layer structure
• Requires subgrade strength and cumulative number of standard axle
load for design
Empirical Method (IRC Guidelines)
Empirical method (Road note 29)
• Based on the cumulative number of standard axle and CBR value of
Subgrade for sub-base thickness,
• Based on cumulative standard axle over design period, other
thickness of layer is observed from graph
• Design for 20 year life for flexible pavement and 40 year for rigid
pavement
Empirical Method (Road Note 31)
• Issued by Transport Research Laboratory (TRL)
• A Guide to the Structural Design of Bitumen-Surface Roads
• Design are presented in the form of a structural catalogue
• Traffic classes considered : Subgrade strength classes :
T1 = < 0.3 (106 ESAL) T5 = 3.0 – 6.0 S1 = < 2 (CBR %) S4 = 8 – 14
T2 = 0.3 – 0.7 T6 = 6.0 – 10
T3 = 0.7 – 1.5 T7 = 10 – 17 S2 = 3 – 4 S5 = 15 – 29
T4 = 1.5 – 3.0 T8 = 17 – 30 S3 = 5 – 7 S6 = > 30
AASHTO Method (Empirical Method)
• 
• Many types of test section were prepared and tested.
• The AASHTO Method of road design is in terms of FPS system
• This method Incorporates various design inputs including :
• Pavement Performance (Loss of serviceability).
• Traffic
• Subgrade soil properties
• Materials of construction
• Drainage
• Reliability
Pavement Performance (in terms of PSI)
• Pavement ability to serve traffic at some instances during its life is expressed
in terms of Present Serviceability Index.
• PSI = F ( Roughness or slope variance in the two wheel paths, the extent &
type of cracking, patching, and the pavement rutting displayed at the surface].
• Initial & terminal serviceability indices must be established to compute the
change in serviceability ( DPSI) in the design equation.
• Initial PSI = F( Pavement type & construction quality) [ 4.2 for flexible & 4.5 for
rigid).
• Terminal PSI = Lowest index that is tolerable for a pavement before it require
rehabilitation [ 2.5 for major highways & 2.0 for other roads].
Traffic
•  The traffic is taken as the number of Equivalent standard axle load for
the design period. The standard axle load is taken to be 80 kN or
18000 lbs (18 kips) which can be calculated as:

Soil subgrade properties

• The soil subgrade strength is to be expressed in terms of Resilient
Modulus (Mr)
• If CBR of soil is known and <20% then, Mr in terms of PSI = 1500*CBR
Materials of construction
•  The quality of material used in construction for different layer of
pavement is expressed in layer coefficient
• a3 for quality of material in subbase

• a2 for quality of material in subbase

• a1 for quality of asphalt concrete surface course

Drainage
• Water affect the strength of base and roadbed soil.
• The approach is to provide a suitable drainage layer, and by modifying the
structural layer coefficient by incorporating the factor (mi) for the base and
subbase layer coefficients (a2 & a3)

Reliability
• It provides a predetermined level of assurance (R) that the pavement section will
survive the period for which they were designed.
• Reliability Design Factor: Accounts for chance variations in both traffic prediction
& performance prediction.
• (R) is a mean of incorporating some degree of certainty into the design to ensure
that the various design alternatives will last the analysis periods.
Quality of Percentage of time pavement is exposed to moisture levels approaching saturation
Drainage
Less than 1% 1-5% 5-25% Greater than 25%

Excellent 1.40-1.35 1.35-1.30 1.30-1.20 1.20

Good 1.35-1.25 1.25-1.15 1.15-1.00 1.00
Fair 1.25-1.15 1.15-1.05 1.00-0.80 0.80
Poor 1.15-1.05 1.05-0.80 0.80-0.60 0.60
Very Poor 1.05-0.95 0.95-0.75 0.75-0.40 0.40

Modifiers, m2 and m3, for layer coefficients for drainage conditions

Overall standard deviation (So)
• Overall standard deviation that accounts for standard deviation (or
variation) in materials & construction, chance variation in traffic
prediction, and normal variation in pavement performance.
• So = 0.45 for flexible pavement (0.40 - 0.50)
• So = 0.35 for rigid pavements (0.30 -0.40)

ZR = Standard Normal Variate, function of Reliability

Reliability (%) Standard Normal Deviate (ZR)
50 0
60 -0.253
70 -0.524
80 -0.841
90 -1.282
95 -1.645
99 -2.327
99.5 -3.090

Standard Normal Deviate for different values of reliability

Design Method
• AASHTO method introduced structural number which depends upon
pavement layer thickness, layer coefficient, & drainage coefficient
• Structural number required to withstand the repetition of load by the
subgrade is given as
SN3 = a1 D1 + a2 D2 m2 + a3 D3 m3
Where, SN3 is calculated with the Mr of subgrade
• Structural number required to withstand the repetition of load by the given
subbase layer would be given by
SN2 = a1 D1 + a2 D2 m2
Where, SN2 is calculated with the Mr of subbase
Design method (contd)
• Structural number required to withstand the repetition of load by the
given base layer would be given by
SN1 = a1 D1
Where, SN is calculated with the Mr of base
• The calculation of depth is in inches and the depths are rounded up
to nearest 0.5 inch.