Civil Engineering Department

College of Engineering
KAAF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

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Highway Engineering 1 CIV 368

PAVEMENT
Definition and Description
KAAF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

A pavement is a structure that carries vehicular loading built over a prepared foundation or subgrade. It should not be confused with the footpaths or walkways used by pedestrians. Pavements are often provided for the following facilities; -Airports Pavements -Haul Roads, Loading Yards, Bus Terminals -Highway Pavements a. Low volume roads b. Main carriageways of major highways c. Shoulder of major highways d. Service roads e. Intersection areas.

TYPES
Pavements
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Depending on the importance of the pavement, load carried etc, the following categories of pavements are normally provided; -Unsurfaced roads (earth, gravel, moorum) -Surfaced ( Bituminous surfacing, Concrete) -Unconventional pavements (block pavements, cell filled concrete pavements) - Flexible ( Earth, Gravel, Bituminous) -Rigid (Concrete plain, reinforced) Rigid Pavements Vs Flexible Pavements The major difference between the rigid and flexible pavement is that in the rigid pavement most of the load spread or carrying capacity is carried by the concrete layer and thus the stresses on the subgrade is very small and not greatly considered. In the flexible pavement the load is uniformly spread across the various layers to the Subgrade. As such the subgrade is of major consideration.

Cell filled concrete pavements

A TYPICAL PAVEMENT LAYER

The subgrade is usually the natural material that serves as the foundation of the pavement structure. It also may consist of a layer of selected borrow materials, well compacted to prescribed specifications. It may be necessary to treat the subgrade material to achieve certain strength properties required for the type of pavement being constructed.

The subbase component consists of material of a superior quality to that which is generally used for subgrade construction. The requirements for subbase materials usually are given in terms of the gradation, plastic characteristics, and strength. When the quality of the subgrade material meets the requirements of the subbase material, the subbase component may be omitted. In cases where suitable subbase material is not readily available, the available material can be treated with other materials to achieve the necessary properties. This process of treating soils to improve their engineering properties is known as stabilization.
The base course lies immediately above the subbase. It is placed immediately above the subgrade if a subbase course is not used. This course usually consists of materials such as crushed stone, crushed or uncrushed gravel, and sand. The specifications for base course materials usually include more strict requirements than those for subbase materials, particularly with respect to their plasticity, gradation, and strength.

A TYPICAL PAVEMENT LAYER

The surface course is the upper course of the road pavement and is constructed immediately above the base course. The surface course in flexible pavements usually consists of a mixture of mineral aggregates and asphalt. It should be capable of withstanding high tire pressures, resisting abrasive forces due to traffic, providing a skid resistant driving surface, and preventing the penetration of surface water into the underlying layers. There are various ways of describing the pavement layers and this has often led to confusion. The figure below illustrates the most common method. The most important layers are the surface layers and the road base since these need to be the strongest.

Design Parameters and their Selection

Design Parameters to be considered in the design of pavements include; -Pavement type -Number of layers -Layer materials -Layer thicknesses -Joint spacing and reinforcement details in case of concrete pavements

In the selection of design parameters the are a few external parameters that also ought to be considered. And these include; -Subgrade strength -Traffic Loading -Climatic conditions
The Subgrade has a few considerations; -Embankment/Cutting -Soil type -Strength -Drainage characteristics
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Design Parameters and their Selection

The vehicular/traffic loading also has these considerations; -Number of vehicles -Type of vehicles -Loads carried -Vehicular speeds (stationary, slow moving, fast moving) The Climatic parameters that ought to be considered include; - Rainfall - Total - Seasonal Distribution - Temperature - Maximum temperature - Minimum temperature - Daily variations - Seasonal variations
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Design for Performance

For any facility, design is the process of selecting appropriate values of design parameters in such a way that the facility performs in a satisfactory/acceptable manner. As such all facilities must be designed to perform over a specified period of time (design life/ service life). The question really is, how does one define pavement performance and how can it be measured.

Pavement performance can be categorized into 2 types, Functional Performance and Structural Performance.
Functional Performance of a pavement relates to it ability to provide comfortable, safe and economical riding conditions for the road user. Here performance is based on the road users view. Functional performance of a pavement depends mostly on the surface characteristics such as; -Variations in longitudinal profile -Variations in transverse profile - Potholes, cracks, patching, rutting, loss of aggregates etc. 8

Design for Performance

Structural Performance of a pavement has to do with its ability to demonstrate structural adequacy such that there are minimal associated load distresses. Where the load distresses lead to permanent deformations or fracture it can be said that the pavement has failed in its structural performance. Here performance is based on structural adequacy.

Most of the distresses/defects observed on pavement surfaces are caused by repeated application of traffic loads. Some are however caused by non-load associated factors like; -Temperature, moisture -Poor quality material -Improper construction practices -Inadequate maintenance. Common forms of structural failures include cracks, permanent deformations, rutting,bleeding etc.
A road designed to give adequate structural performance can be expected to give satisfactory functional performance.
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Design Approaches
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Different agencies adopt different approaches for design of pavements. These are usually developed on the basis of observed performance of pavements. The observed performance is correlated to one or more design parameters. The relationship developed between the performance of pavements and design parameters is referred to as performance criteria. There could be several criteria. Performance Criteria It explains the relationship between performance and design parameters. Usually one or more criteria is used in design. Depending on the design parameters selected and the manner in which the relationship is described, the performance criteria are classified as ; -Empirical criteria -Mechanistic Empirical Criteria Empirical Criteria Under this criteria the performance of pavements is correlated to some simple parameter like subgrade soil index, CBR value, Maximum Dry Density etc. Also experience performance (observed service life) can be used by correlating it the pavement design parameters (typical subgrade strength, thickness, etc) by statistical means.
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Design Approaches
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Disadvantages of the Empirical Criteria include; -The relationship does not explain the fundamental mechanistic behaviour of different materials used in the pavement. - Empirical methods cannot be extrapolated with confidence beyond the range of experience. - Also it may not work for new materials, new climatic conditions or new traffic conditions Mechanistic Empirical Performance Criteria In this approach an attempt is made explain the different phenomena (stress, strains, deflections) occurring in the pavement with reference to physical causes (loads, materials properties). The relationship between the phenomena and the physical causes is explained using mathematical models.

The mechanistic approach is integrated with the empirical approach in the selection of limiting values of stresses, strains and deflections that cause failure of pavements. The relationship between the phenomena (stress, strain, deflection) and the failure is explained by empirically obtained relationships which estimate number of load repetitions to failure.

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Design Approaches
KAAF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

Advantages of the Mechanistic -Empirical Criteria include; -It can handle various loading types as well as new material -Contribution of different material components is better understood and thus optimal utilization is possible. -More reliable. Performance criteria has to be developed from sufficient data on the perfomance in-service pavements. Pavement design done on the basis of any performance criterion are only as reliable as the criteria is. Performance data is obtained by; -Long term monitoring of in-service pavements - Accelerated testing of pavements - Laboratory testing of model pavements or pavement materials. It is often mistakenly believed by many that only empirical procedures require data or past experience and that the mechanistic approach is designing pavements purely on the basis of theoritical calculations only. All design must be based on sufficient experience. Experience (performance) explained in terms of mechanistic principles leads to pseudo or empirical mechanistic designs ( often termed rational methods).
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