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stress usually lies at the top of the subgrade. The combined thickness of subbase,
base, and wearing surface must be great enough to reduce the stresses occurring in
the subgrade to values that will not cause excessive distortion or displacement of the
subgrade soil layer.

3. Base Courses in Road Structure Cross Section

It is the layer immediately under the wearing surface (Applied whether the wearing
surface is bituminous or cement concrete and whether its a thick or thin bituminous
layer).
As base course lies close under the pavement surface it is subjected to severe
loading. The material in a base course must be of extremely high quality and its
construction must be done carefully. The LA Abrasion test can determine the quality
of the aggregate for this purpose.

a. Types of Base Course

i. Granular Base Course:
It is a mixture of soil particles ranging in size from coarse to fine. Processing involves
crushing oversized particles and screening where it is necessary to secure the desired
grading. The requirements of a satisfactory soil aggregate surface are;

Stability
Resistance to abrasion
Resistance to penetration of water
Capillary properties to replace moisture lost by surface evaporation upon the addition
of wearing course requirement change.

ii. Macadam Base:

Successive layers of crushed rock mechanically locked by rolling and bonded by stone
screening (rock duct, stone chips etc).
iii. In-water bound Macadam:
The crushed stones are laid, shaped and compacted and then finer materials are added and
washed into surface to provide a dense material.
iv. Treated Bases:
Compose of mineral aggregate and additive to make them strong or more resistant to
moisture. Among the treating agents is bitumen.

4. Surface/Wearing Course in pavement cross section:

The top layers of pavement which is in direct contact with the wheel of the vehicle. Usually
constructed of material in which bitumen is used as binder materials.