Compare (in some details) between flexible and rigid pavements Flexible (Bituminous) Pavements Flexible pavements are

constructed of several layers of natural granular material covered with one or more waterproof bituminous surface layers, and as the name implies, is considered to be flexible. A flexible pavement will flex (bend) under the load of a tyre. The objective with the design of a flexible pavement is to avoid the excessive flexing of any layer, failure to achieve this will result in the over stressing of a layer, which ultimately will cause the pavement to fail. In flexible pavements, the load distribution pattern changes from one layer to another, because the strength of each layer is different. The strongest material (least flexible) is in the top layer and the weakest material (most flexible) is in the lowest layer. The reason for this is that at the surface the wheel load is applied to a small area, the result is high stress levels, deeper down in the pavement, the wheel load is applied to larger area, the result is lower stress levels thus enabling the use of weaker materials.

Rigid (Concrete) Pavements As opposed to a flexible pavement that develops its strength from a layer system, rigid pavements rely on the strength of the concrete surface typically ranging from 150 to 300 mm for strength. As the name states, rigid pavements are considered to be rigid, implying that the pavement will not flex (bend). This is not entirely accurate, since even a rigid pavement will flex, the amount is however so small that when compared with a flexible pavement, it is considered rigid.

The increased rigidity of concrete allows the concrete surface layer to bridge small weak areas in the supporting layer through what is known as beam action. This allows the placement of rigid pavements on relatively weak supporting layers, as long as the supporting layer material particles will not be carried away by water forced up by the pumping action of wheel loads.

Another answer The flexible pavement is an asphalt pavement. It generally consists of a relatively thin wearing surface of asphalt built over a base course and subbase course. Base and subbase courses are usually gravel or stone. These layers rest upon a compacted subgrade (compacted soil). In contrast, rigid pavements are made up of portland cement concrete and may or may not have a base course between the pavement and subgrade. The essential difference between the two types of pavements, flexible and rigid, is the manner in which they distribute the load over the subgrade. Rigid pavement, because of concretes rigidity and stiffness, tends to distribute the load over a relatively wide area of subgrade. The concrete slab itself supplies a major portion of a rigid pavement's structural capacity. Flexible pavement, inherently built with weaker and less stiff material, does not spread loads as well as concrete. Therefore flexible pavements usually require more layers and greater thickness for optimally transmitting load to the subgrade. The major factor considered in the design of rigid pavements is the structural strength of the concrete. For this reason, minor variations in

subgrade strength have little influence upon the structural capacity of the pavement. The major factor considered in the design of flexible pavements is the combined strength of the layers. One further practical distinction between concrete pavement and asphalt pavement is that concrete pavement provides opportunities to reinforce, texture, color and otherwise enhance a pavement, that is not possible with asphalt. These opportunities allow concrete to be made exceedingly strong, long lasting, safe, quiet, and architecturally beautiful. Concrete pavements on average outlast asphalt pavements by 10-15 years before needing rehabilitation.

Difference between Rigid and Flexible Pavement: 1. Rigid Pavement is mainly made up of cement concrete whereas flexible pavement is made up of Asphalt or Bitumen. 2. Load is transferred through grain to grain mechanism whereas load is transferred through slab action 3. RP is more durable as compare to FP Explain the behaviour of all types of highway materials under repeated loading at different conditions (give examples). P.19 @ Soil_mechanics_in_pavement_engineering