Defence Engineering College Department of Civil and combat Engineering

CHAPTER 1

Principles of pavement design

Introduction

Pavement:-is the durable surface material laid down on an area intended to sustain vehicular
or foot traffic, such as a road or walkway. In the past cobblestones and granite setts were
extensively used, but these surfaces have mostly been replaced by asphalt or concrete.

Highway pavement is a structure consisting of superimposed layers of processed materials

above the natural soil sub-grade, whose primary function is to distribute the applied vehicle loads
to the sub-grade.
The pavement structure should be able to provide a surface of acceptable riding quality,
adequate skid resistance, favorable light reflecting characteristics, and low noise pollution. The
ultimate aim is to ensure that the transmitted stresses due to wheel load are sufficiently reduced,
so that they will not exceed bearing capacity of the sub-grade.

Requirements of a pavement

An ideal pavement should meet the following requirements:

Sufficient thickness to distribute the wheel load stresses to a safe value on the sub-grade
soil,
Structurally strong to withstand all types of stresses imposed upon it,
Adequate coefficient of friction to prevent skidding of vehicles,
Smooth surface to provide comfort to road users even at high speed,
Produce least noise from moving vehicles,
Impervious surface, so that sub-grade soil is well protected, and
Long design life with low maintenance cost.

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Pavement Purpose

Typically, pavements are built for three main purposes:

1. Load support. Pavement material is generally stiffer than the material upon which it is
placed, thus it assists the in situ material in resisting loads without excessive deformation
or cracking.
2. Smoothness. Pavement material can be placed and maintained much smoother than in
situ material. This helps improve ride comfort and reduce vehicle operating costs.
3. Drainage. Pavement material and geometric design can effect quick and efficient
drainage thus eliminating moisture problems such as mud and ponding (puddles).

Types of pavements

The pavements can be classified based on the structural performance into two
1. Flexible pavement
2. Rigid pavement
3. Composite pavement
1. Flexible pavements: - wheel loads are transferred by grain-to-grain contact of the
aggregate through the granular structure. The flexible pavement, having less flexural
strength, acts like a flexible sheet (e.g. bituminous road , asphalt materials , gravel road
and earth road )
generally found on lower volume roads
total pavement structure "bends" or "deflects" due to traffic loads
generally composed of several layers of materials which can accommodate this
"flexing"
Flexible pavement uses more flexible surface course and distributes loads over a
smaller area.
It relies on a combination of layers for transmitting load to the sub grade
Flexible pavements generally require some sort of maintenance or rehabilitation
every 10 to 15 years.

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2. Rigid pavements:-wheel loads are transferred to sub-grade soil by flexural strength of

the pavement and the pavement acts like a rigid plate (e.g. cement concrete roads)
substantially "stiffer" than flexible pavements due to the high modulus of
elasticity material
these pavements can have reinforcing steel, which is generally used to reduce or
eliminate joints
Each of these pavement types distributes load over the sub grade in a different
fashion
The concrete slab itself supplies most of a rigid pavement's structural capacity.
Serve 20 to 40 years with little or no maintenance or rehabilitation.

3. Composite pavements (ideal) :- are also available a thin layer of flexible pavement
over rigid pavement is an ideal pavement with most desirable characteristics. However,
such pavements are rarely used in new construction because of high cost and complex
analysis required.

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Flexible pavements

Flexible pavements will transmit wheel load stresses to the lower layers by grain-to-grain
transfer through the points of contact in the granular structure (see Figure).

Figure 1: Load transfer in granular structure

Deflection on flexible pavement

The wheel load acting on the pavement will be distributed to a wider area, and the stress
decreases with the depth. Taking advantage of these stress distribution characteristic, flexible
pavements normally has many layers. Hence, the design of flexible pavement uses the concept of
layered system. Based on this, flexible pavement may be constructed in a number of layers and
the top layer has to be of best quality to sustain maximum compressive stress, in addition to wear
and tear.

Flexible pavements are constructed using bituminous materials. These can be either in the
form of surface treatments or asphalt concrete surface courses (generally used on high volume
roads such as national highways).

Flexible pavement layers reflect the deformation of the lower layers on to the surface
layer (e.g., if there is any undulation in sub-grade then it will be transferred to the surface layer).
In the case of flexible pavement, the design is based on overall performance of flexible

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pavement, and the stresses produced should be kept well below the allowable stresses of each
pavement

Typical layers of a flexible pavement

Flexible pavement structure is typically composed of several layers of material. Each

layer receives the loads from the above layer, spreads them out, and then passes on these loads to
the next layer below. Thus, the further down in the pavement structure a particular layer is, the
fewer loads (in terms of force per area) it must carry.

In order to take maximum advantage of this property, material layers are usually arranged in
order of descending load bearing capacity with the highest load bearing capacity material (and
most expensive) on the top and the lowest load bearing capacity material (and least expensive)
on the bottom.

This section describes the typical flexible pavement structure consisting of:

I. Surface course.
II. Base course.
III. Sub base course.
IV. Sub-grade

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Figure 2: Typical cross section of a flexible pavement

I. Surface course

Surface course is the layer directly in contact with traffic loads and generally contains
superior quality materials. They are usually constructed with dense graded asphalt concrete
(AC). The functions and requirements of this layer are:

It provides characteristics such as friction, smoothness, drainage, etc. Also it will prevent
the entrance of excessive quantities of surface water into the underlying base, sub-base
and sub-grade,
It must be tough to resist the distortion under traffic and provide a smooth and skid-
resistant riding surface,
It must be water proof to protect the entire base and sub-grade from the weakening effect
of water.

This top structural layer of material is sometimes sub divided into different layers

1. Wearing Course. This is the layer in direct contact with traffic loads.

Seal Coat: is a thin surface treatment used to water-proof the surface and to provide skid
resistance.

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Tack Coat: is a very light application of asphalt, usually asphalt emulsion diluted with
water. It provides proper bonding between two layers of binder course and must be thin,
uniformly cover the entire surface, and set very fast.

Intermediate/Binder Course/. This layer provides the bulk of the HMA structure. It's chief

Purpose is to distribute load.

The binder course generally consists of aggregates having less asphalt and doesn't require
quality as high as the surface course, so replacing a part of the surface course by the
binder course results in more economical design.

Prime Coat: is an application of low viscous cutback bitumen to an absorbent surface

like granular bases on which binder layer is placed. It provides bonding between two
layers. Unlike tack coat, prime coat penetrates into the layer below, plugs the voids, and
forms a water tight surface.

II. Base Course

The base course is immediately beneath the surface course. It provides additional load
distribution and contributes to drainage and frost resistance. It provides additional load
distribution and contributes to the sub-surface drainage it may be composed of crushed stone,
crushed slag, and other untreated or stabilized materials. Base courses are usually constructed
out of:

1. Aggregate:-Base courses are most typically constructed from durable aggregates that
will not be damaged by moisture or frost action. Aggregates can be either stabilized or
unsterilized.
2. HMA:-In certain situations where high base stiffness is desired, base courses can be
constructed using a variety of HMA mixes. In relation to surface course HMA mixes,
base course mixes usually contain larger maximum aggregate sizes, are more open
graded and are subject to more lenient specifications.

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III. Sub base Course

The sub base course is between the base course and the sub grade. It functions primarily as
structural support but it can also:

1. Minimize the intrusion of fines from the sub grade into the pavement structure.
2. Improve drainage.
3. Minimize frost action damage.
4. Provide a working platform for construction.

The sub base generally consists of lower quality materials than the base course but better than
the sub grade soils. A sub base course is not always needed or used.

For example, a pavement constructed over a high quality, stiff sub grade may not need the
additional features offered by a sub base course so it may be omitted from design. However, a
pavement constructed over a low quality soil such as welling clay may require the additional
load distribution characteristic that a sub base course can offer.

IV. Sub-grade

Sub-grade is a layer of natural soil prepared to receive the stresses from the layers above.
It is essential that at no time soil sub-grade is overstressed. It should be compacted to the
desirable density, near the optimum moisture content.

Types of Flexible Pavements

There are many different types of flexible pavements. This section covers two of the more
common types of HMA mix types used in the world

1. Conventional layered flexible pavement,

2. Full - depth asphalt pavement, and

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1. Conventional flexible pavements are layered systems with high quality expensive
materials are placed in the top where stresses are high, and low quality cheap materials
are placed in lower layers.
2. Full - depth asphalt pavements are constructed by placing bituminous layers directly on
the soil sub-grade. This is more suitable when there is high traffic and local materials are
not available.

Failure of flexible pavements

The major flexible pavement failures are

fatigue cracking,
rutting, and
Thermal cracking.
The fatigue cracking of flexible pavement is due to horizontal tensile strain at the bottom of
the asphaltic concrete. The failure criterion relates allowable number of load repetitions to tensile
strain and this relation can be determined in the laboratory fatigue test on asphaltic concrete
specimens. Rutting occurs only on flexible pavements as indicated by permanent deformation or
rut depth along wheel load path. Two design methods have been used to control rutting: one to
limit the vertical compressive strain on the top of sub grade and other to limit rutting to a
tolerable amount (12 mm normally). Thermal cracking includes both low-temperature cracking
and thermal fatigue cracking.

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Rigid Pavement

Rigid pavements have sufficient flexural strength to transmit the wheel load stresses to a
wider area below. A typical cross section of the rigid pavement is shown in Figure. Compared to
flexible pavement, rigid pavements are placed either directly on the prepared sub-grade or on a
single layer of granular or stabilized material. Since there is only one layer of material between
the concrete and the sub-grade, this layer can be called as base or sub-base course.

Figure Rigid Pavement structure

This section describes the typical rigid pavement structure consisting of:

Surface course (concrete slab). This is the top layer, which consists of the PCC slab.
Base course. This is the layer directly below the PCC layer and generally consists of
aggregate or stabilized sub grade.
Sub base course. This is the layer under the base layer. A sub base is not always needed
and therefore may often be omitted.
The capping layer consists of selected fill and is provided in cases of low strength sub
grade. It allows increasing the bearing capacity of the sub grade and thus enables a lesser
pavement thickness to be adopted. Lesser pavement thickness to be adopted.(similar
meaning with sub base)

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I. Surface Course

The surface course is the layer in contact with traffic loads and is made of PCC. It
provides characteristics such as friction smoothness, noise control and drainage. In addition, it
serves as a waterproofing layer to the underlying base, sub base and sub grade. The surface
course can vary in thickness but is usually between 150 mm (6 inches) (for light loading) and
300 mm (12 inches) (for heavy loads and high traffic).

II. Base Course

The base course is immediately beneath the surface course. It provides

1) Additional load distribution

2) Contributes to drainage and frost resistance (to prevent pumping at joints and slab

edges.)

3) Uniform support to the pavement and

4) Stable platform for construction equipment Bases also help prevent sub grade soil
movement due to slab pumping. Base courses are usually constructed out of:

1. Aggregate base. A simple base course of crushed aggregate has been a common option
since the early 1900s and is still appropriate in many situations today.
2. Stabilized aggregate or soil - Stabilizing agents are used to bind otherwise loose
particles to one another, providing strength and cohesion. Cement treated bases (CTBs)
can be built to as much as 20 - 25 percent of the surface course strength .
3. Dense-graded HMA. In situations where high base stiffness is desired base courses can
be constructed using a dense-graded HMA layer.
4. Permeable HMA. In certain situations where high base stiffness and excellent drainage
is desired, base courses can be constructed using an open graded HMA.
5. Lean concrete Contains less portland cement paste than a typical PCC and is stronger
than a stabilized aggregate. Lean concrete bases (LCBs) can be built to as much as 25 -

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50 percent of the surface course strength. A lean concrete base functions much like a
regular PCC surface course and therefore, it requires construction joints and will crack
over time. These joints and cracks can potentially cause reflection cracking in the surface
course if they are not carefully matched.

III. Sub base Course

The sub base course is the portion of the pavement structure between the base course and the sub
grade. It functions primarily as structural support but it can also:

1. Minimize the intrusion of fines from the subgrade into the pavement structure.
2. Improve drainage.
3. Minimize frost action damage.
4. Provide a working platform for construction.

The sub base generally consists of lower quality materials than the base course but better than the
sub grade soils. Appropriate materials are aggregate and high quality structural fill. A sub base
course is not always needed or used.

Design Criteria
The factors of the design of rigid pavements are as follows:
the sub grade quality
the quality of the steel and concrete composing the slabs
the traffic
the environment (Moisture and temperature)
the notional design life

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Types of Rigid Pavements

Rigid pavements can be classified into four types:

1. Jointed plain concrete pavement (JPCP),

2. Jointed reinforced concrete pavement (JRCP),
3. Continuous reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP), and
4. Pre-stressed concrete pavement (PCP).

1. Jointed Plain Concrete Pavement:

JPCP is the most commonly used type of concrete pavement because it is usually the
cheapest to construct. It is economical because there is no need to pay for any reinforcing
steel in the slabs or for lab or to place the steel.
JPCP controls cracks by dividing the pavement up into individual slabs separated by
contraction joints.
JPCP does not use any reinforcing steel but does use dowel bars and tie bars.
Dowel bars are typically used at transverse joints to assist in load transfer. Tie bars are
typically used at longitudinal joints.
Jointed plain concrete pavement, or JPCP, consists of unreinforced concrete slabs 3.76.0
m (1220 ft) in length with transverse contraction joints between the slabs.
The joints are spaced closely enough together so that cracks should not form in the slabs
until late in the life of the pavement.
One important performance issue with JPCP is load transfer across the joints. If joints
become faulted, then drivers encounter bumps at the joints and experience a rough ride.
Two methods are used to provide load transfer across JPCP joints aggregate interlock
and dowels.

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Figure 2.1 Jointed plain concrete pavement (JPCP)

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2. Jointed reinforced concrete pavement (JRCP)

JRCP controls cracks by dividing the pavement up into individual slabs separated
by contraction joints.
Slabs are much longer as long as 15 m than JPCP slabs, so JRCP uses reinforcing
steel within each slab to control within-slab cracking.
Dowel bars are typically used at transverse joints to assist in load transfer while
the reinforcing steel/wire mesh assists in load transfer across cracks.
The only advantage that JRCP has over JPCP is fewer joints, and this is
outweighed by the cost of the steel and the poor performance of the jointsand the
cracks. Because the joints are spaced further apart than JPCP, theyopen and close
more, and load transfer suffers as joints open wider.

Figure: Jointed reinforced concrete pavement

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3. Continuous Reinforced Concrete Pavement(CRCP):

Complete elimination of joints is achieved by reinforcement.

Is characterized by heavy steel reinforcement and an absence of joints.
Much more steel is used for CRCP than for JRCP
Typically on the order of 0.40.8 percent by volume in the longitudinal direction.
Cracks form in CRCP approximately 0.62 m (26 ft) apart. The reinforcement holds the
cracks tightly together and provides for aggregate interlock and shear transfer.
CRC pavements require anchors at the beginning and end of the pavement to keep the
ends from contracting due to shrinkage, and to help the desired crack pattern develop.
Special CRCP design considerations, including determination of the proper reinforcement
percentage,

Figure: Continuously reinforced concrete pavement

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Failure criteria of rigid pavements

Traditionally fatigue cracking has been considered as the major, or only criterion for
rigid pavement design.
The allowable number of load repetitions to cause fatigue cracking depends on the stress
ratio between flexural tensile stress and concrete modulus of rupture. Of late, pumping is
identified as an important failure criterion.
Pumping is the ejection of soil slurry through the joints and cracks of cement concrete
pavement, caused during the downward movement of slab under the heavy wheel loads. Other
major types of distress in rigid pavements include faulting, spalling, and deterioration.

Factors affecting pavement design

There are numerous factors influencing the performance of a pavement, the following five
are considered the most influential:

1. traffic and loading,

2. structural models,
3. material characterization,
4. Environment.
5. construction quality
6. Maintenance

1. Traffic and loading

Traffic is the most important factor in the pavement design .The performance of pavements is
mostly influenced by the loading magnitude, configuration and the number of load repetitions by
heavy vehicles.

The damage caused per pass to a pavement by an axle is defined relative to the damage per
pass of a standard axle load, which is defined as a 80 kN single axle load (E80). Thus a

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pavement is designed to withstand a certain number of standard axle load repetitions (E80s) that
will result in a certain terminal condition of deterioration.

Traffic is the most important factor in the pavement design. The key factors include

a. contact pressure and contact area

b. wheel load
c. Axle and Tire Configurations
d. moving loads
e. load repetitions
f. iron tyred vehicle

a. Contact pressure and contact area

Contact area
Contact Area it is necessary to know the contact area between tire and pavement, so the axle
load can be assumed to be uniformly distributed over the contact area . The size of contact area
depends on the contact pressure. As indicated by Figure 1 .13, the contact pressure is greater than
the tire pressure for low-pressure tires, because the wall of tires is in compression and the sum of
vertical forces due to wall and tire pressure must be equal to the force due to contact pressure;
the contact pressure is smaller than the tire pressure for high-pressure tires ,because the wall of
tires is in tension . However, in pavement design, the contact pressure is generally assumed to be
equal to the tire pressure. Because heavier axle loads have higher tire pressures and more
destructive effects on pavements, the use of tire pressure as the contact pressure is therefore on
the safe side . Heavier axle loads are always applied on dual tires. Figure below shows the
approximate shape of contact area for each tire, which is composed of a rectangle and two
semicircles. By assuming length L and width 0.6L, the area of contact.

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In which Ac = contact area, which can be obtained by dividing the load on each tire b y the tire
pressure.

Contact pressure

The tyre pressure is an important factor, as it determines the contact area and the contact pressure
between the wheel and the pavement surface. Even though the shape of the contact area is
elliptical, for sake of simplicity in analysis, a circular area is often considered.

Tire Loads

Tire loads are the fundamental loads at the actual tire-pavement contact points. For most
pavement analyses, it is assumed that the tire load is uniformly applied over a circular area.
Also, it is generally assumed that tire inflation and contact pressures are the same (this is not
exactly true, but adequate for approximations). The following equation relates the radius of tire
contact to tire inflation pressure and the total tire load:

Tyre pressure (p) =wheel load (P)/a2

= 1.5 pa/E for flexible plate

= 1.18 pa/E for rigid plate

a=radius of tire contact

= deformation of the pavement

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Tire load limitation varies from a high of 140 N/mm to a low of 79 N/mm

b. Wheel load:

The next important factor is the wheel load which determines the depth of the pavement
required to ensure that the sub grade soil is not failed. Wheel conguration affect the stress
distribution and deection within a pavement.

Many commercial vehicles have dual rear wheels which ensure that the contact pressure
is within the limits. The normal practice is to convert dual wheel into an equivalent single wheel
load so that the analysis is made simpler.

Pavement wheel load causes stresses and strain in pavement layers and sub grade .the
tyre pressure determined the area of application

c. Axle and Tire Configurations

tire contact pressure and area is of vital concern in pavement performance, the number of contact
points per vehicle and their spacing is also critical. As tire loads get closer together their
influence areas on the pavement begin to overlap, at which point the design characteristic of
concern is no longer the single isolated tire load but rather the combined effect of all the
interacting tire loads. Therefore, axle and tire arrangements are quite important.

Axles 6T Axles 10T

Tridem axle load 24 T

Axles 18T
Triple axles with dual
wheel

Figure Axle Combinations

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Tire-axle combinations are typically described as (see Figure):

Example 1

Calculate the deflection at the surface on a pavement due to wheel load of 40KN and a tyre
pressure of 0.5 MN/m2.the value of E of the pavement and sub grade may be assumed to be
uniformly equal to 20 MN/m2

Solution

Example 2

Sketch and show the dimensions of the most realistic contact areas on flexible pavements for a
standard axle load of 80 kN with a tyre pressure of 552 kPa.

Solution

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d. Moving loads:

The damage to the pavement is much higher if the vehicle is moving at creeps peed.
Many studies show that when the speed is increased from 2 km/hr to 24 km/hr, the stresses and
deflection reduced by 40 per cent.

In general, slower speeds and stop conditions allow a particular load to be applied to a
given pavement area for a longer period of time resulting in greater damage. For HMA
pavements this behavior is sometimes evident at bus stops (where heavy buses stop and sit while
loading/unloading passengers) and intersection approaches (where traffic stops and waits to pass
through the intersection) when mix design or structural design have been inadequate. In flexible
pavement design, Superpave accounts for vehicle speed indirectly by applying a design
pavement temperature adjustment for slow-moving or stopped vehicles

e. Repetition of Loads:

The deformation of pavement due to a single application of axle load may be small but
due to repeated application of load there would be accumulation of unrecovered or permanent
deformation which results in failure of pavement. If the pavement structure fails with N1 number
of repetition of load W1 and for the same failure criteria if it requires N2 number of repetition of
load W2, then W1N1 and W2N2 are considered equivalent. Note that, W1N1 and W2N2
equivalency depends on the failure criterion employed.
Therefore, modern design is based on total number of standard axle load (usually 80 kN
single axle).

Equivalent Axle Load Factor or VDF Vehicle Damage Factor

An equivalent axle load factor (EALF) defines the damage per pass to a pavement by the i
th type of axle relative to the damage per pass of a standard axle load.
Multiplier to Convert No. of Commercial Vehicles of Different Axle Loads and Axle
Configurations to the Number of Standard Axle Load Repetitions

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The equation outputs are load equivalency factors (LEFs) or ESAL factors (Equivalent
Single Axle Load). This factor relates various axle load combinations to the standard 80 kN
(18,000 lbs) single axle load.

Converts wheel loads of various magnitudes and repetitions ("mixed traffic") to an equivalent
number of "standard" or "equivalent" loads
Based on the amount of damage they do to the pavement
Commonly used standard load is the 18,000 lb. equivalent single axle load

4
load
4

relative damage factor load

relative damage factor
18,000 lb. 8.2tone.

Where,

Fi is the EALF for I th axle load group, and

ni is the number of passes of I th axle load group during the design period.

Axle Type (lbs) Axle Load

(kN) (lbs)
Single axle 8.9 2,000
44.5 10,000
62.3 14,000
80.0 18,000
89.0 20,000
133.4 30,000
Tandem axle 8.9 2,000
44.5 10,000
62.3 14,000
80.0 18,000
89.0 20,000
133.4 30,000
151.2 34,000
177.9 40,000
222.4 50,000

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Axle loads bigger than 8.2 tons cause damage greater than one per pass

Axle loads smaller than 8.2 tons cause damage less than one per pass

Load Equivalency Factor (L.E.F) = (? Tons/8.2 tons)4

Example

Consider two single axles A and B where:

A-Axle = 16.4 tons

Damage caused per pass by A -Axle = (16.4/8.2)4 = 16

This means that A-Axle causes same amount of damage per pass as caused by 16 passes
of standard 8.2 tons axle i.e,

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B-Axle = 4.1 tons

Damage caused per pass by B-Axle = (4.1/8.2)4 = 0.0625

This means that B-Axle causes only 0.0625 times damage per pass as caused by 1 pass of
standard 8.2 tons axle.
In other works, 16 passes (1/0.625) of B-Axle cause same amount of damage as caused
by 1 pass of standard 8.2 tons axle i.e.,

Example -3
Let number of load repetition expected by 80 KN standard axle is 1000, 160 KN is 100 and 40
KN is 10000. Find the equivalent axle load.

Solution:

e. iron tyred vehicles

Bullock carts with iron tyres can caused severe stress in pavements

2. Structural models

The structural models are various analysis approaches to determine the pavement responses
(stresses, strains, and deflections) at various locations in a pavement due to the application of
wheel load. The most common structural models are layered elastic model .

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Layered elastic model:

A layered elastic model can compute stresses, strains, and deflections at any point in a
pavement structure resulting from the application of a surface load. Layered elastic models
assume that each pavement structural layer is homogeneous, isotropic, and linearly elastic. In
other words, the material properties are same at every point in a given layer and the layer will
rebound to its original form once the load is removed. The layered elastic approach works with
relatively simple mathematical models that relates stress, strain, and deformation with wheel
loading and material properties like modulus of elasticity and poissons ratio.

3. Material characterization

The following material properties are important for both exible and rigid pavements.

When pavements are considered as linear elastic, the elastic module and Poisson ratio
of sub grade and each component layer must be specied.
If the elastic modulus of a material varies with the time of loading, then the resilient
modulus, which is elastic modulus under repeated loads, must be selected in accordance
with a load duration corresponding to the vehicle speed.

4. Environmental factors affect

The performance of the pavement materials and cause various damages. Environmental
factors that affect pavement are of two types,

a. Temperature Variations
b. Precipitation

a. Temperature
The effect of temperature on asphalt pavements is different from that of concrete pavements.
Temperature affects the resilient modulus of asphalt layers, while it induces curling of
concrete slab. In rigid pavements, due to difference in temperatures of top and bottom of
slab, temperature stresses or frictional stresses are developed. While in flexible pavement,

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dynamic modulus of asphaltic concrete varies with temperature. Frost heave causes
differential settlements and pavement roughness.
Variation of temperature can cause stresses in the pavements

b.Precipitation

The precipitation from rain and snow affects the quantity of surface water infiltrating into the
sub grade and the depth of ground water table. Poor drainage may bring lack of shear strength,
pumping, loss of support, etc.

5. Construction quality

Failure to obtain proper compaction, improper moisture conditions during construction,

quality of materials, and accurate layer thickness (after compaction) all directly affect the
performance of a pavement. These conditions stress the need for skilled staff and the importance
of good inspection and quality control procedures during construction.

6. Maintenance

Pavement are normally designed and construction to provide during the design life , a
riding quality acceptable for both private and commercial vehicle with acceptable maintenance.

When they are under design pavement the design life is of the order of 20 years or more ,
there should no visible deformation for the first 5 years

Note

Several factors affecting pavement design, the most important being wheel load. Since
pavements are designed to take moving loads, slow moving loads and static loads can be
detrimental to the pavement. Temperature also inuences pavements design especially the
temperature which is very important in hot countries (regions) example Afar region.

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The difference between highway pavement and airport/airfield pavement

Roads are made of asphalt. Runways are made of concrete.

The pavements on the airport and airfields have to be much more compacted then on
highways because the weight of planes landing has a much greater force than cars driving
on highways.
Highway pavement will be receiving highly channelized wheel load applications in the
millions. Consideration of the effects of load repetitions such as cumulative permanent
deformation, crack propagation, and fatigue failure becomes important. The frequency of
aircraft loading on airport pavement is much less.
The tyre pressure on commercial vehicles vary from 0.5 to 0.7 MN/m 2.tyre pressure are
much more important in the design of airfield pavements ranges b/n 1.0 to 1.5 MN/m2.
Another important difference is in the magnitude of wheel loads. Airport pavements
receive loads far exceeding those applied on the highway. An airport pavement may have
to be designed to withstand equivalent single wheel loads of the order of 50 t
(approximately 50 tons), whereas the maximum single wheel load allowed on the road
pavement by most highway authorities is about 10 t (approximately 10 tons).

28 Highway II (By Tariku.A)