HIGHWAY

MATERIALS
AND DESIGN

APOORVA KRISHNA

D E P T. O F C I V I L E N G I N E E R I N G

TKMCE , KOLLAM
syllabus
• Module 1
Pavement and materials—desirable properties and testing of road aggregates
Indroduction to highway pavements,types and component part of pavements, factors effecting

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design and performance of pavements,pavement materials-road aggregates. Test on road
aggregates and specifications for flexible and rigid pavements. principle and method of
gradation of soil.—aggregate mixes.Alternate materials for durable pavements-artificial
aggregates
Ideal Road Pavement Requirement

• A good pavement should possess the following requirement,

• it should have required thickness to distribute the wheel load stresses to a safe value on
the sub-grade soil,
• It should be structurally strong to resist all types of stresses imposed upon it.
•

•
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To prevent the skidding of vehicles, it should have a sufficient coefficient of friction.
It should have a smooth level surface that offers comfort to road users even at high speed.
• Ensure less noise when the vehicle moving on it.
• It should be dustproof so that there is no danger of traffic safety.
• It must provide an impervious surface, so that sub-grade soil is well protected, and
• It should offer low maintenance with long life.
Types of pavements

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Composite pavements

• Composite pavements
• A thin layer of flexible pavement over rigid pavement
• It is an ideal pavement with most desirable characteristics.
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However, such pavements are rarely used in new construction because of high cost
and complex analysis required.
Comparison of Flexible and Rigid Types of Pavements

Flexible pavement Rigid pavement

Flexible pavement has very low flexural strength great amount of flexural strength or flexural rigidity.
wheel load stresses are transferred from grain to the load is distributed by the slab action, and the
grain to the lower layers pavement acts as an elastic plate.
4 layers
Low initial cost.
Less durable.
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High initial cost.
More durable.
Short service life, usually 15 years. Long service life, more than 30 years.
Joints are not required. Essentially require joints.
Require frequent repairing. Do not require frequent repairing.
High repairing and maintenance costs. Low repairing and maintenance costs.
Cont...
Design based on subgrade strength. Design based on flexural strength.
Temperature variations do not produce stresses. Temperature variations produce heavy stresses.
Constructed using bituminous materials like asphalt. Constructed using portland cement.

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Can be opened to traffic shortly after construction.
Provides poor night visibility due to the color of
asphalt.
Require curing, which delays the opening to traffic.

Concrete offers good night visibility.

No glare due to sunlight. Glare due to reflected sunlight.

Cont...

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Cont...

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 Typical layers of a flexible pavement

Seal Coat:
Thin surface treatment used to water-proof the surface and to provide skid resistance.
Tack Coat:
very light application of asphalt, usually asphalt emulsion diluted with water.

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It provides proper bonding between two layer of binder course and must be thin, uniformly
cover the entire surface, and set very fast.
Prime Coat:
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.
• Surface course
• It 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.
•
•
Binder course
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This layer provides the bulk of the asphalt concrete structure. It's chief purpose is to distribute load to
the base course .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.
• Base course
• The base course is the layer of material immediately beneath the surface of binder course and 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.
Sub-Base course
The sub-base course is the layer of material beneath the base course

primary functions

provide structural support, improve drainage, and reduce the intrusion of fines from the sub-grade
in the pavement structure
If the base course is open graded, then the sub-base course with more fines can serve as a filler
between sub-grade and the base course 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

provided.

Sub-grade
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additional features offered by a sub-base course. In such situations, sub-base course may not be

The top soil or 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.
Factors Affecting Pavement Design

1 .Design wheel load

➢ Max wheel load
➢ Contact pressure
➢

➢
ESWL
Repetition of loads
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2.Climatic factors
3.Pavement and component material
4.Environmental factors
5.Subgrade soil
Wheel load
• Design wheel load is the main factor which decides the thickness of the
pavement.
• Higher the design wheel load larger will be the pavement thickness.
• Total Design wheel load, Magnitude of contact pressure, repetition of load
and dynamics of load is analyzed.
• Total thickness is governed by the total design wheel load and the quality of
the surface material is governed by the magnitude of the contact pressure.
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➢ Maximum legal axial load as per IRC, 8170 kg
Contact pressure:

➢ The tyre pressure is an important factor, as it determine 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.
➢ High tyre pressure ------demand high quality material in upper layer

Contact pressure=load on wheel/contact area

Contact pressure/tyre pressure= Rigidity factor
(avg tyre pressure=7kg/cm^2 --- RF=1)

Equivalent single wheel (ESWL)

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Effect on pavement through a dual wheel assembly is not equal to 2 times the load on any one of the wheel
-equivalent deflection or stress criteria
To carry maximum load with in the specified limit and to carry greater load, dual wheel, or dual tandem
assembly is often used.
Equivalent single wheel load (ESWL) is the single wheel load having the same contact pressure, which
produces same value of maximum stress, deflection, tensile stress or contact pressure at the desired
depth
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At depth 2S and above –total stress due to dual wheel is equivalent
to single wheel load of magnitude 2P
Repetition of Loads

➢ Constructed pavement is used by several vehicles in its design life.

➢ The wheel loads are repeated all the time due to this some deformation occurs on the pavement.
➢ Total deformation is the sum of all-wheel loads acting on it.

Subgrade Type
➢ To construct pavement subgrade soil need to be tested.
➢ Various test like CBR, Triaxial, etc. will help to determine the quality of subgrade.
➢ From this, we can adapt the required thickness to the pavement.

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➢ If subgrade soil is poor then the pavement should damage easily.

Temperature Effects on Pavements Design

➢ Temperature is the important environmental factor to be considered in the design of pavement.

➢ In the case of concrete roads, temperature affects warping of pavements.
➢ In very hot conditions asphalt layers lose their stiffness.
➢ At low temperatures, asphalt layers become brittle and cracks are formed.
Precipitation:

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

Pavement and component material

• Stress distribution characteristics of the pavement component layers depend on

characteristics of the material used

If the elastic modulus of a material varies with the time of loading, then the resilient modulus, which is

to the vehicle speed.

Environmental factors
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elastic modulus under repeated loads, must be selected in accordance with a load duration corresponding

➢ Height of embankment Affects drainage and pavement performance

➢ Foundation details
➢ Depth of cutting
➢ Depth of surface water table
Road aggregates
• It is collective term for the mineral materials such as sand, gravel, and crushed stone
that are used with a binding medium (such as water, bitumen, Portland cement, lime,
etc.) to form compound materials (such as bituminous concrete and Portland cement
concrete).
•

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By volume, aggregate generally accounts for 92 to 96 percent of Bituminous concrete
and about 70 to 80 percent of Portland cement concrete.
Aggregate is also used for base and sub-base courses for both flexible and rigid
pavements.
• Aggregates can either be natural or manufactured. Natural aggregates are generally
extracted from larger rock formations through an open excavation (quarry).
• Extracted rock is typically reduced to usable sizes by mechanical crushing.
Desirable properties

• Strength
• The aggregates used in top layers are subjected to (i) Stress action due to traffic wheel load, (ii)
Wear and tear, (iii) crushing. For a high quality pavement, the aggregates should posses high
resistance to crushing, and to withstand the stresses due to traffic wheel load.

•
•
Hardness
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The aggregates used in the surface course are subjected to constant rubbing or abrasion due to
moving traffic. The aggregates should be hard enough to resist the abrasive action caused by the
movements of traffic. The abrasive action is severe when steel tyred vehicles moves over the
aggregates exposed at the top surface.

• Toughness
• Resistance of the aggregates to impact is termed as toughness. Aggregates used in the
pavement should be able to resist the effect caused by the jumping of the steel tyred wheels
from one particle to another at different levels causes severe impact on the aggregates.
Shape of aggregates

Aggregates which happen to fall in a particular size range may have rounded, cubical,
angular, flaky or elongated particles.

It is evident that the flaky and elongated particles will have less strength and durability
when compared with cubical, angular or rounded particles of the same aggregate.

Hence too flaky and too much elongated aggregates should be avoided as far as
possible.

Adhesion with bitumen

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The aggregates used in bituminous pavements should have less affinity with water
when compared with bituminous materials,

Otherwise the bituminous coating on the aggregate will be stripped off in presence of
water.
Durability
The property of aggregates to withstand adverse action of weather is called soundness.

The aggregates are subjected to the physical and chemical action of rain and bottom water,
impurities there-in and that of atmosphere

hence it is desirable that the road aggregates used in the construction should be sound enough
to withstand the weathering action

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Freedom from deleterious particles
Specifications for aggregates used in bituminous mixes usually require the aggregates to be
clean, tough and durable in nature and free from excess amount of flat or elongated pieces,
dust, clay balls and other objectionable material.

Similarly aggregates used in Portland cement concrete mixes must be clean and free from
deleterious substances such as clay lumps, chert, silt and other organic impurities.
Aggregate tests

• Crushing test
• Abrasion test
• Impact test
•

•
Soundness test
Shape test
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• Specific gravity and water absorption test
• Bitumen adhesion test
Crushing test
pavement material can fail is by crushing under compressive stress.
A test is standardized by IS:2386 part-IV
used to determine the crushing strength of aggregates.
The aggregate crushing value provides a relative measure of resistance to crushing under gradually
applied crushing load.
The test consists of subjecting the specimen of aggregate in standard mould to a compression test
under standard load conditions

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Dry aggregates passing through 12.5 mm sieves and retained 10 mm sieves are filled in a cylindrical
measure of 11.5 mm diameter and 18 cm height in three layers.
Each layer is tampered 25 times with at standard tamping rod. The test sample is weighed and placed
in the test cylinder in three layers each layer being tampered again. The specimen is subjected to a
compressive load of 40 tonnes gradually applied at the rate of 4 tonnes per minute.
Then crushed aggregates are then sieved through 2.36 mm sieve and weight of passing material

( w1 ) is expressed as percentage of the weight of the total sample ( w2 ) which is the aggregate
crushing value.
Type Crushing value

Surface course Should be less than 30%

Base course Should be less than 45%

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𝑊1
𝑎𝑔𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑐𝑟𝑢𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 = ∗ 100
𝑊2
ABRASION TEST
Abrasion test is carried out to test the hardness property of aggregates
Los Angeles abrasion test is a preferred one for carrying out the hardness property and has been
standardized in India (IS:2386 part-IV).
The principle -is to find the percentage wear due to relative rubbing action between the aggregate and
steel balls used as abrasive charge.
Los Angeles machine consists of circular drum of internal diameter 700 mm and length 520 mm
mounted on horizontal axis enabling it to be rotated

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An abrasive charge consisting of cast iron spherical balls of 48 mm diameters and weight 340-445 g is
placed in the cylinder along with the aggregates.
The number of the abrasive spheres varies according to the grading of the sample.
The quantity of aggregates to be used depends upon the gradation and usually ranges from 5-10 kg.
The cylinder is then locked and rotated at the speed of 30-33 rpm for a total of 500 -1000 revolutions
depending upon the gradation of aggregates.
After specified revolutions, the material is sieved through 1.7 mm sieve and passed fraction is
expressed as percentage total weight of the sample. This value is called Los Angeles abrasion value.
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Type of pavement

Cement concrete
Abrasion value

Bituminous concrete Should be less than 30%

High quality pavement materials

Bace course-WBM, BM Up to 50%

IMPACT TEST
The aggregate impact test is carried out to evaluate the resistance to toughness of aggregates.
Aggregates passing 12.5 mm sieve and retained on 10 mm sieve is filled in a cylindrical steel cup of
internal dia 10.2 mm and depth 5 cm which is attached to a metal base of impact testing machine.
The material is filled in 3 layers where each layer is tamped for 25 number of blows.
Metal hammer of weight 13.5 to 14 Kg is arranged to drop with a free fall of 38.0 cm by vertical
guides and the test specimen is subjected to 15 number of blows.

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The crushed aggregate is allowed to pass through 2.36 mm IS sieve. And the impact value is

measured as percentage of aggregates passing sieve ( w1 ) to the total weight of the sample

( w2 ).
 Type Impact value

Surface course Should be less than 30%

base course Should be less than

BM 35%
WBM 40%

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SOUNDNESS TEST

Soundness test is intended to study the resistance of aggregates to weathering action, by

conducting accelerated weathering test cycles.
The Porous aggregates subjected to freezing and thawing are likely to disintegrate prematurely.

To ascertain the durability of such aggregates, they are subjected to an accelerated soundness test
as specified in IS:2386 part-V.

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Aggregates of specified size are subjected to cycles of alternate wetting in a saturated solution of
either sodium sulphate or magnesium sulphate for 16 - 18 hours and then dried in oven
at to a constant weight. After five cycles, the loss in weight of aggregates is determined by
sieving out all undersized particles and weighing.
And the loss in weight should not exceed 12 percent when tested with sodium sulphate and 18
percent with magnesium sulphate solution.
STRIPPING VALUE TEST

1.200 g of clean and dry aggregate passing 20 mm IS sieve and retained on 12.5 mm sieve are heated up to 150°C when these are
to be mixed with bitumen.
2.Bitumen binder amounting to five percent by weight of aggregate is heated to 160°C.
3.The aggregate and binder are mixed thoroughly till they are completely coated and mixture is transferred to the beaker and
allowed to cool at room temperature for about 2 hours.
4.Distilled water is then added to immerse the coated aggregates.

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5.The beaker is covered and kept in a water bath maintained at 40°C, for 24 hours.
6. After 24 hours, the beaker is taken out, cooled at room temperature and the extent of stripping is estimated visually while the
specimen is still under water.

➢ Indian Road Congress (IRC) has specified the maximum stripping value as 5 percent for aggregates to be used in bituminous
construction like surface dressing penetration macadam, bituminous macadam and carpet.
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SHAPE TEST
The particle shape of the aggregate mass is determined by the percentage of flaky and elongated
particles in it. Aggregates which are flaky or elongated are detrimental to higher workability and
stability of mixes.
The flakiness index is defined as the percentage by weight of aggregate particles whose least
dimension is less than 0.6 times their mean size. Flakiness gauge (see Fig-4) is used for this test.
Test procedure had been standardized in India (IS: 2386 part-I).
The elongation index of an aggregate is defined as the percentage by weight of particles

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whose greatest dimension (length) is 1.8 times their mean dimension. This test is applicable to
aggregates larger than 6.3 mm. Elongation gauge (see Fig-5) is used for this test. This test is also
specified in (IS: 2386 Part-I). However there are no recognized limits for the elongation index.
➢ The shape tests give only a rough idea of the relative shapes of aggregates.
➢ Flaky and elongated particles should be avoided in pavement construction, particularly in surface course.
➢ If such particles are present in appreciable proportions, the strength of pavement layer would be adversely affected due
to possibility of breaking under loads. Workability is reduced for cement concrete.

Maximum limits of flakiness index,

l No: Type of pavement
%
1 Bituminous carpet 30
2 (i) Bituminous / Asphaltic concrete
(ii)

(iii)
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Bituminous surface dressing
(single coat, two coats &
precoated)
25

(iv) Built up spray grout

3 (i) Bituminous macadam
WBM base course and surface 15
(ii)
course
1.The Flakiness Index on an aggregate is = Total weight passing Flakiness Gauge x 100 / Total weight of
test sample =_________(%)
2. The Elongation Index on an aggregate is = Total weight retained on Elongation Gauge x 100 / Total
weight of test sample =________(%

Combined flakiness and elongation indices(%)

Flakiness index+ Elongation index

Elongation index is conducted only on the non flaky aggregates in each fraction

𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑛𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑙𝑎𝑘𝑦 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑔𝑎𝑢𝑔𝑒

Elongation index =

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𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑛𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑙𝑎𝑘𝑦 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑔𝑎𝑢𝑔𝑒𝑑

Flakiness index+ Elongation index

▪ It is desirable that flakiness index and elongation index of aggregates used in road construction is less
than 15%
▪ Normally does not exeed 25%
Angularity Number
This test is also carried out for determining shape of the aggregates. Based upon shape the aggregates may be
classified as Rounded, Angular or Flaky.
Angular particles possess well defined edges formed at the intersection of roughly planer faces and are commonly
formed in aggregates prepared by crushing of rocks.
Angularity in general is the absence of rounding of particles of an aggregate.
This test is performed to determine the angularity number i.e. the absence of roundedness or the degree of
angularity of the aggregate specimen.

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The value of angularity number generally lies between 0 & 11. In road construction angularity number of 7 – 10 is
generally preferred.
Angularity Number = 67-(100W/CGs)
where,
W = mean weight of the aggregate filling cylinder.
C = Weight/Volume of water that can completely fill the
cylinder
Gs = Specific Gravity of the aggregate.
Specific gravity and water absorption test

• Specific gravity test of aggregates is done to measure the strength or quality of the material while water
absorption test determines the water holding capacity of the coarse and fine aggregates. The main objective
of these test is to,

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To measure the strength or quality of the material.
To determine the water absorption of aggregates.
• Specific Gravity is the ratio of the weight of a given volume of aggregate to the weight of an equal volume of
water. It is the measure of strength or quality of the specific material.
• Aggregates having low specific gravity are generally weaker than those with higher specific gravity values.
Recommended Values of Specific Gravity and Water Absorption for Aggregates
• The specific gravity of aggregates normally used in road construction ranges from about 2.5 to 3.0 with
an average of about 2.68.
• Water absorption shall not be more than 0.6 percent

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 Soil – Aggregate mixes.

• The desirable properties of soil –aggregate Mixtures are

➢ strength
➢ Incompressibility
➢

➢ Good drainage
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Less changes in volume and stability with variation in moisture content

➢ Less frost susceptibility

➢ Ease of compaction
• Mechanical Stabilization – Correctly proportioned material (soil and aggregates) when compacted to get a
mechanically stable layer, the method is called mechanical stabilization.

Two basic principles of mechanical stabilization are:

• (i) Proportioning

•
(ii) Compaction

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If the granular soil containing negligible fines is mixed with a certain proportion of binder soil, it is possible to
increase the stability. Similarly, the stability of a fine-grained soil could be considerably improved by mixed
suitable proportion of granular material to get a suitable gradation.

• Mechanical stabilization has been successfully applied for sub-base and base course construction. It is also
useful in surface course for low cost roads such as village roads when traffic and rainfall are low.
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DENSE GRADED AGGREGATE
A dense gradation refers to a sample that is approximately of equal amounts of various sizes of aggregate. By having a dense
gradation, most of the air voids between the materials are filled with particles.
UNIFORM GRADED AGGREGATE
It refers to a gradation that contains most of the particles in a very narrow size range. In essence, all the particles are the same
size. The curve is steep
OPEN GRADED AGGREGATE

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In this type of gradation of aggregates, only a small percentage of aggregate particles are in the small range. This results in
more air voids because there are not enough small particles to fill in the voids between the larger particles. The curve is
near vertical in the mid-size range, and flat and near-zero in the small-size range.
GAP GRADED AGGREGATE
Gap grading is defined as a grading in which one or more intermediate size fractions are absent.
Gradation:
Indicates distribution of aggregate particles of varying sizes in a given volume of mixture

The particle distribution that gives the maximum density. Theoretical gradation for maximum density is
given by – Fuller’s maximum density curve

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Fuller assumed the particles as spherical. While deriving the equation for maximum density, the value
of gradation index for spherical shape is ƞ = 0.5

0.45 for superpave gradations(super pave-superior performing asphalt pavements)

* Gradations of max density may not provide sufficient voids in the aggregates for enough bitumen to
provide adequate film thickness for max durability without bleeding
Methods of proportioning

• Trial and error method

Select the critical sieves in the blend ,like 12.5,2.36mm,0.075mm

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Find the initial proportion to meet the critical sieves
Check calculated gradation with specified gradation
Make adjustments for the sizes going beyond the limit
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IS sieve % passing Adopted Grading Specified
(mm) 1:2:3:4 Grading

Material1 Material 2 Material 3 Material 4 .21:.21:.505:.075 (Grade 2)

MoRTH-ministry of
12 mm 6mm 4.75 mm 0.075 microns As per road transport and
MoRTH highways

---→planning
,development and
19
13.2
9.5
4.75
100
96.7
32.5
0
100
95.2
4.1
0
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100
100
100
99.6
100
100
100
100
100
99.307
84.417
100
90-100
70-88
maintenance of
national highways
in the country
58.7 53-71
2.36 0 0 85.4 100 50.63 42-58
1.18 0 0 69.3 100 42.497 34-48
0.6 0 0 52 100 33.76 26-38
0.3 0 0 26.6 100 20.993 18-28
0.15 0 0 9.7 100 12.39 12-20
0.075 0 0 0 100 7.5 4-10
Graphical methods
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Proportioning of material by triangular chart

• 3 materials are to be mixed together to achieve a desired gradation

• Materials are conveniently divided as CA,sand and fines(A,B,C)
• Points A,B,C are ploted on triangular chart knowing the grain size distribution
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Select desired gradation
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Artificial aggregates
• why we need alternative artificial aggregates??
• 1. Natural resources are out sourcing.
• 2. To utilize the waste delivered from industries like power plant, steel industry, iron industry.
•

•
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3. Due to more density of natural aggregates
4. To increase the durability.
ARTIFICIAL AGGREGATES

• 1.Expanded clay, shale ,slate aggregates

• 2.Distorted Over burnt brick aggregates
• 3.Blast furnace slag aggregates
•

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4.Molten slag aggregates
5.Steel slag aggregates
• 6.Recycle concrete aggregates