CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
1.1 Flexible Pavement:
Flexible Pavement consists of a layer system of materials which distribute the wheel loads to
the subgrade. The thickness of individual layer must be such as to distribute the loads without
deformation of the material, thereby presenting an uneven running surface. 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. The lower layers will
experience lesser magnitude of stress and less quality material can be used. Flexible
pavements are constructed using bituminous materials. These can be either in the form of
surface treatments (such as bituminous surface treatments generally found on low volume
roads) 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 pavement, and the stresses produced should be kept well below the allowable stresses
of each pavement layer.

1.2 Types of Flexible Pavement:

The following types of construction have been used in flexible pavement:

1. Conventional layered flexible pavement,

2. Full - depth asphalt pavement, and

3. Contained rock asphalt mat.

1.2.1Conventional 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.

1.2.2 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.

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1.2.3 Contained rock asphalt mats are constructed by placing dense/open graded
aggregate layers in between two asphalt layers. Modified dense graded asphalt concrete is
placed above the sub-grade will significantly reduce the vertical compressive strain on soil
sub-grade and protect from surface water.

1.3 Cross Section of Flexible Pavement:

Fig.No. 1.1 shows the components of Flexible pavement

1.4 Components of Flexible Pavement:

The pavement having several components is as follows:

1.4.1surface course: This layer provides the bulk of the asphalt or bitumen 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.

1.4.2 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.

1.4.3 Sub-Base course: The sub-base course is the layer of material beneath the base
course and the primary functions are to provide structural support, improve drainage, and
reduce the intrusion of fines from the sub-grade in the pavement structure If the base course

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

1.4.4 Sub-grade: 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. Soil is a
gathering or deposit of earth material, derived naturally from the breakdown of rocks or
decay of undergrowth that can be excavated readily with power equipment in the field or
disintegrated by gentle reflex means in the laboratory. The supporting soil below pavement
and its special under course is called sub grade. Without interruption soil beneath the
pavement is called natural sub grade. Compacted sub grade is the soil compacted by inhibited
movement of heavy compactors.
1.5 Importance of soil as a subgrade:
Subgrade soil is an integral part of the road pavement structure as it provides the support to
the pavement from beneath. The subgrade soil and its properties are important in the design
of the flexible pavement structure.

 To provide an adequate support to the road structure.

 To provide stability to the road pavement.
 To provide good drainage of rain water percolating through the road pavement.
 The various defects such as waves, corrugations, ruts, cracks, etc. occurring in the
road pavements are mainly due to poor subgrade soil conditions.
 The subgrade soil should, therefore, be well compacted and stabilized so as to prevent
these defects and to keep the road pavement stable and serviceable for a longer
period.
1.5.1 Desirable Property of Subgrade Soil:

The advantageous properties of sub grade soil as a highway material are

• Stability
• Incompressibility
• Permanency of strength

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 • Minimum changes in volume and stability under adverse conditions of weather and
ground water.
• superior drainage, and
• Ease of compaction

Due to poor subgrade conditions, the pavement surface gets major failures like cracks and
surface depression due to wheel path. It can be limited by the models are Rutting and Fatigue
Model which was discussed by IRC: 37-2012. Here the subgrade soil is taken as Silt soil
from the study area. The Silt soil behaviour can be discussed below paragraph. The soil
having less properties that as we need in construction purpose. Hence the soil properties
varying by adding the LIME which is used for Subgrade Soil Stabilization. It improves
strength of the engineering properties as well as CBR value. It is useful to design of flexible
pavement.

1.6 Silt Soil:

Fig.No.1.2 Shows the silty soil at Vaddi thandra villege

Silt is grnular material of a size between sand and clay, whose mineral origin
is quartz and feldspar. It contains 0% to 10% of clay. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed
with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water (also known as a suspended
load) in a body of water such as a river. It may also exist as soil deposited at the bottom of a
water body. Silt has a moderate specific area with a typically non-sticky, plastic feel. Silt

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usually has a floury feel when dry, and a slippery feel when wet. Silt can be visually observed
with a hand lens. silt is composed mainly of quartz and feldspar. Sedimentary
rock composed mainly of silt is known as siltstone. Liquefaction created by a strong
earthquake is silt suspended in water that is hydrodynamically forced up from below ground
level. In the Udden–Wentworth scale (due to Krumbein), silt particles range between 0.0039
and 0.0625 mm, larger than clay but smaller than sand particles. ISO 14688 grades silts
between 0.002 mm and 0.063 mm. In actuality, silt is chemically distinct from clay, and
unlike clay, grains of silt are approximately the same size in all dimensions; furthermore,
their size ranges overlap. Clays are formed from thin plate-shaped particles held together by
electrostatic forces, so present cohesion. . The shearing strength of the soils is extremely low.
The soils are highly compressible and have very low bearing capacity. highly brown to
blackish in colour. These soils have low shrinkage limit and high optimum moisture
content. It is highly sensitive to moisture changes. Silty soil is weak because of the changes
in volume due to fluctuations in the moisture content. Hence its undesirable characteristics
are to be modified using a suitable stabilization technique. Stabilization involves the methods
used for modifying a soil in order to improve its engineering performance .The swelling soils
of India have their origin in subaqueous decomposition of quartz and feldspar rocks or
weathering In-Situ. It is very necessary to discuss about the Engineering behaviour of soils.
From this information pavement structures can be prevented from the damages causing silty
soils. Silty soil absorbs water swell, become soft and lose strength. These soils are easily
compressible when wet and possesses a tendency to heave during wet condition. Soil
stabilization is a collective term for any physical, chemical, or biological method, or any
combination of such methods that may be used to improve certain properties of natural soil to
make it serve adequately an intended engineering purpose. By doing geo technical laboratory
tests like mini compaction,CBR by adding different percentages of lime which was treated
silty to check its feasibility in various geo technical applications and stabilizing of soil for
different structures.

1.7 Failures in Flexible Pavement:

Pavement failures may occur due to the intrusion of subgrade soils into the granular base,
which results in inadequate drainage and reduced stability. Distress may also occur due to
excessive loads that cause a shear failure in the subgrade, base course, or the surface. Other

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causes of failures are surface fatigue and excessive settlement, especially differential of the
subgrade.

1.7.1 Rutting Cracking: Surface depression in the wheel path. Pavement uplift (shearing)
may occur along the sides of the rut. Ruts are particularly evident after a rain when they are
filled with water. Main problem of Rutting cracking is Ruts filled with water can cause
vehicle hydroplaning, can be hazardous because ruts tend to pull a vehicle towards the rut
path as it is steered across the rut.
Possible Causes: Permanent deformation in any of a pavement's layers or subgrade usually
caused by consolidation or lateral movement of the materials due to traffic loading. Specific
causes of rutting can be:
– Insufficient compaction of pavement layers during construction.
– Compression of unbound layers (base course, sub base)
– Subgrade rutting (e.g., as a result of inadequate pavement structure)
– Improper mix design or manufacture (e.g., excessively high asphalt content, excessive
mineral filler, insufficient amount of angular aggregate particles)
Ruts caused by studded tyre wear present the same problem as the ruts described here, but
they are actually a result of mechanical dislodging due to wear and not pavement
deformation.

Fig.No. 1.3 Shows the RUTTING failure due to weak subgrade soil

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1.7.2 Fatigue cracking:
Series of interconnected cracks caused by fatigue failure of the hot mix asphalt (HMA)
surface (or stabilized base) under repeated traffic loading. In thin pavements, cracking
initiates at the bottom of the HMA layer where the tensile stress is the highest then
propagates to the surface as one or more longitudinal cracks. This is commonly referred to as
"bottom-up" or "classical" fatigue cracking. In thick pavements, the cracks most likely
initiate from the top in areas of high localized tensile stresses resulting from tire-pavement
interaction and asphalt binder aging (top down cracking). After repeated loading, the
longitudinal cracks connect forming many-sided sharp-angled pieces that develop into a
pattern resembling the back of an alligator or crocodile. The problem Indicator of structural
failure, cracks allow moisture infiltration, roughness, may further deteriorate to a pothole.

• Possible Causes: Inadequate structural support, which can be caused by a number of things.
A few of the more common ones are listed here:
– Loss of base, subbase or subgrade support (e.g., poor drainage or spring thaw resulting in a
less stiff base).
– Stripping on the bottom of the HMA layer (the stripped portion contributes little to
pavement strength so the effective HMA thickness decreases)
– Increase in loading (e.g., more or heavier loads than anticipated in design)
– Inadequate structural design
– Poor construction (e.g., inadequate compaction)

Fig.No.1.4 Shows the FATIGUE failure due to weak subgrade soil

1.8 Soil Stabilization:

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Stabilization of soil with cementitious binders is widely used in road, pavement and
foundation construction, to improve the engineering properties of the soil:

 to increase the strength and bearing capacity.

 to control the volume stability against swell-shrink caused by moisture changes
 to increase the resistance to erosion, weathering and traffic loading.
 Very substantial increases in resilient modulus values.

Stabilization of the existing soil will normally be a much more sustainable solution than
importing aggregate. Use of a lime + silty soil combination offers significant advantages for
soil stabilization. The major advantage is in inhibiting the deleterious swelling that can occur
with silt containing sulphates. When lime reacts with soil, there is exchange of cations in the
adsorbed water layers and a decrease in plasticity of the soil occurs.

1.9 Lime:

Fig.No.1.5 shows the subgrade soil stabilized by using of Lime at field

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 Fig.no.1.6 shows the Scarification after lime spreading at the field
Lime is in the form of quick lime (CaO), hydrated or hydraulic lime[Ca(OH) 2] or lime slurry
can be used to treat soils. Quick lime is manufactured by chemically transforming calcium
carbonate (limestone-CaCO3) into calcium oxide. Hydraulic lime is created when quick lime
chemically reacts with water. It is hydraulic lime that reacts with silt particles and
permanently transforms them into a strong cementitious matrix. Lime can permanently
stabilize fine grained soil employed as subgrade as sub base to create a layer with structural
value in the pavement system. The treated soils may be in-place (subgrade) or borrow
materials. Subgrade stabilization usually involves in place "road mixing" and generally
requires adding 10 to 40% lime by weight of the dry soil. Lime is manufactured from lime
stone. Lime is oxide of calcium (Cao) in the strict scientific sense but this term has been used
rather loosely to cover not only calcium oxide but also its many derivatives. Magnesium
oxide is usually present with lie and if present in a proportion less than 5% mg the material is
usually termed as lime itself. The lime used for soil stabilization is hydraulic lime
[Ca(OH)2]A dry powder resulting from treatment of quick lime with water enough to satisfy
its chemical affinity for water under the condition of its hydration. Lime can be used either to
modify some of the physical properties and thereby improve the quality of soil or to
transform the soil into a stabilized mass, which increases its strength and durability. The
amount of lime additive will depend upon either the soil to be modified or stabilized.
Generally, lime is suitable for silty soils with PI ≥ 20% and > 35% passing the No.200 sieve
(0.075 mm). Agricultural lime or other forms of calcium carbonate, or carbonated lime, will
not provide the necessary reactions to improve sub-grade soils mixed with lime. In the
present study, hydrated lime was used. It is produced by reacting quicklime (CaO) with
sufficient water to form a white powder. This process is referred to as slaking.
When lime is combined with water and the soluble silica and alumina present in silt, a
chemical reaction occurs, resulting in the formation of new compounds. When combined with
water, its primary function is alteration of particle structure and increased resistance to
shrink-swell and moisture susceptibility. A secondary result is binding of particles (when
combined with silt) and strength gain. Since alteration of particle structure occurs slowly,
depending upon the type of silt present, a mellowing period from 1 to 4 days is allowed to
obtain a homogeneous, friable mixture. There is no limitation in the specifications on the
amount of time allowed to complete compaction.

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1.10 Need of Project:

• A Road construction project proposal was sanctioned for the Vaddi thandra village.
For knowing the sub grade strength of the soil have been collected from village.
• To improve the soil characteristics we have done the stabilization by using lime.
• The main benefits of using lime to stabilize clays are improved increased strength,
and traffic volume stability.
• The basic principle for the designing of Pavement is to select a pavement thickness
required to limit the vertical strains in the subgrade and the horizontal strains at the
bottom of the bituminous concrete induced by design vehicular traffic loads at select
traffic levels.
1.11 Objectives:

 To improves the plasticity characteristics of the Soil by using of Lime.

 To study the vertical strain and tensile strains in the subgrade and bituminous
surface.
 To study the modulus of resilient of silty soil
 To enhance the strength of the Granular sub base or Base course of flexible
pavements.
 To make effective and economical construction material for flexible pavements.

1.12 Organisation of the Report:

The text and contents of the study are organized and presented in the form of following
chapters.
Chapter 1 on “Introduction” covers the general introduction, Definitions, Need for the study
and objectives of the study in detail.
Chapter 2 on “Literature Review” covers the lime and fly ash stabilization with Silty soil
and the design of flexible pavement.
Chapter 3 on “Methodology” covers over view of adopted step by step procedure.
Chapter 4 on “results and discussion” covers the tested values were adopted on Silty soil and
lime with Silty soil for design thickness of flexible pavement.

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Chapter 5 summarizes the work with conclusions along with the further scope of the present
work.
Chapter 6 reference for the project work
1.13 Summary:
This Chapter is discussed about behaviour of the silty soil and how to improve its properties
for increasing the stiffness and strength of the soil. How the soil behaviour changes due to
adding the admixtures like lime for stabilizing the soil. The need of project was also
discussed in this chapter for knowing the basic knowledge of project description.

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