1 Highway Engineering-II CEng-4183

Chapter 1:
INTRODUCTION

Instructor: Tesfatsion D.
 General Overview of Pavement Structure
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 The field of pavement design is dynamic.

 In the early stage, pavement design was carried out by a
rule-of-thumb procedure based on entirely past
experience.
 Pavements constructed over plastic soils showed higher
distress than those constructed over granular deposits.
 With the increase in traffic and usage and development
of heavy transport means, the deterioration of pavements
due to heavy trucks and aircrafts necessitated a more
rational approach of design. This led to full-scale and
laboratory experiments
 General Overview of Pavement Structure
3

 A pavement structure is a layer structure which supports the

vehicle load on its surface and transfers and spreads the
load to the subgrade without exceeding either the strength
of the subgrade or the internal strength of the pavement
itself.
 The basic idea in building a pavement for all-weather use
by vehicles is to prepare a suitable subgrade, provide
necessary drainage, and construct a pavement that will:
 Have sufficient total thickness and internal strength to carry
expected traffic loads, and distribute them over the subgrade soil
without overstressing
 Have adequate properties to prevent or minimize the penetration
or internal accumulation of moisture; and
 Have a surface that is reasonably smooth and skid resistant at the
same time, as well as reasonably resistant to wear, distortion and
deterioration by vehicle loads and weather.
 Types of Pavements
Flexible pavements
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 A flexible pavement is one, which has low flexural strength,

and the load is largely transmitted to the subgrade soil
through the lateral distribution of stresses with increasing
depth
 Pavement trickiness is designed such that the stresses on the
subgrade soil are kept within its bearing capacity and the
subgrade is prevented from excessive deformation
 Types of Pavements
Flexible pavements: Conventional Flexible pavements
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 a) Conventional Flexible pavements

 multilayered structures with better materials on top where the intensity
of stress is high and inferior materials at the bottom where the intensity
is low
 Starting from the top: surface course, base course, subbase course,
compacted subgrade, and natural subgrade.
 The use of the various courses is based on either necessity or economy
and some of the courses may be omitted.
 Types of Pavements
Flexible pavements: Conventional Flexible pavements
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 Surface Course: the top course of an asphalt pavement. It is constructed

by dense graded hot-mix asphalt. It must be tough to resist distortion
under traffic and provide a smooth and skid-resistant riding surface
&waterproof.
 Base Course: the layer of material under the surface course. It may
unbounded or stabilized. It provides a level surface for laying the
surface layer. it prevents intrusions of the fine subgrade soils into the
pavement structure.
 Subbase Course: the layer of material under the base course
constructed using local and cheaper materials for economic. It
facilitates drainage of free water.
 Subgrade: the foundation on which the vehicle load and the weight of
the pavement layers finally rest. It is an in situ or a layer of selected
material compacted to the desirable density near the optimum moisture
content. It is graded into a proper shape, properly drained, and
compacted to receive the pavement layers.
 Types of Pavements
Flexible pavements: Full-Depth Asphalt pavements
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 b) Full-Depth Asphalt Pavements

 Full-depth asphalt pavements are constructed by placing one or
more layers of hot-mix asphalt directly on the subgrade or
improved subgrade.
 This concept was conceived by the Asphalt Institute and is generally
considered the most cost-effective and dependable type of asphalt
pavement for heavy traffic and quite popular in areas where local
materials are not available.
 Types of Pavements
Rigid pavements
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 Rigid pavements are pavement structures constructed of cement concrete

slabs, which derive their capacity to withstand vehicle loads from flexural
strength or beam strength due to high modulus of elasticity.
 the performance of rigid pavements is governed by the strength of the
concrete slab than the subgrade
 The subgrade may provide a uniform support for the slab
 Types of Pavements
Rigid pavements
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 where the subgrade soil cannot provide a uniform

support, or for one or more of the following reasons
described here under, there is always a necessity to
build a base course under cement concrete slab and
it is widely used for rigid pavements.
 Control of pumping.
 Improvement of drainage.
 Control of shrinkage and swell.
 Control of frost action.
 Types of Pavements
Rigid pavements: Basic Components
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 Types of Pavements
Rigid pavements: Types
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 Jointed plain concrete pavements are plain concrete pavements

constructed with closely spaced contraction joints.
 Jointed reinforced concrete pavements are concrete pavements with
steel reinforcements in the form of wire mesh or deformed bars
mainly to allow the use of longer joint spacing but do not increase
the structural capacity of pavements.
 Continuous reinforced concrete pavements are reinforced concrete
pavements designed joint-free for the purpose of eliminating joints,
which are the weak spots in rigid pavements. The elimination of
joints would decrease the thickness of pavement required.
 Prestressed concrete pavements have less probability of cracking
and fewer transverse joints and therefore result in less maintenance
and longer pavement life. Prestressed concrete has been used more
frequently for airport pavements
 Types of Pavements
Rigid pavements
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Jointed plain concrete pavement

 Types of Pavements
Rigid pavements
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Jointed reinforced concrete pavements

 Types of Pavements
Rigid pavements
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Continuous reinforced concrete pavements

 Types of Pavements
Composite pavements
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 Composite pavements are pavements composed of

cement concrete as a bottom layer and hot-mix
asphalt as a top layer to obtain an ideal pavement
with the most desirable characteristics.
 cement concrete slab: a strong base
 hot-mix asphalt: a smooth

 very expensive and is rarely used as a new

construction
 disadvantage:
 occurrence of reflection cracks on the asphalt surface
due to the joints and cracks in the rigid base layer
 Highways & Airport Pavements
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 The principles used for the design of highway pavements

can be applied to those of airport pavements.
 airport pavements are generally thicker than highway
pavements and require better surfacing materials due to፡
 The gross-weight of an airplane is usually greater than that of a
heavy truck
 The arrangement and spacing of wheel loads
 Unlike highway pavements, airfield pavements are subjected to
an impact loading
 Aircrafts use a tyre pressure up to 3 Mpa/highway pavements is
in the vicinity of 0.5 MPa
 Vehicle loads are applied near to the edge of highway
pavements but far away from the outside edge of airport
pavements.
 Comparison of Rigid and Flexible Pavements
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 The following main differences between rigid and

flexible pavements can be cited:
 The manner in which vehicle loads are transmitted to the
subgrade soil,
 Design precision,
 Design life,
 Maintenance requirements,
 Initial cost,
 Suitability for stage construction,
 Surface characteristics,
 Permeability,
 Traffic dislocation during construction
 Basic Design Factors
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 Design factors can be divided into four broad

categories:
 Trafficloading
 Environment

 Materials

 Failure criteria
 Basic Design Factors
Traffic Loading
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 The loading applied by traffic is the major factors

 The configuration, magnitude(Tyre pressure ), and
repetitions of axle loads, Speed of traffic loading
 Axle-loads and configurations:
 Axle loads affect primarily the stresses and strains
developed in the lower layers of the pavement
 the individual wheel or axle-load that is critical in
pavement design and performance.
 Most countries limit, by law, the maximum axle-load of
vehicles
 Basic Design Factors
Traffic Loading
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Country Gross vehicle weight (tonnes) Maximum Axle load limit (tonnes)

France 38.0 12.0

Germany 38.0 10.0
Italy 44.0 12.0
United Kingdom 38.0 10. 2
EU proposal 44.0 11.0

The spacing and configuration of wheels and axles vary with

the purpose of the motor vehicle.
The arrangement of wheels and axles affect the stress
distribution and deflection within and below the pavement
structure.
 Types of Pavements
Traffic Loading
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 Tyre pressure
 the wheel load is assumed to be uniformly distributed over the
contact area

 Number of repetitions:
 design the pavement for a specified number of years and to
estimate the total number and magnitude of loads that will be
applied during the periods specified.

 Speed of traffic loading:

 Studies showed that the stresses and deflections tend to decrease
as the vehicle speed increases.
 considered for up hill roads and bus stops.
 Basic Design Factors
Environment
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 The environmental factors that influence pavement

design include temperature, and precipitation.
 Temperature:
 Affects:
 the resilient modulus of bituminous layers and
 creates thermal stresses in cement concrete slabs.

 Precipitation:
 The construction of earth works
 Strength of pavement structure
 Surface water drainage
 Basic Design Factors
Material
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 Pavement materials include soils, aggregates,

bituminous binders, and cement.
 The properties of these materials under traffic
loading in a given environmental conditions is
fundamental for the proper design of pavement
structures.
 Moreover, if economically constructed facilities are
to be obtained, locally available materials are to
be used efficiently.
 Basic Design Factors
Performance & Failure criteria
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 Pavements are normally designed and constructed

to provide, during the design life, a riding quality
acceptable for both private and commercial
vehicles with acceptable maintenance.
 Fatigue cracking, rutting, and thermal cracking are
the three principal types of distress generally
considered for flexible pavement design
 Fatigue cracking, pumping and other distresses such
as faulting and joint deterioration are recognized
failures in rigid pavements
 Thank You!
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QUESTIONS?