oN-235 4% IRC: 19-1977 STANDARD SPECIFICATIONS AND CODE OF PRACTICE FOR WATER BOUND MACADAM (Second Revision) THE INDIAN ROADS CONGRESS 1988femwed p IRC : 19.1977 STANDARD SPECIFICATION AND CODE OF PRACTICE FOR WATER BOUND MACADAM (Second Revision) Published by THE INDIAN ROADS CONGRESS Jamanagr House, Shabjahan Road, New Delhi-110 011 1988 Price Rs, 8 (Plus Packing & Postage)IRC : 19197 First published in April, 1966 Reprinted February, 1970 Reprinted May, 1972 First Revision: November, 1972 Second Revision: May, 1977 Reprinted September, 1982 Reprinted March, 1987 (incorporates amendment No. I & corrected Sieve sizes) Reprinted: May, 1988 Reprinted March, 1999 Reprinted + October, 2000 (Rights of Publication and of Translation are reserved) Printed at Dee Kay Printers, New Delhi (500 copies) inc: 19.977 STANDARD SPECIFICATION AND CODE OF PRACTICE FOR WATER BOUND MACADAM. 1, INTRODUCTION LL. This standard was originally published in 1966. The revised standard was considered and approved by the Specifications and Standards Committee in their mecting held on the 29th & 30th September, 1972 and by the Executive Committee in their meeting held at Gandhinagar on the 25th November, 1972. Later, it was approved for publication as the finalised standard by the Council in their 79th mecting also held at Gandhinagar on the 25th November, 1972, 1.2, Following the decision of the IRC Council at its meeting held on the 28h August 1976, the tolerances of surface evenness have been revised on the basis of IRC Special Publication 16 “Sur- face Evenness of Highway Pavements”. 1.3. The Standard is intended to indicate what is consi- dered “to be a good practice for the construction of water ‘bound macadam and surface treated water bound macadam. 2. DESCRIPTION 2.1. Water bound macadam shall consist of clean crushed coarse “aggregates mechanically interlocked by rolling, and voids thereof filled with screening and binding material with the assistance of water, laid on a prepared subgrade, sub-base, base or existing pavement as the case may be. Water bound macadam may be used ub-base, base course or surfacing course. In each case, it shall be constructed in accordance with the specifications given below and in conformity with the lines, grades and cross-sections shown on the drawings or as otherwise directed. 3. MATERIALS 3.1. Coarse Aggregates—General Requirements, 3.1.1, Coarse aggregates shall be either crushed or broken stone, crushed slag, overburnt br aturally occurring. aggregates such as kankar or laterite of requisite quality as stated hereinafter. The aggregates shall conform to the physical require- ments set forth in Table 1 3.1.2. Crushed or broken stone: Crushed or broken stone shall be hard, durable and generally free from flat, elongated, soft 1IRC: 19-1977 and disintegrated particles. It shall also not have excess of dirt or other objectionable matter. ‘Tamce 1, Paysicat Raouinewens oF CoARse AGOREOATES FoR ‘Water BOUND MACADAM st Typeot Tet Tex Requirement ‘No. ‘construction if ‘method 1. Subbate Los Angeles 18: 2386 Max. 60% fran tea Wy tive Auureguc 18 : 2386 Max. 50% ietact Gacy) Valoet 2 Bate courte (a) Los Angeles Max. 80% wa ras itiinour Seine forciog or Auweeue 18: 2386 Max. 40% impectVauer Gacy) Fixings 38 Max. 15% Ince Gravy 3. Surfaclag (Lon Angcis—1S:2366 Man 40% Coane Abradon att) one aucune 1S: 2386 Max. 30% Taped Valuer ‘Chan IY) 152 Sc4oe Fikingy ee Max. 15% inset Grant Notes: * Araegtes may satiny the requcemeats of eter the Los Angeles festor Aggregate Impact Value Test. ** Aguregates lke brick metal, kankar and laterite which get softened in'presence of water, should invariably” be tested or impact value under wet conditions in accordance with 1S : 5640. ‘The requirement of Flakiness Index. shall be enforced only in the cease of crushed/broken stone and crushed sag. t Samples for tests shall be representative of the materials to be used and collected in accordance with the procedure tet forth Ia 18: 2430, 2 IRC : 19.1977 3.1.3, Crashed slag: Crushed slag shall be manufactured from air-cooled blast furnace slag. It shall be of angular shape, reasonably uniform in quality and density, and generally free from any thin, elongated and soft pieces, dirt or other objectionable matter. | Crushed slag shall not weigh less than 1120 kg per m® and the percentage of glassy material in it shall not be in excess of 20. Water absorption [I$ : 2386 (Part HIN] of slag shall not exceed 10 per cent. 3.14. Overburnt brick metal: Brick metal shall be made out of overburnt bricks or brick bats and be free from dust and other foreign matter. 3.1.5. Kankar: Kankar shall be tough having a blue almost opalescent fracture. It shall not contain any clay in the cavities between nodules. 3.1.6, Laterite: Laterite shall be hard, compact, heavy and of dark colour. Light coloured sandy laterities as also those con- taining a good bit of ochreous clay shall not be utilised. 3.2. Coarse Aggregates—Size and Grading Requirements 3.2.1. As far as possible, coarse ager hall conform to one of the gradings given in Table 2. Grading 1 is more suitable for sub-base courses, but it is not tenable for a compacted layer thickness of less than 90 mm. 3.2.2, The size of aggregates to be used in a given case would depend on. the type of aggregates available and compacted thickness of the layer. The use of grading I shall, however, be restricted to sub-base courses only. 3.2.3. For cushable type aggregates like brick metal, kankar and laterite, the gradings given in Table 2 are not so relevant and need not be strictly enforced but the material should generally be within the size range indicated,IRC: 19-1977 ‘Tame 2, S12# AND GrabINo REQUIREMENTS oF COARSE ‘Roonsontes rox WBM. Grating Size range Per cent by weight ‘passing the sieve 1 125 mm 100 90 mm 390~100 om 25—60 45mm 0-15 2amm 0-5 2 63 mm 1045 mm $0 mm 100 Som 30-100 Sam 25-75 mm O=13 2Amm os 2 33 mm to 24mm mm 100 Simm 95-100 4mm 65-90 24 mm ‘0-10 112mm os 3.3. Sereenings 3.3.1, Screenings to fill voids in the coarse aggregates shall generaily be ofthe same material asthe coarse ageregstes. How: Ever, from economic considerations, predominantly non-plastic, material such as kankar nodules, moorum or gravel (other than fiver-borne rounded aggregate) may also be utilised for this pur- pose provided that the liguid limit and plasticity index of such material is below 20 and 6 respectively and the fraction passing 75 micron sieve does not exceed 10 per cent. 3.3.2. As far as possible, screenings shall conform to the gradings shown in Table 3. Screenings oftype A in Table 3 shall be Used in conjunction with coarse aggregates of grading | in Table 2, and of type B with coarse aggregates of grading 3. With coarse aggregates of grading 2, either type A or type B screenings may be used, For screenings like moorum and gravel, the gradings given in Table 3 shall not be regarded as binding. 3.3.3, The use of screenings may be dispensed with in the case of ‘crushable type coarse aggregates such as brick metal, kankar and laterite. : mre: 1941977 ‘Tanus 3, Gnapino Ruquinewenrs oF SCREENINOS ron WATER BOUND MACADAM ee sizeof Seve Perce by weight SE, andton "Fain ete ES a Basm | B2mm 10 Hiss ssciwo i am Bass fib ron aio 2 hamm 1200 109 2am sooo mien 538 SS 3.4, Binding Material 3.4.1. Binding material to prevent ravelling of water bound macadam shall consist of a fine grained material passing 100 per wet through 425 micron sieve and possessing P.L. value of 4—9 then the WBM is to be used as a surfacing course, and upto 6 When the WBM is being adopted as a sub-base/base course with Eitominous surfacing, IF limestone formations are available eeerby. limestone dust of kankar nodules may be usefully employed for this purpose. 3.4.2. Application of binding material may not be necessary where the screenings consist of crushable type material like moo- Tum or gravel. However, for WBM vsed as a surfacing course, Where the P.l. of crushable type screenings is less than. 4, applica tion ofa small amount of binding material having P.l. of 4—9 would be required at the top. The quantity of screenings could be reduced slightly on this account. 3.5. Quantities of Material 3.5.1. Approximate quantities of coarse aggregate and screenings required for 100 mm compacted thickness of WBM sub ise course ave shown in Table 4, Likewise, rough quantities of ‘materials for WBM base or surfacing course for a compacted thickness of 75 mm are given in Table 5. 3.5.2. ‘The quantity of binding material where it is to be used (see para 3.4,), will depend on the type of screenings and function GPYBM. ‘Generally, the quantity required for 75 mm compacted thickness) will, be 0.06—0.09 m#/10m* in the case of WBM 5IRC: 19-197 ‘Tama 4, Arrnoxnuxte Quavriries of Coanst AgaRsO4T#8 AND ‘Sonzesinos RequteeD ron 100 mm Cowracreo Tarcrwess o WAM Sus-2Se COURSE FON 10 m* Coarse Aggregates Screenings Classi Size—_Loose cone fication range quantity | Stone sereenings Crushable type such ‘as moorum or gravel Grading) Loose | Gragi i vy |lamincs. gona Slusifce- qaantty | classifes+ —qasatty tone tion & tee tise 1 2 a) 4 s ‘ 7 Gad 01 Tait TyeA 027 Na——03010 fogi 45mm 143m 132mm 030m" _vniform 0.32 mt rama 5. Avrwomtuate QuawriTia oF Connse AGOREOATTS axD Tanens. Qitininos Riguinsp for 15 am CouPacteo Tack eth or WM nae Counte/Sunracina Counse rox 10.0? Coarse Aggregates Screenings Clasi- Size Loose . Crushable type fication range quantity Stone screenings shat moore Grading! AL lassie canes Grd: Gio OSi io, ‘TypeA Old ta, 010%, Not om fe? Smm 107m 12mm 015m" Ol2aF uniform O24 fact oct ae B 02040, 016%, do -do- TEimm 022m" 0.18 mt Grd S310 do» don OBL O14 10, doe dow fhe) 22.8’ O21 mt G17 mt Tonnies ia col, are Wiper cent of those esol Sara tae quantiy of “Qing ate will ccd to Se uacd when te WM info tt At a rfc ours teee pare 3.32), See para 342. IRC : 1911977 sub-base/base course and 0.10-0.15 m8/10 m® when the WBM is to function as a surfacing course. For 100 mm thickness, the quantity needed respectively will be 0.08—0.10 m8/10 m? and 0,12—0.16 m8} 10 m2, yned quantities should be taken as a guide only, for estimation of quantities for construction ete, 4, CONSTRUCTION PROCEDURE 4.1. Preparation of Foundation for Receiving the WBM Course 4.1.1. ‘The subgrade, sub-base or base to receive the water bound macadam course shall be prepared to the required grade and camber and cleaned of all dust, dirt and other extraneous matter, Any ruts or soft yielding places that have appeared due to improper drainage, service under traffic or other reasons shall be corrected and rolled until firm. 4.1.2, Where the water bound macadam is to be laid on an existing unsurfaced road, the surface shall be scarified and re- shaped to the required grade and camber as necessary. Weak places shall be strengthened, corrugations removed and depressions and potholes made good ‘with suitable material before spreading the coarse aggregates for WBM. 4.1.3., Where the existing road surface is black-topped, $0 mm x 50 mm furrows shall be cut in the existing surface at 1 metre intervals at 45 degree to the centre lige of the carriageway before proceeding with the laying of coarse aggregates. 4.1.4. In alll cases, the foundation shall be kept well-drained during the construction operations, 4.2. Provision of Lateral Confinement of Aggregates 4.2.1. Before starting with WBM construction, necessary arrangements shall be made for the lateral confinement of aggrega- tes. One method is to construct side shoulders in advance to a thickness corresponding to the compacted layer of the WBM course. After shoulders are ready, their inside edges may be trimmed ‘vertical andthe included’ area. cleaned of ail spied material thereby setting the stage for spread of coarse aggregates. The practice of constructing WBM in a trench section excavated in the finished formation must be completely avoided. 7ARC : 19-1977 4.3. Spreading Coarse Aggregates 4.3.1. ‘The coarse aggregates shall be spread uniformly and evenly upon the prepared base in required quantities from stock- piles along the side of the road or directly from vehicles. In no ase shall these be dumped in heaps directly on the area where these are to be laid nor shall their hauling over a partly completed base be permitted. ‘The aggregates shall be spread to proper pro- file by using templates placed across the road about 6 metre apart. Where possible, approved mechanical devices shall be used to spread the aggregates uniformly so as to minimise the need for their manipulation by hand. 4.3.2. The WBM course shall normally be constructed in layers of not more than 75 mm compacted thickness. However, for aggregates of grading No. | in Table 2, the compacted thick- ness of layer may go up to 100 mm. Each layer shall be tested by depth blocks. No segregation of large or fine particles shall be allowed; the coarse aggregates as spread shall be of uniform jon with no pockets of fine material. 4.3.3. ‘The coarse aggregates shall normally not be spread in lengths exceeding three days’ average work ahead of the rolling and bonding of the preceeding section. 4.4. Rolling 44.1. After the laying of coarse aggregates, these shall be compacted to full width by rolling with either three wheel power roller of 6 to 10 tonnes capacity or an equivalent vibratory roller. The weight of the roller shall depend on the type of the coarse aggregates. 4.4.2. The rolling shall begin from edges with roller running forward and backward until the edge have been firmly compacted. The roller shall then progress gradually from edges to the centre, parallel to the centre line of the road and lapping uniformly each preceding rear wheel track by one half width and shall continue until the entire area of the course has been rolled by the rear wheel. Rolling shall continue until the road metal is thoroughly keyed and the creeping of stone ahead of the roller is no longer visible. Slight sprinkling of water may be done, if required. IRC: 191977 4.4.3. On superelevated portions of the road, rolling shall commence from the lower edge and progress gradually towards the upper edge of the pavement. 4.4.4. Rolling shall not be done when the subgrade is soft or yielding nor when it causes a wave-like motion in the base course or subgrade, If irregularities develop during rolling which exceed 12 mm when tested with a 3-metre straight edge, the surface shall be loosened and aggregates added or removed as required before rolling again so as to achieve an uniform surface conforming to the desired cross section and grade. The surface shall also be checked transversely by template for camber, and any irregularities correc ted in the manner described above. ‘In no case shall the use of soreenings to make up depressions be permitted. 4.5, Application of Screenings 4.5.1. Alter coarse aggregates have been rolled as per para 4.4, screenings to fill the interstices shall be applied gradually ‘over the surface. Dry rolling shall be done when the screenings fare being spread so that the jarring effect of roller causes them to settle into the voids of the coarse aggregates. The screenings shall not be dumped in piles but applied uniformly in successive thin layers either by the spreading motion of ‘hand shovels, mechanical spreaders, or directly from trucks. Trucks plying over the base course to spread screenings shall be equipped with Pneumatic tyres and so operated as not to disturb the coarse aggregates. 4.5.2. The screenings shall be applied at a slow rate in three or more applications as necessary. This shall be accompanied by rolling or brooming. Either mechanical brooms/hand brooms or both may be used. In no case shall the screenings be applied so fast and thick as to form cakes or ridges on the surface making the filling of voids difficult or preventing the direct bearing of roller on the coarse aggregates, The spreading, rolling and brooming of screenings shall be taken up on sections which can be completed within one day's operation. Damp and wet screenings shail not be used in any circumstances. 4.6, Sprinkling and Grouting 4.6.1. After application of screenings, the surface shall be copiously sprinkled with water, swept and ‘rolled. Hand brooms Shall be used to sweep the wet screenings into the voids, and to Gistribute them evenly. The sprinkling, sweeping and rolling operations shall be continued and additional screenings applied where necessary until the coarse aggregates are well-bonded and 9IRC : 191197 firmly set and a grout of screenings and water forms ahead of the wheels of the roller. Care shall be taken that the base or subgrade does not get damaged due to addition of excessive quantites of water during the construction. 4.7. Application of Binding Material 4.7.1, After the application of screenings as per paras 4.5. and 4.6., binding material where itis required to be used (see para 3.4.), shall be applied at an uniform and slow rate in two or tore Successive thin layers. After each application of binding material, the surface shall be copiously sprinkled with water and. the resul- ing slurry swept in with hand brooms/mechanical brooms or both $0 as to fill the voids properly. This shall be followed by rolling with a 6-10 tonne roller during which water shall be applied to the wheels to wash down the binding material that may get stuck to them. The spreading of binding material, sprinkling of water, sweeping with brooms and rolling shall continue until the slurry of binding material and water forms a wave ahead of the wheels of moving roller. 4.8, Setting and Drying 48.1. After final compaction of the course, the road shall be allowed to cure overnight. Next morning, hungry. spots shall be filled with screenings or binding material, ligtly sprinkled with water if necessary, and rolled. No traffic shall be allowed till. the macadam sets, 4.8.2. In the case of water bound macadam base course to be provided with bituminous surfacing, the latter shall be laid only after the WBM course is completely dry and before allowing any traffic on it, 49. Plying of Construction Trafic 4.9.1. In general, construction traffic may ply over comple- ted portions of the WBM course provided vehicles move over itz full width avoiding any rotting or uneven compaction. However, the Engincer-in-Charge shall have full authority to stop the passage of construction traffic when in his opinion this is leading to exces- sive damage. 5. SURFACE EVENNESS OF WBM COURSE 5.1, The surface evenness of completed WBM course in longitudinal and transverse directions shall be within the tolerances indicated in Table 6, 10 IRC: 19.1977 ; Tabut 6. PeRMrTTED ToLuRANces oF SURFACE EVENNESS FOR ‘WBM Courses Sl. Size range of Longitudinal profile measured Cross profile No. coarse aggregates “with a 3 metre siraight edge ible Max, permissible Maximum num- Max, pers lisioo ber ofundulaxvariaton from ae tions permitted specified profile inaay 00 dadera camber metre length, template croceaing mm mm 10mm mm 1 9045 mem Is =o 2 6345 mm 2 — » 8 or 53-224 mm 5.2. The longitudinal profile shall be checked with a 3 metre long straight edge at the middle of each traffic lane along a line parallel to the centre line of the road. The transverse profile shall be checked witha ures of three camber boards at intervals of 10 metre, For detailed guidance in this respect, reference may be . made to IRC Special Publication 11 “Handbook of Quality Control for Construction of Roads and Runways" (Second Revision). 6. RECTIFICATION OF DEFECTIVE ‘CONSTRUCTION 6.1. Where the surface irregularity of the WBM courses exceeds the tolerances given in Table 6 or where the course i otherwise defective due to subgrade soil ‘mixing with the aggre gates the layer to its full thickness shall be scarifed over the affected area, reshaped with added material, or removed and replaced with fresh. material as applicable, and recompacted in accordance with para 4. The area treated in the aforesaid manner shall not be less than 10 m®. In no case shall depressions be filled up With screenings or binding material 7. CONSTRUCTION OF WBM OVER NARROW WIDTHS 7.1. Where the WBM course is to be constructed in narrow widths for widening an existing pavement, the following sequence of operations should be adopted : ( The existing shoulders should be excavated to their full uIRC: 19.197 depth and width upto the subgrade level except where the wide- ning specifications envisage laying of a stabilised-soil sub-base using in situ operations in which case the same should be removed only upto the sub-base level. (ii) Before proceeding shoulders should be rebt on the extent of widening. The compacted thickness of each layer should correspond to the compacted layer of WBM course to be laid adjacent to it. After compaction, the inside edges of shoulders should be trimmed vertical and the included are a cleared of all spilled material; and The construction of WBM layer should then follow in the usual manner. 8. MAINTENANCE OF WEM ‘WEARING COURSES. 8.1. The successful performance of WBM as a surfaci course depends to a large extent on timely maintenance. Mainter ance measures for this can be considered under three heads: peri dic patching of pct-holes along with removal of ruts and depres- sion; blinding of the surface; and surface renewal. 8.2, Patehing of Pot-holes Along with Removal of Ruts and Depressions 8.2.1. Pot-holes, ruts and other depressions should be drained of water and cut to regular shape with vertical sides. All the loose and disintegrated material shall be removed and the exposed sur- faces swept clean, The holes/depressions shall then be filled with salvaged coarse aggregates mixed with sufficient quantity of fresh aggregates and recompacted as normal WBM to operations described in para 4 so that the patched area merges with the adjoining surface. Where the area so treated is small, hand ram- mers may be used for compaction instead of rollers. 8.3, Blinding of Surface 8.3.1. Blinding of the surface shall be resorted to_periodi- cally as soon as the blinding material applied earlier has been eroded away due to a traffic or weather action and the surface has started showing signs of ravelling. Blinding operations shall consist of application of binding material in thin layers and grouting in accordance with the procedure given in para 4.7. 2 IRC: 191977 8.4, Surface Renewal 8.4.1. WBM wearing course shall be renewed when the surface is worn out, is corrugated and badly ravelled or bas a pro- fusion of potholes and depression which cannot be treated econo mically with patching or blinding operations 8.4.2. For renewal, the existing surface shall be searified to a depth of 50-75 mm and the resulting material removed to berms for screening to salvage the usable coarse aggregates. The exposed pavement shall be scarified again at high spots so as to ensure proper grade and camber. The salvaged coarse aggregates mixed with sufficient quantity of fresh aggregates (usually between one half to one third of the quantity of salvaged aggregates) shall then be used to construct a new WBM course in accordance with para 4, a