Soil Mechanics in Road Construction Cluj

Geotechnical Group Graz
Soi l Mec hani c s i n

Road Const r uc t i on
O. Leibniz
Institute for Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering
Graz University of Technology
Design and Construction
of Unbound Road Base Layers
Course Ongoing Aspects in Geotechnical Engineering
Universitatea Tehnica din Cluj-Napoca, Romnia
02. 03.06.2011
Cont ent
Investigations and tests to secure a high
quality standard with regard to:
Some fundamentals about capillarity and
permeability
Observation of damages and some
considerations about the causes
Assumptions:
e.g. validity of Darcy`s law
From these knowledge:
formulation of requirements
permeability and drainage capacity
of base layers
Conclusions, summary and
prospect into the future
Deal t Themes, e.g. ar e
Frost- / thaw damages in road construction
Capillary appearances - the phenomenon of
capillarity in nature
In situ measurement of permeabilities
The reason for the existence of capillarity
Permeability and drainage capacity
of base layers
Generals and fundamentals about the water
Per i odi c Syst em of The El ement s
The electronegativity is the criterion
for the endeavour of an atom within a molecule,
to which it belongs, to attract binding electrons.
Hydrogen
Oxygen
Oxygen is one of the elements with the
greatest elektronegativity.
For that the center of charge of the water
molecule shifts:
It lays closer to the atom with the
greater elektronegativity !
For that the water molecule is a perma-
nent dipole, comparable to a permanent magnet ...
Ex t r ac t i on
of The Tabl e of The Per i odi c Syst em
Hydrogen binding Hydrogen binding
Hydrogen binding
... and hydrogen bindings arise:
For that water is liquid
and can play its great role as
life element.
Hydr ogen Bi ndi ngs i n Li qui d Wat er
High
melting-point
Greatest density
at + 4C
Volume
enlargement
during freezing
Comparison with other nonmetallic hydrides
Anomal i c s of The Wat er
Good solvent and
dispersing agent,
etc.
Basis for the existence of capillarity !!
Ac c umul at i on at For ei gn Par t i cl es:
Hydr at ed I ons
Ion
Wasserdipol
-
+
-
-
-
-
+
+
+
+ +
+
+
+
- -
-
-
+
+
+ +
+
+
+
+
-
O
Sauerstoffatom
+
H
Wasserstoffatom
water dipoles
ion
.Oxygen .Hydrogen
Layer s of Adsor bed Wat er
sSterns double layer
until 2.10
-8
m off the grain
(one to two layers of molecules)
hydrated water
bound with 400 bar
dDiffuse layer
2.10
-8
to 5.10
-7
m off the grain
hygroscopic bound water
bound with 400 bar to 50 bar
aOuter layer
5.10
-7
to 1.10
-5
m off the grain
adhesive water
bound with 50 to 0 bar
d a
Capi l l ar y Meni sc i : Wat er Tr anspor t
Count er ac t i ng The For c e of Gr avi t y
Distribution
of the
size
of the
voids !!

GWT
d
Z
h
cap

tensile stress in the
pore water
capillary tube
ramified
pore system
Z tensile force in the water
C capillary compressive force in the grain skele-
ton, surrounding the water filled void-tubes
Capi l l ar y El evat i on and I t s Consequenc es
C
C
o
cos
4
=
w
s
cap
d
T
h
The surface-tension T
s
[kN m
-1
] of water with its specific
weight
w
[kN m
-3
] causes its rise in small tubes with the
diameter d [m] up to the capillary elevation h
cap
[m].
o ....... capillary wetting angle
(for glass it is o ~ 0)
In the capillary tube the water has a tension Z, which
increases linearly from the free ground water table to
the capillary meniscus up to
w
h
cap
[kN m
-2
].
Summary:
The capillary elevation originates form the
equilibrium of the elevated column of the liquid with
the capillary force, respectively the surface tension:
The smaller the capillary tube, the higher the
capillary elevation.
The water column, being subjected to this tension,
causes additional compressive stress D in the grain
skeleton, defined as capillary pressure.
This additional capillary pressure increases the
adhesion between the grains.
Capi l l ar y Bl ock i n Seal i ng Wast e Deposi t s
Never use fine material above the road base
layers to get a good formation level, it works
like a capillary layer collecting the water coming from
above throught older bituminous layers or cracks
in it or from the side caused by bad surface and
underground drainage conditions.
Often also an uppermost crushed zone onto the
upper road base is caused by rolling or traffic
after finishing the road base layer.
Better to disregard a regulation course onto
the road base layers.
And furthermore such a material is actually
frost susceptible !!
Regul at i on Cour se f or The Upper
For mat i on Level
I l l ust r at i on of a Damage
Fr ost Damages i n Spi t e of Not Fr ost
Susc ept i bl e Road Base
Necessity, to establish a good formation level,
which is exact in longidudinal and cross
gradient, without a thin correction course
directly with the coarse material of the upper
road base layer (e.g. with a grading of 0/22,
0/25, 0/32 or 0/35), which shall be not frost
susceptible and enough water-permeable !
Remove the uppermost crushed zone onto
the upper road base, caused by rolling or
traffic after finishing the road base layer, e.g.
by a steel brush machine.
It is better, first to overdesign and surcharge
the upper road base layer (5 -10 cm) and after-
wards to take away the excess overprofile with
the destroyed material by a grading machine.
Good For mat i on Level of The Road Base
This assumes, that neglecting the before
mentioned worse uppermost crushed zone and
an unnecessary thin correction course,
road base layers shall work as a capillary block
and have to be sufficient water permeable,
besides being not frost susceptible.
This implies, that the employed material
shall have a proper grain size distribution.
Base Layer Shal l Be Per meabl e
Or i gi n and Ri se of I c e Lenses
+
0- isothermic
border-line
Pore size distribution !!
New-fashioned, sophisticated
frost heave tests
The frost susceptibility of mineral material plays
an essential role in the design of foundations
placed above the freezing front in frost suscept-
ible soils.
Roads, airport runways, railways, buildings on
spread foundations, buried pipelines, dams and
other structures may be subjected to frost heave
due to freezing of a frost-susceptible material,
having access to water.
Fr ost Susc ept i bi l i t y - Obj ec t i ve
I nvest i gat i ons t o Det er mi ne The Fr ost
Susc ept i bi l i t y
The risk of frost heaving may be defined from:
Correlations with soil classification properties
(particle size distribution, height of capillary rise
and particularly the fines content and within that
the amount of frostactive clay minerals).
If the definition of frost susceptibility based on
classification properties does not clearly indicate
the absence of risk of frost heaving,
laboratory tests should be run.
Fr ost Susc ept i bi l i t y:
Labor at or y I nvest i gat i ons
The frost susceptibility test in the laboratory
is a frost heave test.
Additional, to investigate the risk of thaw
weakening and to determine the loss of bearing
capacity, a CBR - test should be carried out
before and afterwards the freezing procedure.
Road Base Layer s
Above Fr ost Susc ept i bl e Subsoi l
Road bases shall work as a capillary block and
shall have an adaquate design (sufficient
thickness) to compensate the differential
frost heaves due to arising ice lenses.
Fr ost -Damage Due t o Wat er Sat ur at i on
i n The Road base
Additional negative effects through snow clearing
followed by deeper frost penetration and water
supply (wet road surface due to salt-spreading)
Addi t i onal Negat i ve Ef f ec t s Thr ough Wat er
Suppl y by Wet Road Sur f ac e (Sal t -spr eadi ng)
I l l ust r at i on of Fr ost -Damages (1)
(Espec i al l y Longi t udi nal Cr ack s)
Thaw -Damage Due t o
I nsuf f i c i ent Dr ai nage Capac i t y
The only chance to get rid of the water, is by lon-
gitudinal drainage capacity and cross drain-
age arrangements out of the frozen zone !!
Sufficient drainage capacity
within the base layers
Seasonal Dependenc e of The Bear i ng
Capac i t y of Road Base Layer s
In spite of non frost susceptible road base layers
there is nevertheless a decrease of the
bearing capacity in spring of about 30 % !!
I l l ust r at i on of Damages (1)
Summar y of The Damage Causes
Damage due to insufficient drainage capacity
of the road base layers
Water supply, e.g. through:
Bad quality of seams and/or cracks in the
bituminous layer
Aging of the bituminous surface layers
(porosity > 8 %)
Bad drainage conditions and water supply
from the side.
Snow clearing followed by deeper frost
penetration and additional water supply
(wet road surface due to salt-spreading),
etc.
Demands (1)
If possible, the 0 - isothermic border line should
come to lie within the frost blanket course.
Sufficient longitudinal drainage capacity and
cross drainage arrangements out of the frozen
zone, especially when the road base is embedded
in cohesive and impervious subsoil !!
But due to economical reasons it is often
not practicable !
At least adequate design (sufficient thick-
ness) should compensate the differential
frost heaves due to arising ice lenses
Demands (2)
Unbound road base layers shall have a certain
water permeability:
Last but not least: Construction of unbound base
layers avoiding any contamination with foreign
cohesive soil or enrichment of fine grains through
crushing to guarantee the permeability !
Previous investigation already during the
qualification tests
Simulation of the quality tests (later during
site construction) in the previous qualification
tests (e.g. compaction of the laboratory
samples according to modified proctor or
determination of the LA - coefficient)
New device for in situ testing of permeability
Per meabi l i t y Test i ng of Road Base Layer s
To obtain permeability values by in situ testing
was first necessary during construction of waste
deposits. For that the following explanations
are based on these experiences and also the
theoretical deduction and the development of a
measuring device.
Based on understandings from similar investigations
in constructing waste deposits:
Why that necessity ?
Per meabi l i t y Test i ng of Seal i ng Layer s
Possibility to obtain
an undisturbed soil
sample
Wel l Gr aded Mi ner al i c Mat er i al
f or Seal i ng Layer s
silty clay
filler
bentonite
well graded
sealing material
gravel-sand
fuller parabola for d=20
fuller parabola for d=63
Test i ng Seal i ng Layer s
of Wel l Gr aded Soi l Mat er i al
So we have to carry out in situ permeability tests.
It is not possible to obtain undisturbed samples
(e.g. by a piston sampler, forced into the soil by
dynamic impact) to determine the permeability-
index k in the laboratory in a triaxial permeability
cell.
To calculate a permeability index k from the
measurements, it is necessary to develope a
theoretical model.
Ver t i c al I nf l ow i nt o The Soi l Skel et on
(Theor et i c al Appr oach)
In the following explanations it is assumed that
the soil representing the halfspace consists of
three phases: the grains or solid components,
water and air in the voids.
We have to investigate vertical inflow into partially
saturated soil from the surface of the halfspace
In traditional soil mechanics the velocity of the
water flowing in the soil is defined by Darcys law:
Dar cys Law
i k
A
Q
Darcy
= = u
v
Darcy
Mean velocity of the flow of water in soil after
Darcy [m/s]
Q Volume of flow [m
3
/s]
A Sectional area [m
2
]
k Darcys coefficient of water permeability
(permeability index) in saturated soils [m/s]
i Hydraulic gradient
Wat er Movement i n Soi l s
Mean distribution of velocity of the flow of water in soil
after Darcy (a), mean velocity (b) and real distribution
of velocity of water flowing through voids (c)
Visualisation in laboratory investigations ?
a)
b) c)
Wat er Movement Bet ween The Gr ai ns
In reality the water is moving only in the voids.
Therefore it is impossible to observe v
Darcy
in an
experiment. Instead of that one can observe an
inflow situation only determined by the mean
velocity v
a
of water flowing through voids,
described as follows:
Here it is neglected that over the cross section
of the voids the water flows with an unequal but
symmetrical distribution of velocity (remember
figure c).
n
Darcy
a
u
u =
n .. Voids content [-]
Ver t i c al I nf l ow i nt o The Hal f spac e
Schemat i c Sket ch
h
z
dz
water table
surface
saturated
saturation front
soil layer
partially saturated
z
z h
i
+
=
Ver t i c al I nf l ow Sat ur at i on Fr ont
It is assumed that the inflow into the soil forms a
saturation front parallel to the surface.
In idealisation that implies that the diameters of
the void channels of the soil are constant. This
imagines, that many very small flow-tubes of the
same diameter stand next to one another.
The saturation front is the borderline between
fully saturated and partially saturated soil.
The vertical advance (which distance in which time)
of the saturation front downwards during the inflow
of the water can be formulated mathematically as a
function of time as follows:
Ver t i c al Advanc e of The Sat ur at i on Fr ont
dt
dz
a
= u
n
i k
dt
dz
=
z
z h
i
+
=
With Darcys law it results in
Our sketch has shown that the hydraulic gradient can
be calculated by
dt
dz
a
= u
n
i k
dt
dz
=
z
z h
i
+
=
Inserting one equation into the next gives
|
.
|
\
|
+
=
z
z h
n
k
a
u
} }
+
= dz
z h
z
k
n
dt
Inserting the differential expression, separating the
unknown parameters and setting the integral gives
Considering the condition z
( t = 0 )
= 0,
C can be calculated and therefore the result is
With this equation one is able to determine the time
which the saturation front needs to proceed the
distance z into the soil-layer.
| | C z h h z
k
n
t + + = ) ( ln
Solving the integral results in
[sec] ln
(
|
.
|
\
|
+
=
h
z h
h z
k
n
t
Ex ampl es
f or The Range of I nf l ow Di st anc e
Sealing layer of a waste disposal:
Inserting
n = 0,4; k = 1.10
- 9
m/s, distance z = 0,05 m, h = 2,0 m
gives an inflow-time of
about 4000 min or 2,8 days resp.
Road base layer:
Inserting
n = 0,4; k = 1.10
- 6
m/s, z = 0,25 m and for h = 0,2 m
gives an inflow-time of
about 35.000 sec or 10 hours resp.
Cr oss Sec t i on - Labor at or y Model t o Vi sua-
l i ze The I nf l ow Fr om an I nsi t u-St andpi pe
Clayey Silt,
k = 1,2.10
-8
m/s
Distance of
seepage front
after 140
minutes
Ex ampl e of a Seepage Fr ont w i t h a
Per meabi l i t y Coef f i c i ent Rel evant f or
Seal i ng Layer s of Wast e Di sposal s
Ex ampl e of a Seepage Fr ont w i t h a
Per meabi l i t y Coef f i c i ent Rel evant f or
Road Base Layer s
Sand,
k = 3,0.10
-5
m/s
Distance of
seepage front
after 9 seconds
Ex ampl e of a Seepage Fr ont
w i t h a Hi gh Per meabi l i t y Coef f i c i ent
Uniform grained
quartz-sand
k = 5,0 . 10
3
m/s
Distance of
seepage front
after 26 seconds
Falling pressure head
( for k < 1.10
-7
m/s )
Test i ng Per meabi l i t i es w i t h a St andpi pe
f or Wast e Di sposal Si t es (1)
Test i ng Per meabi l i t i es w i t h a St andpi pe
f or Wast e Di sposal Si t es (2)
Constant pressure head
( for k < 1.10
-7
m/s )
Test i ng Per meabi l i t i es I nsi t u w i t h a
St andpi pe f or Road Base Layer s
(Qual i t y Cont r ol )
Falling pressure head
( for k > 1.10
-7
m/s )
Test i ng The Per meabi l i t y
of Road Base Layer Mat er i al Dur i ng The
Qual i f i c at i on Test i n The Labor at or y
Standpipe,
as used for the
quality control tests
on site,
put on a Proctor- jar
with a diameter
of 250 mm
To investigate the quality of the constructed
road base layers after rolling and removing
the uppermost crushed zone, it is ordered to
carry out permeability tests every 4000 m
2
in a cross section, which obviously shows
a closen surface, the test-points spaced
equidistantly in a distance of 2 m, beginning
1 m off the edge resp. the shoulder of the
formation.
Number of I n Si t u Per meabi l i t y Test s
f or Qual i t y Cont r ol of Road Base Layer s
Eval uat i on Ac c or di ng t o The
Theor y of Pot ent i al Fl ow
Theory of potential flow out of a source
Other influences on the movement of the water in
the soil skeleton, e.g. capillarity, suction stress or
water retention capacity, are hitherto neglected.
For the testing devices (stand pipes) with falling
pressure head Darcys coefficient of permeability
(permeability index) can be calculated as follows:
Pot ent i al Fl ow Out of a Spher i c al Sour c e
) 2 (
dr
dh
k i k = = u
2
4 r
dr
k
Q
dh
=
t
} }

=
0
2
0
4
r h
r
dr
k
Q
dh
t
0
1
4 r k
Q
h
=
t h r
Q
k

=
0
4t
0
4 r
Q
h k
=
t
) 1 (
4
2

r
Q
O
Q
Kugel

= =
t
u
) 3 (
4
0

r
Q
h k
f
= =
t
Potential function
Sphere
Equat i on t o
Det er mi ne The Per meabi l i t y Coef f i c i ent
The volume of inflowing water can be determined
according to the velocity of the sinking water table in
the standpipe:
2
1
0
2
ln
4 h
h
t r
r
k
m

= [m/s]
dt
dh
r A Q
m
t = =
2
u
dt
dh
r
r
h k
0
m
=
4
2
This expression is to be inserted in equation 3 of the
last picture:
remember:
r
m
is the radius of the
measuring pipette
Through integration we get:
) 3 (
4
0

r
Q
h k
f
= =
t

Cor r ec t i on Coef f i c i ent s
Correction factor to consider the area of inflow in
form of a disk instead of a sphere after een (1967):
The radius of the inflow area r
o
must be divided
through 2,48.
To consider the halfspace (inflow form the sur-
face and not within the full space), the radius of
the inflow area r
o
must be multiplied with 0,55.
With the constant value of 4 that gives a combined
correction coefficient of 0,88 in the denominator.
The potential difference from the inflow area to the
ground water table, which also enlarges the
pressure head at a very small account, shall be
neglected.
I nsi t u Per meabi l i t y Test s (Summar y)
Evaluation according to the theory of potential flow
out of a spherical source (theoretical model):
2
1
0
2
ln
88 , 0 h
h
t r
r
k
m
A
=
k [m/s] water permeability index
r
0
[m] radius of area of inflow
r
m
[m] radius of measurement
pipette
h
1
,h
2
[m] hydraulic pressure head
at time t
1
, t
2
At [s] time-interval t
2
t
1
Equat i on f or The Devi c e t o I nvest i gat e
Road Base Layer s
The k
10
values (related to a temperature of 10 C)
correspond with the following intervals of measure-
ment time A t:
With the dimensions of the standpipe for testing
road base layers as mentioned above, it is:
t
k
A
=
3
10
10 35 , 1
o
[m/s]
o ... Temperature correction factor
k
10
= 1.10
-5
m/s 135 sec
k
10
= 5.10
-6
m/s 270 sec
k
10
= 1.10
-6
m/s 1350 sec
k
10
= 5.10
-7
m/s 2700 sec
Concl usi ons, Summar y and
Pr ospec t i nt o The Fut ur e (1)
To a certain degree the demand for a road base
to be pervious is incompatible with a good bearing
capacity !
As a threshold-value we can define a k
10
limit
of 5 10
- 6
m/sec.
But: Road base layers have to have a proper
permeability and drainage capacity to avoid
frost-thaw-damages !!
There is a necessity to construct a drainage layer
under the bituminous layers, when we have stabi-
lized base layers !
Capillarity, water retention capacity and matrix
suction stress, etc.
Permeability of road base layers when partially
saturated and frozen
Furthermore there are still additional research
activities necessary:
Beyond additional investigations and test series
to the influence of the permeability on the frost
susceptibility of road base layers, there is a crucial
need to investigate the influence of other soil
parameters. Special problems are e.g.:
Practical application of the testing
device for measuring permeabilities
of road base layers on site:
Concl usi ons, Summar y and
Pr ospec t i nt o The Fut ur e (2)
THANK YOU
FOR
YOUR
ATTENTION
... and please are there any questions ?

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