CAUSES OF PAVEMENT FAILURE

INTRODUCTION
There are certain basics with respect to pavement failure that have existed
since the first pavements were laid. Pavements crack, pavements slip, water
damages them, and pavements rut. Irrespective of the tests used to evaluate
pavements, failures have the same basic causes.
CRACKING
No matter where the cracking occurs, it is caused by the inability of the
asphalt to relax the stresses, and must rupture.
Fatigue Cracking. Stress and strain are what are called tensors, which
means that a pavement can be under compression and tension at the same
time, but in different directions. While a tire compresses a pavement
downward, it forms a deflection basin which causes the pavement to go into
tension in both horizontal directions. Many years ago we used data from
deflection testing and, assuming a parabola, did a line integral to calculate
strain. If the pavement is not strong enough, the asphalt is stretched too far,
separates and a crack forms in the wheel track. Also a crack may form
between the wheel tracks.
Longitudinal Cracking on Joints. The joint between two passes are
especially week. Inside any one pass of the paver, some aggregate will be on
both sides of any plane or slice inside of the pavement. In fact, when sample
undergoes an indirect tensile test such as is done in stripping tests, rocks
actually fracture. A joint, however, is held together only by the asphalt layer,
which has a tensile strength of about 200-1000 psi, depending on the
temperature and shear rate. If the asphalt in the mix can flow vertically in
response to thermal stresses, the crack wont form. However, if the stresses
exceed that at the joint, a crack forms. As a result the pavement on either

side of the crack can shrink or expand independently. Often what happens
then is that the pavement sections shrink away from each other in the cold,
but do not expand completely back together in the heat. For that reason it is
crucial to follow proper technology of forming a joint.
Thermal Cracking. The mechanism of formation of thermal or non-load
associated cracks is again the lack of the asphalt to be able to relieve
thermal stresses by flowing vertically up when the pavement is hot and
vertically down when the pavement is cold.
PAVEMENT SLIPPAGE
From time to time the pavement will shift. In one project I has on at the LAX
airport, a 2 lift was slipping on a 4 lift from landing of air traffic. A core was
made of the section so it was possible to observe a daily slippage. Two
sources of the problem. First, it was supposed to be 4 over 2. Secondly, if
there was a tack coat, it had been ruined as a result of a dust storm. To
prevent slippage a prime needs to be used between the base and pavement,
and a tack coat between two lifts.
RUTTING
There are two causes of rutting, improper aggregate gradation and studded
tires.
Gradation. Asphalt itself is too weak to stop the flow of the mix by itself. If
the coarse aggregate in the mix cannot interlock the mix has to rely on a
mastic composed of the fines and asphalt, which cannot carry the load. The
solution is a coarse gradation with no humps in the fine mastic area.
Studded Tires. Research is under way on how to solve this problem. Harder
aggregate has helped, but no solution is available now.

WATER DAMAGE
If the pavement is not protected from water damage, all of the above is
blowing in the wind. There are data that suggest that even pavement
protected by amine or lime antistrips will lose much of its strength thus
cannot complete its design life. Many aggregates are wetted by water better
than asphalt so that if the surface cannot be permanently altered to prefer
wetting by asphalt, eventually water will replace the asphalt.
Why Does Pavement Crack?
Installing asphalt pavement requires it to be placed in strips or paver passes.
This means there is a construction joint / seam every 12 to 18 feet across a
typical parking lot. A crack will form along these seams within 1 year after
installation, depending on the weather conditions. Cracks also occur due to
failures in the surface layer of asphalt, lack of bonding between the asphalt
layers, and structural failures due to inadequate design. Here are a few
examples of the various type of cracks.
Seam Cracks

As the pavement ages it becomes dry and brittle causing cracking.

Low temperatures winter freeze and thaw cycles causing the asphalt
to expand and contract.

Cracks form where each paver pass starts and stops.

Seam Cracks

These type of cracks can be

cleaned of debris and then sealed
with hot rubber.
Which

prevents

water

from

getting into the base creating

potholes.
Bond Failure: Slippage Cracks

Slippage cracks develop when there is not a good bond between the
surface layer and the binder layer of asphalt.

Lack of tack coat used between asphalt layers.

Vehicles turning the wheels when the vehicle is not moving.

Bond Failure: Slippage Crack

full

depth

asphalt

patch

is

required to repair this type of

defect.

Structural Failure: Fatigue Cracking

Fatigue or alligator cracking can occur due to inadequate pavement

design. The surface, base, or subgrades are not appropriate for the
amount of weight / traffic.

As pavement ages the amount of cracking increases each year. These

shattered areas will need to be cut out and replaced.

This can occur when proper asphalt maintenance is not completed.

Poor drainage can also cause this type of cracking due to standing
water.

Structural Failure: Alligator Cracking

Complete

removal

and

replacement is needed to repair

this area.

How Do Potholes Form?

Water enters the cracks in the pavement and seeps into the stone
base beneath the asphalt. When the temperatures drop and the moisture
freezes it causes the ground to expand and push the pavement up. As a thaw
cycle occurs, the ground returns to its normal level but the pavement can
remain raised making a gap. When traffic drives over this area the surface
of the pavement cracks and leads to the beginning of a pothole. Plows also
speed up the process.
Cold mix asphalt is available now if you need emergency pothole repairs.
This is a quick but temporary fix to a potentially hazardous situation. Hot Mix
asphalt will become available in April.
In a future post we will talk about why your asphalt CRACKS and what you
can do to help slow the formation of the potholes by taking care of the
CRACKS in your parking lot.

EFFECTS OF PAVEMENT FAILURE

The effect of road failure or pavement failure is that it may lead to an
accident and the maintenance cost will be bigger than the construction cost.

ENGINEERING SOLUTION
Pavement Engineering
Our highly skilled pavement engineering specialists are able to advising on
new build construction as well as rehabilitation and maintenance of existing
pavements, using engineering judgment to determine maintenance solutions
maximising long-term benefit and minimizing cost. We are able to undertake
pavement assessment and evaluation and to design and determine
maintenance solutions for flexible and rigid pavements.

Technical advice
TRL Appia provides assistance to a number of key clients and their advisors
in the UK including contractors, consultants, banks, public and private
companies, central and local government. We have assisted in legal matters
where strong technical skills were paramount. Our team responded quickly
and professionally to our clients needs resulting in production of technical
reports to be submitted as evidence. The outcome of recent cases has been
positive for our clients. Our service to support legal matters includes:

Investigation of problems, defect and failures

Design and construction advice

Specification Advice

Evidence based analysis of current failures

Preparation of advice notes and expert reports

Pavement Advice
Our teams of skilled engineers are fully conversant with current pavement
evaluation techniques and pavement design and have over 25 years
experience in highways maintenance practices from local authority to local
government projects. To support your pavement maintenance design/
evaluation needs, we can offer the following services.
Value Engineering

Material Specification

Scheme Appraisal

Whole Life Costing

GPR Procurement and Analysis

Determining Material thickness

Specifying Core locations etc.

Moisture

Utility detection etc.

LWD Procurement and Analysis (Prima Testing)

Ensuring reinstatement compaction with LWD

Site Supervision

Testing Sub-grade (Unbound material)

Visual Survey Procurement and Analysis

HAPMS Visual Surveys including input into HAPMS

UKPMS Visual Surveys

Engineering Surveys

Concrete Surveys

Bespoke Surveys

FWD Procurement and Analysis

Structural Properties of pavement

Load transfer efficiency

Back-analysis

Evaluation of performance

Overlay designs

Other advice and analysis:

Dynamic Cone Penetrometer (DCP)

Deflectograph

Coring including core log specification

Recycling Advice
Appias engineers have substantial knowledge of recycling and materials and
can help highway authorities to reduce the amount of waste that is going to
landfill and to meet statutory targets set by the Government and the EU
Landfill Directive.

We have helped recycling solutions using bituminous

emulsions, foamed bitumen, and hydraulically bound products to stabilise

and modify WRAP, crushed concrete and other secondary aggregates used in
both rigid and flexible materials to promote:

Sustainability In both construction and maintenance of highways,

new products (virgin materials) have predominated; in consuming
these we deplete the resources available to us on the planet. By
minimising this consumption and recovering and reusing materials we
prolong the life of the planet along with everything and everyone on it.

Energy Efficiency removing minerals from the ground, processing

them and then transporting them to the point of manufacture has a
major impact upon the environment. Recycling significantly reduces
the amount of CO (reducing your carbon footprint) released into the
atmosphere.

Cost efficient and well-programmed recycling can realise significant

savings (typically 30%).

CAUSES OF GROUND FAILURE

Ground failure is used here to describe zones of ground cracking, fissuring, and
localized horizontal and vertical permanent ground displacement that can form by a
variety of mechanisms on gently sloping valley floors. Landslides and rock falls that
occur on steep hillside slopes are discussed separately beginning on p.44. In
general, ground failure may be caused by (1) surface rupture along faults, either as
a primary rupture on the seismogenic fault or as a sympathetic rupture; (2)
secondary movement on shallow faults; (3) shaking-induced compaction of natural
deposits in sedimentary basins and river valleys, or artificial fills; and (4)
liquefaction of loose sandy sediment.

Earthquakes and Ground Failures

When large faults rupture and produce earthquakes, they generally deform the ground surface.
Primary surface faulting, such as the 22-kilometer-long surface rupture associated with the 1971
San Fernando earthquake, is the direct effect of movement on a seismogenic, or earthquakeproducing fault. Rupture on nearby faults induced by the primary event (sympathetic rupture)
may also produce surface faulting. Earthquakes can also produce secondary features that look
similar to primary surface rupture. Primary features related to known or suspected faults can be
readily studied by geologists and directly linked with earthquake activity on those faults, while
secondary features may be difficult to link to activity on a particular fault. However, studies of
secondary features can provide information on the effects of earthquake shaking at selected sites
extremely important information for seismic-hazards evaluation that cannot be directly
obtained from studying seismogenic faults alone.
How Does Ground Failure Occur?

USGS scientists evaluated two alternate mechanisms of localized soil failure and secondary
tectonic deformation. Extensive investigations of geotechnical properties of the soils were
carried out at three sites at Balboa Blvd., Malden St. and Wynne Ave. These consisted of borings
to determine the geologic structure and cone-penetration tests to estimate the soil strengths. All
three sites were also in areas of gently sloping ground, and scientists found that they were
underlain by saturated soils that could be expected to fail when subjected to high levels of
ground shaking. Therefore, localized failure in a buried layer was thought to be the mechanism

causing the failure at the surface. However, it was not clear that the failures could have been
anticipated even if detailed subsurface investigations had been conducted before the earthquake.
Two of the sites, Balboa Blvd. and Wynne Ave., were underlain by saturated sands that were
predicted to liquefy at the levels of ground shaking recorded in the epicentral region. However,
the cracking at Malden St. is suspected to have been caused by a different mechanism than
liquefaction, probably dynamic shear in weak clay. This mechanism should be more seriously
considered in areas underlain by weak soils which may be subjected to high levels of ground
shaking.
Secondary tectonic deformation could possibly explain some of the 1994 ground failures at
Balboa Blvd. and Wynne Ave., but USGS scientists consider it unlikely. The stratigraphic
complexity and an abrupt change in the depth to ground water at the south end of the Balboa
Blvd. study area suggests the presence of a tectonic fault. However, the fault does not appear to
have significant recent movement, and the 1994 ground-failure zone extends almost 300 meters
to the north where no stratigraphic evidence exists for faulting. The 2-meter step on the top of the
sediment observed at Wynne Ave. may have contributed to the location of the ground failure
there.
EFFECTS OF GROUND FAILURE
In a comprehensive design approach, it should be recognized that damage to structures and
facilities may result from different seismic effects. These effects can be classified as Direct and
Indirect (or Consequential) as follows:
Direct Effects:
1. Ground failures (or instabilities due to ground failures)
Surface faulting surface or fault rupture)
Vibration of soil (or effects of seismic waves)
Ground cracking
Liquefaction
Ground lurching
Differential settlement

Lateral spreading
Landslides
2. Vibrations transmitted from the ground to the structure.
Indirect Effects (or Consequential Phenomena):
Tsunamis
Seiches
Landslides
Floods
Fires
The seismic effect or damage that usually concerns the structural engineer, and which is taken
into account by code seismic-resistant design provisions, is the vibration of the structure in
response to ground shaking at its foundation. Although damage due to other effects may exceed
that due to vibration, procedures for gauging the probability of these effects and for coping with
them are outside the scope of the structural engineering discipline and so are usually not included
in seismic-resistant codes. Nonetheless, the structural engineer should be aware of the different
seismic hazards and should advise the client of potential damage involved in locating structures
at certain sites. Thus the first step in the design procedure of a future structure should be the
analysis of the suitability of the site selected with proper consideration for the potential of any
one of the above types of damage.
ENGINEERING SOLUTION
Road design and construction over soft ground especially over very soft and soft marine deposits are
interesting engineering challenges to engineers especially at the approaches to bridges and culverts.
Many geotechnical options are available for engineers consideration. Of course, the one that uses the
local materials and resources that are cheaper and easier to construct would no doubt be the choice. This
concept is also common to foundations for buildings and factories.
GEOTECHNICAL SOLUTIONS FOR ROADS
Embankment Design

Embankment design of roads needs to satisfy two important requirements among others; the stability and
settlement. The short term stability for embankment over soft clay is always more critical than long term
simply because the subsoil consolidates with time under loading and the strength increases. In design, it is
very important to check for the stability of the embankment with consideration for different potential
failure surfaces namely circular and non-circular. supporting the embankment when designing the
embankment so that the settlement in the long term will not influence the serviceability and safety of the
embankment. The details of the embankment design can be obtained from papers by Tan & Gue (2000).
Design considerations include numerous issues such as those outlined by Tan & Gue (2000). The height
or thickness of embankment is often dictated by the flood level. As the height of embankment is most
critical over marine deposits, hence decision on height after consideration of settlement of the subsoil is
critical to the cost and time of the project. When the height exceeds the maximum one stage construction
(loading), multistage construction will be required. Of course more detailed analyses are required when
more refined soil layers and properties are obtained. In the detailed analyses, both circular and noncircular slope stability analyses should be carried out. Very often, the non-circular failure is more critical
than circular slip failure for layered soil especially with very soft subsoil at top few meters.
Long term stability of embankment is usually not an issue for embankment over soft marine deposits
because the subsoil would gain strength with time after the excess pore water pressure in the subsoil
dissipates during consolidation. When the analyses based on subsoil and thickness of embankment
indicate multistage construction is required, the construction of the embankment usually take substantially
longer time especially when the cohesive subsoil does not have sand lenses. If time permits with early
planning, multistage construction could be reduced by geometry change in the embankment as described
by Tan & Gue (2000). However, geometry change requires wide road reserve due to flatter slope and
stabilizing berms. Prefabricated vertical drains could also be installed to reduce the time required for
consolidation. Other techniques such as piled embankment, stone columns, and vacuum preloading with
prefabricated vertical drains could be considered. However, the technique would increase the cost of the
embankment. Piled embankment in particular using local wood piles for shallow subsoil could be
competitive. The details on the design and construction control for embankment over soft clay are also
described in the above reference.
Ground Treatment Methods

In order to identify suitable ground treatment to be adopted, the design engineer needs to carry out both
technical and cost analyses. Some of the embankment construction methods commonly used in Malaysia
are as follows :
(a)Modification of Embankment Geometry
(b)Excavation and Replacement of Soft Soils
(c)Surcharging (with or without vertical drains)
(d)Staged Construction
(e)Lightweight Fills using Expanded Polystyrene (EPS)
(f)Geosynthetics Reinforcement
(g)Stone Columns
(h)Piled Embankment
Modification of embankment geometry through reduction of slope angle or construction of
counterweight berms can be cost effective option if there is sufficient cut earth or abundant suitable
materials nearby. Although excavation and replacement of soft soil (either partial or total) is an old
method but still viable and popular where the very soft compressible is not very deep. The experience on
highway construction in West Malaysia indicates that the excavation and replacement depth of up to a
maximum depth of 4.5m in soft clay is still viable in terms of cost and practicability. The excavation
should extend up to the toe of the embankment and beyond to increase the stability of the embankment.