Types of Pavement

Highway pavements are divided into two main categories: rigid and flexible.

-The wearing surface of a rigid pavement is usually constructed of Portland cement concrete

such that it acts like a beam over any irregularities in the underlying supporting material.

-The wearing surface of flexible pavements, on the other hand, is usually constructed of

bituminous materials such that they remain in contact with the underlying material even when

minor irregularities occur. Flexible pavements usually consist of a bituminous surface over a

layer of granular material and a layer of a suitable mixture of coarse and fine materials. Traffic

loads are transferred by the wearing surface to the underlying supporting materials through the

interlocking of aggregates, the frictional effect of granular materials, and cohesion of fine

materials.

Flexible pavements are further divided into three subgroups: high type, intermediate type, and

low type. High-type pavements have wearing surfaces that adequately support the expected

traffic load without visible distress due to fatigue and are not susceptible to weather conditions.

Intermediate-type pavements have wearing surfaces that range from surface treated to those

with qualities just below that of high type pavements. Low-type pavements are used mainly for

low-cost roads and have wearing surfaces that range from untreated to loose natural materials

to surface treated earth.

STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS OF A FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT

The below figures show the components of a flexible pavement and rigid pavement

For flexible pavement: the subgrade or prepared roadbed, the subbase, the base, and the

wearing surface. The performance of the pavement depends on the satisfactory performance of

each component, which requires proper evaluation of the properties of each component

separately.
 Seal coat (to water proof)

Wearing I AC (Surface)
Tack coat
I- Portland cement
Levelling II AC (Binder Course) concrete
Prime coat

CBR > 80% III Stabilized Base II- Base course may or not be used

Granular Subbase Compacted Subgrade

CBR > 35%

Natural Subgrade
CBR > 5% compacted fill Subgrade

Natural Subgrade

I: Marshall Stability > 800-1000 Kg

II: Marshall Stability > 700 Kg

III: Crushed stone, concrete, asphalt concrete, stabilized material

Flexible pavement Rigid pavement

Flexible pavement: a pavement structure which maintains intimate contact and distributes

loads to the subgrade depends on aggregate interlock, particle friction and cohesion stability.

(Expressway No. 1)

Rigid pavement: a pavement structure which distributes the loads to the subgrade and has one

course of Portland cement concrete slab of relatively high bending resistance.

Typical layers of a flexible pavement

Typical layers of a conventional flexible pavement includes seal coat, surface course, tack coat,

binder course, prime coat, base course, sub-base course, compacted sub-grade and natural sub-

grade.

Seal coat: is a thin surface treatment used to water-proof the surface and to provide skid

resistance.

Tack coat: is a very light application of asphalt, usually asphalt emulsion diluted with water.

It provides proper bonding between two layers of binder course and must be thin, uniformly

cover the entire surface and set very fast.

Prime coat: is an application of low viscous cutback bitumen to an absorbent surface like

granular bases on which binder layer is placed. It provides bonding between two layers. Unlike

tack cost, prime coat penetrates into layer below, plugs the voids, and forms a water tight

surface.

Surface course: is a layer directly in contact with traffic loads and generally contains superior

quality materials. They are usually constructed with dense graded asphalt concrete (AC). The

functions and requirements of this layer are:

  It provides characteristics such as friction, smoothness, drainage. Also, it will prevent

the entrance of excessive quantities of surface water into the underlying base, sub-base

and sub-grade.

 It must be tough to resist the distortion under traffic and provide a smooth and skid-

resistant riding surface.

 It must be water proof to protect the entire base and sub-grade from the weakening

effect of water.

Binder course: This layer provides the bulk of the asphalt concrete structure. Its 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.

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 slug and other untreated or stabilized materials.

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 to reduce the

intrusion of fines from the sub-grade in the pavement structure.

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.

Sub-grade: it is a layer of natural soil prepared to receive the stresses from the layers above.

It should be compacted to the desirable density, near the optimum moisture content.
Failure of Flexible Pavement

The major flexible pavement failures are fatigue cracking, rutting and thermal cracking. The

fatigue cracking of flexible pavement is due to horizontal tensile strain at the bottom of the

asphaltic concrete. The failure criterion relates allowable number of load repetitions to tensile

strain and this relation can be determined in the laboratory fatigue test on asphaltic concrete

specimens. Rutting occurs only on flexible pavements as indicated by permanent deformation

or rut depth along wheel load path. Thermal cracking includes both low-temperature cracking

and thermal fatigue cracking.

Fatigue Cracking

Rutting
Soil Types and Conditions:

Every soil type behaves differently with respect to maximum density and optimum moisture.

Therefore, each soil type has its own unique requirements and controls both in the field and for

testing purposes. Soil types are commonly classified by grain size, determines by passing the

soil through a series of sieves to separate the different grain sizes. Soil characteristics is

categorized into 15 groups, a system set up by AASHTO.

There are three basic soil groups:

 Cohesive

 Granular

 Organic (this soil is not suitable for compaction and will not be discussed here)

1. Cohesive soil

Cohesive soil has the smallest particles. Clay has a particle size range of .00004ʺ to .002ʺ. Silt

ranges from 0.0002ʺ to .003ʺ. Clay is used in embankment fills and retaining pond beds.

Characteristics: Cohesive soil is dense and tightly bound together by molecular attraction. They

are plastic when wet and can be moulded but becomes very hard when dry. Proper water

content evenly distributed is critical for proper compaction. Silt has a noticeably lower

cohesion than clay.

2. Granular soils

Granular soil range in particle size from .003ʺ to .08ʺ (sand) and .08ʺ to 1.0ʺ (fine to medium

gravel). Granular soils are known for their water-draining properties.

Compaction equipment: the desired level of compaction is best achieved by matching the soil

type with its proper compaction method.

Cohesive soil

MTX70 Rammer

P33/24 HHMR ROLLER

RX15010CI ROLLER
Granular soil

MVC-88 Vibratory plate

MVH-306 Reversible plate