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Residential Street Design
Residential Street Design
Special Considerations
The two most important considerations in designing a pavement are
traffic and drainage. If either is not adequately accounted for in the
pavement design, the pavement structure will either be over-designed
(and money wasted) or under designed (and result in premature and
continual maintenance).
Drainage
Adequate pavement drainage is of great importance to all pavement
designs. If the subgrade under the pavement becomes saturated, it
will lose strength and stability and make the overlying pavement
structure susceptible to break up under imposed loads. Both surface
and subsurface drainage must be considered. All drainage must be
carefully designed and should be installed in the construction process
as early as is practicable. The pavement should also be constructed
in a manner that will not permit water to collect at the pavement edge
and provisions should be made to intercept all groundwater from
springs, seepage planes, and streams. When used, curb and gutter
sections should be set to true line and grade. Marshy areas will
require special consideration and should be addressed during the
planning stage.
Soil Support
The ability of the native subgrade soil to support loads transmitted
through the pavement is one of the most important factors in
determining pavement thickness. The California bearing ratio (CBR)
test* provides a simple dependable index of a soil’s load-bearing
capacity. It is widely used by many highway departments as well as
other governmental agencies on both the state and federal levels.
The strength of the subgrade soil should be established through
testing procedures from one of the following:
Example
Nine CBR samples are taken on a proposed sub division street in
Richmond and their values are as follows:
The average CBR value for these samples is 10. However, samples
#3, 7 and 8 were well below 10. If the pavement is designed based
on an average CBR value of 10, pavement failures in the areas of
test samples 3, 7 and 8 can be expected.
This manual recommends a design CBR value of two-thirds (2/3) the
actual average CBR value be used in selecting pavement thickness
(the Vaswani design method used by the Virginia Department of
Transportation also used a design value of two thirds (2/3) the
average CBR value). This will help assure the adequacy of the
pavement design.
• ASTM Standard Test Method D 1883
Subgrade Preparation
All underground utilities should be protected or relocated prior to
grading because the subgrade must serve both as a working platform
to support construction equipment and as the foundation for the
structure, it is most important to see that it is properly compacted and
graded. A visual examination will usually reveal the adequacy of the
elevation. However, laboratory tests to evaluate the load-supporting
characteristics of subgrade soil are desirable. If these tests are not
available, designs may be chosen based on careful field evaluations
and previous projects and experience in the area.
All topsoil should be removed and low-quality soil must be improved
by adding asphalt or other suitable admixtures such as lime or
granular materials.
The areas to be paved should have all rock, debris, and vegetation
matter removed. Grading and compaction of the area should be
completed in such a manner as to prevent yielding areas or pumping
of the soil. The subgrade should be compacted to a uniform minimum
density of 95% of the maximum theoretical density.
Tack Coat
Prior to placement of successive pavement layers, the previous
course should be cleaned and, if needed, a tack coat of diluted
emulsified asphalt applied. If the previous course is freshly placed
and thoroughly clean, the tack coat may be eliminated.
Pavement Structure
The pavement structure and materials used will change as a function
of subgrade strength and construction approach. Some projects will
use full-depth asphalt (i.e., asphalt placed directly on compacted
subgrade) and some will use an aggregate base placed on
compacted subgrade. The aggregate base will be covered with one
or more layers of asphalt. The table below is the minimum pavement
designs. Each layer is the compacted thickness. At no time should
less than 4 inches of an aggregate subbase layer be used.
Notes:
• Design CBR is defined as 2/3 of the soaked CBR value.
• VDOT Specifications for SM-4.75, SM-9.0, SM-9.5, IM-19.0, and
BM-25.0 can be found in Section 211 of the VDOT Road and
Bridges Specification Book.
• VDOT Specifications for 21B can be found in Section 208 of the
VDOT Road and Bridges Specification Book.
References
2016 VDOT Road and Bridges Specifications
VDOT Special Provisions to the 2016 Road and Bridges
Specifications
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