Typical Road Structure Details

Composition of Road Structure:

Road Structure Cross Section is composed of the following components:

1. Surface/Wearing Course
2. Base Course
3. Sub Base
4. Sub Grade

1. Surface/Wearing Course in pavement cross section:

The top layers of pavement which is in direct contact with the wheel of the vehicle.
Usually constructed of material in which bitumen is used as binder materials.

a. Bituminous Pavement:

Consists of combination of mineral aggregate with bituminous binder ranging from

inexpensive surface treatment ¼ in or less thick to asphaltic concrete. For good service
throughout the full life bituminous pavement must retain following qualities.

 Freedom from cracking or raveling.

 Resistance to weather including the effect of surface water heat and cold.
 Resistance to internal moisture, particularly to water vapors.
 Tight impermeable surface or porous surface (if either is needed for contained stability of
underlying base or subgrade).
 Smooth riding and non skidding surface.

The design should be done so that to meet the above requirements for considerable
number of years (need proper design and construction supervision). Pavement meeting
all the requirements above have been product if six distinctly different construction
processes as follows:

 Heat a viscous bituminous binder to make it fluid, then in a plant mix it with heated
aggregate place and compact the mixture while it is hot.
 Use fluid bituminous binder, mix it with aggregate at normal temperature. Mixing may be
done at a plant (plant mix) or on the prepared roadway base (road mix). Spread and
compact the mixture at normal temperature.
 Add solvent such as naphtha or kerosene to a viscous bituminous binder to make it fluid
with aggregate at normal temperature by either plant or road mix methods. Spread and
compact at normal temperature before solvent evaporates.
 Use fluid emulsion of viscose bituminous binder in water, mix it with aggregate at normal
temperature by either plant or road mix method. Spread and compact at normal
temperature before the emulsion breaks down with its components.
  Spread and compact clean crushed aggregate as for water bound macadam. Over it
spray heated dissolved or emulsified bituminous binder which penetrates open areas of
the rock and binds the aggregate together. Thus is commonly called “Penetration
Method”.
 Spread bituminous binder over the roadway surface then cover it with properly selected
aggregate. This is commonly called the “Inverted Penetration Method”.

Selections based on the requirements and economy, large volume of heavy vehicles,
low traffic volume etc.

2. Base course

It is the layer immediately under the wearing surface (Applies whether the wearing
surface is bituminous or cement concrete and or more inch thick or is but a thin
bituminous layer). As base course lies close under the pavement surface it is subjected
to severe loading. The material in a base course must be of extremely high quality and
its construction must be done carefully.

Types of Base Course

1. Granular Base Course
2. Macadam Base
3. In-water bound Macadam
4. Treated Bases
3. Sub Base:
It is layer of granular material provided above subgrade generally natural gravel. It is
usually not provided on subgrade of good quality. It is also called granular sub-base.

a. Function of Sub base in Road Cross Section

 It enables traffic stresses to be reduced to acceptable levels in sub-grade in the Road
Cross Section so that excessive deformation is prevented.
 It acts as a working plate form for the construction of upper pavement layers.
 Acts as a drainage layer, by protecting the sub grade from wetting up.
 It intercept upward movement of water by capillary action.
 It acts as a separating layer b/w subgrade and road base. By this it prevent the two
layers from mixing up.
b. Characteristics of materials used in Sub Base:

The subgrade material should be clean and free from organic matter and should be able
to be compacted by roller, to form stable sub-base. The material should have following
characteristic.

 Well graded uniformity coefficient (D60/D10) should not be less than 3.

 Fraction passing sieve #200 shall not be greater than 2/3rd of the fraction passing sieve
#40.
 Should have a L.L not greater than 25%.
 P.I not greater than 6
  CBR should not be less than 25.   See also: CBR Test Procedure
 In coarse grain, aggregate retained by #10 sieve, %age of wear shall not be greater than
5%.
 The max dia of any particle shall not be greater than 2/3ed of the layer thickness of sub-
base.
 Typical particle size distribution for the sub-base (granular) when will meet strength
requirement are:


B.S Sieve Size % By mass of total Aggr. passing test sieve

50 100

37.5 80 - 100

20 60 - 100

5 30 - 100

1.15 170 - 75

0.3 9 - 50

0075 5 - 25

* To avoid intrusion of silt and clay material in sub-base from subgrade

D15 (sub base) < 5 D15 (sub grade)

 Recommended plasticity characteristic for granular Sub Base (Road Note 31) are;
Climate Liquid Limit (L.L) Plasticity Index (P.I)
Moist or wet tropical < 35 <6
Seasonal wet tropical < 45 < 12
Arid & Semi Arid < 55 < 20

4. Sub Grade:
Consists of the naturally occurring material on which the road is built, or the imported fill
material used to create an embankment on which the road pavement is constructed.
Subgrades are also considered layers in the pavement design, with their thickness
assumed to be infinite and their material characteristics assumed to be unchanged or
unmodified. Prepared subgrade is typically the top 12 inches of subgrade.
Roads are made up of four layers. These include: 

Layers of road construction

 Sub-grade: Native soil underneath a road.

 Sub-base: Layer of aggregate materials on top of the sub-grade
 Base (also base course): Layer of material under the surface course.
 Surface (also surface course): The upper layer of the road.

The surface can consist of asphalt, concrete, cobblestones, tiles or earth

materials. Asphalt and concrete are the most common surface materials.

 Asphalt: Black or brown sticky substance, mixed with crushed stone,

sand or gravel, which is used for construction of road surfaces.
 Concrete: Building material created by mixing together cement, sand,
gravel and water.
 Cobblestone: Rounded stone used to make the surfaces of roads.
 Tile: Concrete or baked clay of various shapes and colors, used for
covering walls, roofs or surfaces.
 Earth materials: Soil, sand, gravel or granular products.
Road drainage

 Gutter: Channel at the side of a road to collect rainwater and carry it

away from the roadway.
 Ditch: Long hole dug at the side of a road to channel water.
 Culvert: Tunnel that channels water under the roadway from one side
to the other.

Road surface marking

 Yellow lines: Lane of traffic moving in opposite directions.

 White lines: Lane of traffic moving in the same direction.
 Solid lines: Unsafe to cross the line
 Broken lines: Safe to cross the line if the way is clear.

Road machinery

 Grader: Vehicle with a long blade used for grading surface.

 Roller: Heavy vehicle used to make surface flat by compacting soil,
gravel, asphalt, or concrete.
 Paver: Vehicle used to lay asphalt or concrete on surface.

BrE AmE
Road surface Pavement

Sentence examples:

Culverts help control water flow.

The ditches play important roles in
agriculture.
Graders are often used to remove
snow.
Cobblestones date back to ancient
times.

What is importance of road?

Roads make a crucial contribution to economic development and

growth and bring important social benefits. They are of vital importance
in order to make a nation grow and develop. In addition, providing access
to employment, social, health and education services makes a road
network crucial in fighting against poverty.
 Table 201.1 – Grading Requirements

Sieve Designation Mass Percent Passing

Standard, mm Alternate US Standard Grading A Grading B
50 2” 100
37.5 1-1/2” - 100
25.0 1” 60 – 85 -
19.0 ¾” - 60 – 85
12.5 ½” 35 – 65 -
4.75 No. 4 20 – 50 30 – 55
0.425 No. 40 5 – 20 8 – 25
0.075 No. 200 0 – 12 2 – 14

Pay Item Number Description Unit of Measurement

201 Aggregate Base Course Cubic Meter

Table 311.1 – Grading Requirements for

Fine Aggregate

Sieve Designation Mass Percent Passing

9.5 mm (3/8 in) 100
4.75 mm (No. 4) 95 – 100
2.36 mm (No. 8) -
1.18 mm (No. 16) 45 – 80
0.600 mm (No. 30) -
0.300 mm (No. 50) 5 – 30
0.150 mm (No. 100) 0 – 10